Sidemount Diver

SKU SDM001

POA

Product variants

Nothing on your back. Both valves where you can reach them. A lot of divers never go back.

Sidemount moves your cylinders off your back and onto your sides, clipped along your body. That sounds like a small change and isn't. Nothing digs into your spine on the walk to the water, your valves are in front of you where you can see and reach them, and you can hand a cylinder up to the boat rather than climbing a ladder wearing it.

The PADI Sidemount Diver course is the recreational version: one or two cylinders, no-stop diving, and the configuration and trim work that makes sidemount comfortable rather than fiddly. Getting the rigging right is most of the battle, and it's what the course spends its time on.

Diving two independent cylinders also gives you genuine redundancy. A first stage failure costs you half your gas instead of all of it, which is a meaningful difference. All equipment is included for the duration of the course.

What Sidemount Diver Gives You

You'll learn to rig and adjust a sidemount system to your body, manage buoyancy and trim as a configuration that changes shape while gas is consumed, handle cylinders on entries and exits, and switch between independent cylinders on a sensible schedule.

If you're heading toward technical diving, this is a good place to start, and Tec Sidemount Diver takes the same configuration into multi-cylinder decompression diving. If you're not, it's simply a more comfortable way to dive. It counts toward your Master Scuba Diver rating either way.

Ready to get the weight off your back? Book Sidemount Diver below, or get in touch with our team if you'd like to talk configuration first.

What This Course Entails

Knowledge development covers how a sidemount system is built and why, the advantages and the trade-offs against backmount, gas management across independent cylinders, and the reserve planning that goes with diving two separate gas supplies.

You'll then do one confined water dive, which is mostly configuration work, because that's where sidemount is won or lost: rigging the harness and bungees to your body, weighting and trimming a system whose balance shifts as gas is used, and handling cylinders on entry and exit.

Three open water dives follow, the first two to a maximum of 18 metres and the third to a maximum of 30 metres, switching between cylinders on schedule and running the failure drills that make independent cylinders an advantage. All equipment is included for the duration of the course.

Prerequisites

Certified PADI Open Water Diver, or a qualifying certification from another training organisation.
Minimum age is 15 years old.
Complete a basic health screening questionnaire to confirm you're fit to dive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why would I dive sidemount recreationally?

Comfort and redundancy, mostly. Nothing sits on your back, which suits anyone with a dodgy back or a long walk to the water, and diving two independent cylinders means a first stage failure costs you half your gas rather than all of it. It's also simply a more comfortable way to dive for a lot of people.

What's the difference between this and Tec Sidemount?

This is the recreational course: one or two cylinders, no-stop diving, and the configuration and trim skills to dive sidemount comfortably. Tec Sidemount is the technical version, built around multiple cylinders, gas switching and decompression diving. Start here unless you're already heading down the technical pathway.

What are the prerequisites for Sidemount Diver?

A PADI Open Water Diver certification and a minimum age of 15. That 15 is worth noting, because it's higher than most specialties, which sit at 10 or 12.

How many dives does the course involve?

One confined water dive, which is mostly configuration and trim work, followed by three open water dives. The first two go to a maximum of 18 metres and the third to a maximum of 30 metres.

Do I need my own sidemount system?

No. All equipment is included for the duration of the course, which is the sensible order given what a sidemount system costs. Do the course, find out whether it suits you, then buy if it does.

Are air fills included in the course price?

No, and that is deliberate. Air is charged as you use it, per fill, and invoiced to you after your session. Every diver breathes differently, and building a worst-case air allowance into every course fee would mean the lightest breathers subsidising the heaviest, so instead you pay for the air you actually use and the course price stays lower for everyone. We confirm the current fill rate with you when we book your dates, and you are welcome to ask us for it at any point before that. Dive site entrance fees are also paid separately, at the site on the day.