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Continuing-Education

Sidemount Rec Diver

eLearning covers self-study material. Your dive shop will charge training fees.
How to Gift This Course

About the Course

Discover the balance and efficiency of sidemount scuba diving with your PADI dive instructor. Many divers find sidemount tanks are more comfortable and easier to put on in the water. Sidemount diving is also beneficial for divers who want improved balance and prolonged dives.
Available Languages
Take This Course If You Want to
  • Experience a different scuba configuration
  • Improve gas management
  • Gain insight into basic tec diving techniques
Learn How to
  • Assemble and configure sidemount equipment
  • Mount scuba tanks in the water
  • Adjust your weights for optimal balance
  • Frog kick to move easily while wearing sidemount

How to Earn Your PADI Sidemount Diver Certification

Complete your Sidemount Diver eLearning coursework online, then meet with a highly-trained PADI Instructor for training dives.
Man and woman sitting together using mobile devices
Independent Study

1
PADI eLearning®

PADI eLearning® makes it easy to fit scuba certification into a busy schedule. Study online or offline, using a computer or mobile device. Connect with your instructor if you have questions.
  • eLearning time commitment: 2-4 hours
Student and instructor sitting at a desk reviewing.
At The Dive Shop

2
With Your Instructor

First, you'll make a confined water dive to become familiar with sidemount diving equipment. Your PADI Instructor will also teach you sidemount diving skills including: frog kicking, attaching and removing scuba tanks as you enter and exit the water, unclipping a scuba tank and swimming with the tank in front of you, and how to switch second stages and manage your breathing gas when wearing two scuba tanks. When you’re comfortable with these skills, you’ll make three open water dives where you’ll practice your new skills, buoyancy control and problem solving.
  • Prerequisites: PADI Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification)
  • Total time commitment: 2-3 days
  • Minimum age: 15

More Info

 
Gifting and Sharing Courses

Want to share the experience or give the gift of endless adventure? You can now purchase PADI eLearning® and share it with a recipient of your choice! Whether you are purchasing the course as a gift or need to assign the it to family members – it’s super easy.

  1. Once you purchase your eLearning course, you can log-in to your PADI account to access the course.
  2. From your Dashboard go to Student Details and Manage Your Courses.
  3. You can then decide to Start the eLearning yourself or ‘Share the course’.
  4. To share the course, simply click on ‘Share the Course’ and enter the email address of the recipient you wish to share the course with.
  5. The recipient will receive an email to create or log-in to their PADI Account to start the course.
 
Medical Requirements

Scuba diving requires a minimum level of health and fitness. Chronic health conditions, certain medications and/or recent surgery may require you to get written approval from a physician before diving.

Avoid disappointment, download and review the Diver Medical form to ensure you won’t need a physician’s approval to dive before enrolling in a scuba course. Instructors, divemasters and dive shop staff are not physicians and should not be asked for medical advice; only medical professionals can give medical clearance to dive.

If you (or your physician) have questions about medical fitness to dive, contact the experts at Divers Alert Network (DAN).

 
Prerequisites & Minimum Age
  • Prerequisites: PADI Open Water Diver (or qualifying certification)
  • Minimum age: 15 years or older
 
Choosing a Dive Shop

There are three parts to certification: knowledge development, skill practice and open water dives. You can complete all three parts locally, on holiday, or split between the two.

Choose a dive shop close to home to:

  • Support your local diving community
  • Meet other divers in your area
  • Learn about your local ecosystem

Choose a dive shop away from home if you:

  • Plan to travel to a dive destination on holiday
  • Enjoy meeting new people
  • Have time to complete your course on vacation

If you're not ready to try diving locally, but want to support your local dive shop, you can complete eLearning and coursework near home, then complete your training dives while traveling. Contact your local PADI Dive Center to ask about a referral.

TIP: Complete PADI eLearning pre-travel to minimize time spent studying on vacation.

 
Frequently Asked Questions

Want a detailed explanation of what's involved with learning to scuba dive? This comprehensive article covers everything you need to know about scuba certification.

You can also review the frequently asked questions about learning to scuba dive at the bottom of this page.

 
Other Costs & Equipment

This is a two-part class with course study and inwater dive training requirements for certification. The PADI eLearning course purchased on padi.com covers course study only.

There is an additional cost for inwater training with a PADI Instructor. Cost varies by class size, location and dive gear rental.

  • In addition to your basic gear, you’ll need a harness and buoyancy control device (BCD) designed specifically for sidemount. When wearing two tanks, each tank requires its own regulator and submersible pressure gauge (SPG). Most recreational sidemount divers carry a folding or collapsible snorkel in a pocket, instead of wearing it on a mask. Your instructor will advise you about the equipment options. Gear may or may not be included with inwater training cost.
  • Depending on the dive environment, you may also need a wetsuit or dry suit. 

Contact your PADI Dive Center or Resort for more information and pricing.

 
Time Commitment
  • PADI eLearning: 2-4 hours
  • Entire course: 2-3 days

 

 
Available Languages
English, Nederlands, Français, Italiano, اللغة العربية, Deutsch, 한국어, Espanol, 日本語, 中文简体, 中文繁体, Русский язык
 
System Requirements

PADI's eLearning courses online are designed to work on the browsers listed below. For the best experience ensure your browser is up to date.

  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Edge
  • Firefox

If you’re going somewhere without internet access, use the PADI Training app to download course content and study offline. Content can be downloaded in sections up to 1.10 GB. Once back online, upload your progress to resume your training where you left off.

The PADI Training app is available for Android™ and Apple® iOS devices. For an optimal experience, devices should be no more than three models old with the most current OS (operating system).

 

 
After this course

Consider continuing on to Tec Sidemount Diver course in which you’ll learn additional skills specific to tec diving in sidemount, such as staging and switching deco cylinders.

Technical divers explore reefs and wrecks at depths below the 40 meter/130-foot recreational limit. With specialized training, they can explore underwater caves and other places well beyond the reach of mainstream recreational diving.

The Sidemount Diver Specialty course dive may count toward your Advanced Open Water Diver certification – ask your instructor about earning credit.

Each PADI Specialty you complete gets you one step closer to earning the elite Master Scuba Diver™ rating.

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