Dive different with Sidemount diving
Sidemount diving is often considered technical diving that you wore two bottles. The sidemount is a dive with different scuba equipment. You will use a harness, carry two tanks to balance, but you will not make deep diving or decompression stops.
Sidemount diving relieves the upper body. Instead of supporting the entire weight of your tank on your shoulders, you’ll carry a bottle on each side of your body. With similar amount of air, sidemount equipment is lighter than a traditional scuba unit.
Sidemount diving brings you more comfort but also safety. You will always take more gas mix with you compared to a diver with a sport scuba unit.
Specific sidemount gears
Several types of sidemount harnesses are available and could be adjusted to everybody. You will be amazed to see that it is possible to dive with so little gears.
The first dive will be in confined water and allow you to understand the sidemount harness. It will be an opportunity for you to see that it is possible to repeat all the PADI Open Water skills with sidemount gears. Even before the end of the session, you’ll wonder how is it that you did not sidemount diving from the beginning. The dives will be exclusively done in sidemount to become familiar with this type of gears.
Sport course or Tech course
The PADI Sidemount diver speciality lasts 2 days. You will learn how to use sidemount gears within the limits of recreational diving. It can be combined with other training such as Tec40 or the PADI Open Water course. It is quite possible to have the PADI Open Water certification in sidemount ! The course can begin at any time.