The Sidemount program provides you with the training necessary to independently plan and conduct dives, using Sidemount equipment configurations and techniques, within the depth limits allowed by your certification level and with an equally, or more, qualified dive team. This course will teach you how to dive with two (2) Sidemount cylinders to the depth you are currently certified to. It will also allow you to continue your training in a Sidemount configuration. For those that choose to, you can select the XR Sidemount course add-on to add advanced Sidemount diving skills to the course, including 3rd bottle rigging and use.
Checkout “Add-Ons & Enhancements” below for more info on the XR Sidemount Program!
Why dive Sidemount?
Sidemount diving is an adaptation to the traditional way scuba equipment is worn. It moves the scuba cylinder or cylinders from behind you to beside you. This has a list of benefits, including:
- More streamlined equipment so it’s easier to move through the water.
- Better balanced equipment, so it’s easier to change and hold positions.
- You have better access to your cylinders, valves, and first stages, so it’s easier to see and manage any issues if they happen underwater. Since they are protected, issues are less likely to arise.
- The whole system is modular, so it’s easy to replace or repair a single piece should an issue arise.
- It’s also a great course for anyone interested in deep diving, technical diving, and cave or wreck diving because it’s so easy to carry additional gas once you learn the basics of the system.
The list really goes on and on. The sidemount equipment configuration can also be used in many different styles of diving. If you are diving to no-decompression limits but not beyond, many divers choose to dive with either one sidemount cylinder or two smaller sidemount cylinders. Deep divers, cave divers, and/or wreck divers will choose to dive with both full-size cylinders and perhaps even a stage bottle or two. For divers with difficulty carrying more than one cylinder at a time due to size or injury, many sidemount divers will enter the water and then put their gear on to avoid having to lift too much weight out of the water. This is a great option for divers with leg or back injuries or divers without the stature to lift large sets of doubles.
The XR Sidemount course add-on expands upon the Sidemount Diving course to include skills and techniques unique to advanced Sidemount diving. These skills are focused on the needs of decompression and overhead sidemount divers. The most obvious being the rigging, mounting, and use of a 3rd cylinder. Other skills introduced in the XR Sidemount Add-on include: