SDI SIDEMOUNT DIVER COURSE
Sidemount Diver Course in Jacksonville, Florida
Build a streamlined, balanced, and adaptable diving configuration.
Learn to dive with side-mounted cylinders through focused training in equipment setup, trim, gas management, regulator handling, and streamlined movement underwater.
Cost: $350 (due on first day of class)
Open Water Certified Required | 2+ Training Dives | SDI Certification | Small Class Sizes
Course price includes SDI eLearning, instruction dives, and certification card. Students provide personal gear and are responsible for gas fills and site entry fees.
WHAT IS SIDEMOUNT DIVING?
A More Intentional Way to Configure Your Dive
Sidemount diving places your primary cylinders along your sides rather than on your back. The configuration can provide a streamlined profile, easier access to valves and regulators, flexible gas management, and a different approach to trim and equipment organization.
But sidemount is not simply “backmount with tanks on the side.” It requires its own setup, hose routing, weighting, cylinder attachment, regulator-switching habits, and buoyancy approach.
The SDI Sidemount Diver course teaches certified recreational divers how to properly use side-mounted primary cylinders within recreational, no-decompression limits. You will build the foundation needed to configure, check, dive, and manage sidemount equipment with purpose.
Learn how harness fit, cylinder position, attachment points, hose routing, and weighting affect comfort, trim, and access to your equipment.
Dial In Your Configuration
Manage Gas Intentionally
Practice regulator switching, balanced gas use, cylinder awareness, and managing two independent primary cylinders throughout the dive.
Move More Streamlined
Work on trim, body position, buoyancy, and clean equipment placement so the configuration supports efficient movement instead of creating drag.
READY TO DIVE SIDEMOUNT?
GET CERTIFIED ON YOUR SCHEDULE
Complete the eLearning at your own pace
Meet with an instructor for a sidemount equipment workshop covering harness setup, cylinder rigging, weighting, hose routing, and configuration adjustment
Complete instructor-led training dives focused on trim, gas management, regulator switching, buoyancy, and sidemount handling
Training With a Buddy?
Navigation is one of the best specialties to complete with the person you regularly dive with. Book together, choose a preferred training timeframe, and we’ll coordinate a small-group session focused on the planning, communication, route tracking, and return procedures you will use together on future dives.
Frequently Asked Questions
This course is for certified divers who want to learn how to use a sidemount configuration with two independently supplied cylinders. It can be a good fit for divers interested in streamlined open-water diving, shore diving, travel, wreck diving, cavern environments, or future technical training.
Not necessarily. We can help you understand the equipment needed before class and discuss what makes sense for your goals, fit, and local availability. A properly configured system matters more than simply buying a harness and cylinders.
No. While sidemount is widely used in cave and technical diving, it is also a practical configuration for open-water divers. Many divers choose it for easier cylinder handling, a lower-profile setup, and the ability to manage two independent gas supplies.
Yes. Sidemount diving uses two separate cylinders, each with its own valve, regulator, and pressure gauge. The course teaches you how to manage those cylinders properly throughout the dive.
No. This is a recreational sidemount course and does not require prior cave or technical certification. The course is designed to give you a strong foundation in sidemount-specific equipment use and diving procedures.
Often, yes—but sidemount requires specific hose routing, regulator configuration, cylinder rigging, and attachment hardware. We will review your current equipment before class so you know what can be used and what may need to change.
Neither configuration is automatically better. Sidemount and backmount each have strengths depending on the diver, environment, equipment needs, and type of diving planned. This course helps you learn whether sidemount is a practical long-term option for you.
It can provide useful foundational skills and familiarity with a configuration commonly used in those environments, but it does not qualify you for cavern, cave, decompression, or technical diving. Those require separate training.