We are very excited to announce that we are offering the PADI Sidemount Diver course in Kenya at Ocean Tribe. From mid-December you will be able to be trained on sidemount, opening up a whole other side of diving for you. For the first program top PADI Sidemount Instructor Trainer, Platinum Course Director Gary Phillips will be travelling to Kenya to run the program.
What is Sidemount Diving
Normal scuba diving involves carrying a single cylinder on your back. This is back mount diving. Sidemount diving is simply a configuration where the tanks are arranged on your sides rather than your back. Sidemount diving can be used in sport, technical, and overhead environment diving and was originally developed by cave divers.
Sidemount divers often dive with two tanks attached in the water which can make gearing up easier. The tanks are attached to the diver’s harness with bungees or straps which can be easily removed or adjusted while diving.
In technical diving where multiple cylinders often have to be carried some believe that it is easier when using sidemount. You can move onto the PADI Tec Sidemount Diver course from the PADI Sidemount Course to learn how to mount at least 4 tanks for tech diving.
Sidemount diving is becoming increasingly popular around the world and is one of PADI’s best-selling specialty diver courses.
Reasons to Become a Sidemount Diver
So why should you try sidemount diving? It is a new diving configuration so is it for you? Below are a few good reasons to become a sidemount diver.
Streamlining
As divers, it is very important to be as streamlined as possible. When we see marine creatures underwater, we marvel at the speed they travel. This is because their streamlining has developed over millions of years of evolution. So how do we match it?
The main problem is water is 800 times denser than air and not being streamlined can create drag which means you have to work harder to propel yourself, using more energy and your precious air. So even small things like having your feet slightly below the rest of your body can create significant drag requiring more effort to move.
What diving a sidemount configuration does is align the cylinders with your body and the direction of travel. This streamlining can make propulsion easier and your dive much more relaxed and comfortable.
Trim
Trim refers to the forward-to-back orientation of a diver and is usually referenced as; ‘in trim’, ‘head down’, or ‘feet down’. Getting the right trim is a basic diving requirement to move efficiently underwater. This is normally a good horizontal trim.
A good trim is achieved by having the correct weighting amount and positioning on your body, coupled with the correct positioning of gas in your BCD and dry suit (if you are wearing one).
While it is perfectly possible to get a great trim in back mount diving
(And also essential for good easy normal diving). Sidemount diving can make it easier due to the cylinder position at the sides of your body. This allows them to more closely align with your centres of gravity and buoyancy.
Balance
When you are diving with cylinders on your back, you have to use body tension to keep your balance when turning towards your sides. You often can feel unbalanced in these situations.
By contrast, when you are diving sidemount, the cylinders are mounted on either side of your chest and no matter what your orientation in the water, the centre of gravity is near the centre of your body and you are always balanced.
Stability
When you are stable when diving you can relax almost completely, whilst remaining with a good trim and balance. This makes you truly weightless and also a stable platform. From which you can perform tasks and skills in the same position in the water.
This can be incredibly important when doing some of the dives that sidemount is intended for such as overhead environments. You do not want to make contact with the floor of a wreck or cave and cause a silt out, or hurt yourself hitting overhead objects. Additionally, it is essential to be able to maintain good buoyancy for decompression stops and gas-switching tasks at specific depths, when using the configuration for tech diving.
I would just like to point out that good stability is perfectly achievable with backmount and many of us have achieved this with little difficulty. Some sidemount pros have pointed out that sidemount configurations can be easier to develop this skill in their opinions. See what you think.
Redundancy
One of the main benefits of sidemount is that enables you to carry more gas. It also provides you with a redundancy system in the event of equipment failure or diver error. This is a requirement for all technical diving. Sidemount can provide two independent gas supplies. While this has its pros and cons the redundancy feature of sidemount is a serious benefit.
Access to Tank Valves
When you are diving with a back mount configuration it can be hard to reach and impossible to see your cylinder valves, making it awkward to open and close them when geared up.
Sidemount allows you to have your valves in view, making it easier and quicker to identify and isolate any issues and easily open and close valves to switch gas supplies.
Managing Your Equipment
Sidemount gives you the option to don and doff equipment in the water (subject to water conditions). This can be of tremendous aid to divers who struggle to carry single or twinsets on land. This can aid those with back issues or with disabilities who find it easier to gear up in the water.
Additionally, sidemount also allows you to unclip tanks underwater and feed them through gaps ahead of you, enabling you as a diver to squeeze through smaller spaces. This can be very useful in cave or wreck diving.
New Challenges
You might not be looking to do technical training, or squeeze through tight overhead environments so should you still think of diving sidemount? I mean after all. It is not for everyone. Well if you like to learn new skills and embrace new challenges then yes for sure.
Sidemount diving requires you to learn new skills that you don’t find in traditional back-mounted scuba diving. If you are like me and just want to learn as many skills as possible and keep yourself developing then this is definitely worth it.
New skills introduced include but are not limited to Managing more than one tank, new control of buoyancy and trim, and new equipment positions. What a challenge, which can be very rewarding.
What will Happen on the PADI Sidemount Diver Course?
Ok there is some PADI eLearning to complete as part of the knowledge development section of the PADI Sidemount Diver Course. During this and workshops with your PADI Instructor, you will learn about the theory of sidemount diving, as well as the gear configurations and equipment options that are available to you. You will also be introduced to
- Benefits, and drawbacks of sidemount diving
- Proper sidemount diving gas management
- Buoyancy Control
- Emergency procedures whilst sidemount diving
The PADI sidemount course practical part includes both confined and open water diver training. You will learn about the setup and donning of sidemount gear and then perform the following skills and exercises in the water
- Equipment assembly and adjustment
- Entry and exit with sidemount
- Gas management
- Buoyancy control
- Underwater navigation on sidemount
- Regulator Recovery
- Emergency procedures.
You will make 3 open water dives on Sidemount over 1 or 2 days as part of the course following mastering the techniques in the pool.
Once all performance requirements have been met by you with regards to elearning, and confined and open water dives you will be issued with a PADI Sidemount Diver certification, indicating that you are qualified to use sidemount gear and dive a sidemount configuration.
How do I Book the PADI Sidemount Diver Course?
Click here to book your PADI Sidemount course now or contact us on WhatsApp to find out more about your options on the Sidemount program.
You will need to be:
- Open Water or higher qualified
- At least 15 years old
I am a PADI Instructor. Can I become a Sidemount Instructor?
Yes, we can include the Sidemount Instructor training courses in a package for those PADI Instructors who complete PADI Sidemount diver training with us.