SIDEMOUNT

• Open Water Scuba Diver or equivalent.
• Minimum age 18, 15 with parental consent.

During the course, you will gain knowledge about gas management using independent cylinders, equipment considerations, cylinder and regulator options, buoyancy compensator device (BCD)/harness options, proper weighting, equipment configurations, communication, hand signals, problem solving, gas-sharing, water entries, shore and boat techniques, and S-Drills specific to Sidemount. You will also practice skills such as planning dives, checking equipment, descending to planned depth, safely managing gas, controlling buoyancy, attaching Sidemount cylinders, performing gas switches, and safety stops.

Upon successful completion, you can participate in Sidemount diving activities without direct supervision, following certain limits. These include performing safety stops, conducting dives within your current certification level, and logging all dives. Additionally, the Sidemount Diver certification counts as a specialty towards achieving the Advanced Diver Development program.

We emphasize:

• Buoyancy control
• Situational awareness
• Safe diving habits
• Respect for marine life
• Skill mastery before certification
  

Our goal is not to create certified divers.
Our goal is to create confident divers.

To enroll in the Sidemount Mastery Program, divers must meet the following requirements at the start of training:

• Minimum age 18
• Advanced Open Water Diver certification or equivalent
• Minimum 30 logged dives
• Nitrox certification strongly recommended
• Demonstrated comfort and control in the water
  

These prerequisites are intended to ensure divers can safely develop both recreational and technical sidemount capability within a continuous training pathway.

This program is intended for experienced divers who want to fully adopt sidemount configuration and use it as their preferred system for advanced recreational and technical diving.

It suits divers who value streamlined equipment setups, improved buoyancy and propulsion efficiency, redundancy awareness, and progressive skill development under consistent instruction.

Divers planning to continue into technical training such as decompression or extended range diving using sidemount will benefit from completing this structured progression.

Training is delivered as a continuous progression rather than isolated specialty courses. Foundational sidemount skills are developed first and then applied to more complex procedures involving multiple cylinders, increased task loading, and structured dive planning.

This approach promotes efficient learning, strong equipment familiarity, and the development of sound diving judgment while preparing divers for technical diving environments.