How To Become A Sidemount Technical Scuba Diver Make

Computer-aided instruction is an integral aspect of almost all courses we teach. The Why? The simple answer is that eLearning allows students to get in the water faster and spend more time there. This is why we include any applicable eLearning program -- typically a $140 value -- in all our courses at no extra cost. This is equivalent to an additional day's in-water training. This is what it's worth. Priceless.

Technical diving is great fun, but it isn't recommended for anyone looking to dive deeper. Cave and deep diving pose a higher risk. It is possible to mitigate this risk through careful dive planning and training. Divemasters performing these dives will be held to a high standard. It will take practice and hard work to become a technical diver. The only way to improve your water time is through research and reading. Divers will often notice that the minimum standards of diving are often exceeded in training courses. Technical instructors can often exceed these minimum standards. Technical training helps to teach diver redundancy. While it may sound scary and difficult, it is necessary to dive in such an environment. Technical training is fun, challenging and gives you the chance to see places in the world that are closed to others.

An Open Water Diver is all you need to get started in Sidemount diving. It is important to have good buoyancy, trim, and be able set up your equipment and manage it yourself. Sidemount diving can bring a new dimension to your equipment setup and skills.

Although I have not yet mastered the art of Sidemount diving, I am proud to be a Sidemount diver.

Depending on the environment and type of diving each configuration has its advantage and disadvantage. Diving in caves or wrecks the preferred way to dive for sure is either Sidemount or rebreathers. There is also an option for a Sidemount rebreather which makes the diver more streamlined to fit through narrow restrictions. Sidemount also gives the diver the advantage to leave tanks behind that will be picked up upon exiting the cave or wreck. To fit through narrow bedding planes unclipping the tanks makes the profile of the diver even smaller and places that are not available to a backmounted twinset diver become accessible.

I can't recall when or why it was that I decided to take the Sidemount course. Like most of my diving decisions it was just a matter of "oh, that looks cool", and I was willing to give it a try. Sidemount would have been a valuable certification that I could use for future training. Sidemount certification would also be helpful if I wanted to go cave diving.