When does it make sense to learn sidemount?

[adimi24]

Hi, I am a new diver, with 26 logged dives. I just completed my OW and AOW at a reef monitering program in Belize. My instructor is a tec diver and sidemount diver and I am considering learning sidemount.

When does it make sense to do so? Should I get more backmount dives under my belt or is it good to start early? I will definetly continue open water diving ( rescue diver, divemaster) and am also interested in cave and wreck diving. I am on my way to Tulum to do a day of private cavern dives with ProTec ( shop my instructor trained with ). But I am considering pushing my flight back to undertake some training, either sidemount or a cavern course.

It seems to me that sidemount would be a good option now, I would be able to use it for open water and if i continue onto cave diving. Also, because i don't own a bcd yet, i think it would make sense to train sidemount now and get my harness, if that is what i decide i want to dive instead of buying backmount bcd and then soon after getting into sidemount and having to buy a new expensive harness. I could do Protec's 4 day openwater sidemount course, $230 usd, then a day or two of cavern diving with them. What do you guys think about learning sidemount so early in my diving career, the instructors at ProTec, etc?

---------- Post added May 10th, 2013 at 08:49 PM ----------

Protec just made this offer. Still need to find out details and price but seems like it'd be a lot of fun..

"Give us 4-5 days and you will leave as a

- Nitrox diver
- Essentials
- Open water sidemount
- With a few cavern dives under your belt..."

 

[MSargeant]

I know people who have done the course after 25 dives... I also know people who have swapped to sidemount after thousands of Backmount dives with twins n stages etc. Whenever you want to have a go would be my advice, just don't get roped in by people wanting to make money off you.

 

[adimi24]

Thanks for the reply.

Here was the offer:

"
We could combine:
- Open water sidemount (4 x dives)
- Cave essentials (2 days - 2 - 4 dives / sessions)
- Nitrox divers


We include ALL the equipment in the training


If you do the whole program as suggested I can offer you the Nitrox course FREE of charge and a 10% disscount on the Stealth 2.0 sidemount harness.


We will need 5 x days to complete the program. All dives will be conducted using Nitrox 32%


You will get your moneys worth and we will be spending 2 - 4 hours / day in the water diving practicing skills and diving.


So the total cost would be:
210 usd / day x 5 days = 1050 usd
certification fees x 2-3 = 80 - 120 usd
Stealth sidemount gear = 650 - 10% = 585 usd


Total = 1635 usd + 40 usd / cert"

Not sure why there is 210usd x 5 days, the sidemount course and cave essentials are both sub 300usd classes

 

[Karibelle]

Not sure why there is 210usd x 5 days, the sidemount course and cave essentials are both sub 300usd classes

I think the protec price is per day. So your price in the original post of $230 USD was not for the entire course, but per day of the course.

 

[Bobby]

If you are looking at going down the tech route and want to do it in SM I say the earlier the better. One thing to consider is where you will be diving. Here in the US especially in FL most of the cave diving is in steel cylinders. Having a SM rig with enough lift to move through the various parts of cave diving such as steel cylinders, stages, etc. would be optimal. The Stealth can be setup for this type of diving but requires more fine tuning than others available.

Also doing some comparison shopping of instructors and facilities would be a good thing. Give Edd Sorenson @ Cave Adventures a call and find out what his pricing is. I have known Edd for a long time and is at the top of my list as instructors and SM instructors. I have not taken any classes with Edd but I have audited a few of them and worked with his students after they have taken classes with him.

 

[adimi24]

Yes, protec just clarified that it is price per day, and will be 1 on 1. It sounds great but I think it makes sense to wait and do more research and think this out more thoroughly instead of rushing into it ( kind of what it feels like i'm doing, especially with such a large amount of money)

 

[TSandM]

Instruction charges in MX average around $200 a day (unless you go with the GUE guys). There is no incentive for instructors there to make open water instruction any cheaper, because they can usually fill their time with cave instruction at that price.

I don't know what Essentials goes for in other places, but Fundies here in Seattle, which is a similar but slightly longer class, is $600 for four days, so not entirely different but a little cheaper. Sidemount, on the other hand, is a class you can't GET just anywhere, and is CERTAINLY better taught by someone who dives sidemount actively and knows how to teach it and how to adjust gear for the student.

At your point in your career, there is no rush for any of this, although Essentials would be a very nice step up in skills.

 

[BDSC]

I was in the Philippines for two weeks back in February and on our trip were two instructors who were diving sidemount. They had dove it some before but thought that would be a perfect trip to get in a lot more practice. We had some interesting conversations about sidemount for those two weeks. Ultimately they said they could see no real benefit in diving sidemount for typical OW recreational dives. They felt where it would really excel would be in cave diving where you may have low overhead situations.

 

[scuba127]

What if the "typical OW recreational dive" is being done solo? I sidemount two aluminum 80's for solo open water no stop dives. In my mind, its the best application for recreational open water solo dives. I am SDI solo certified. I also sidemount two aluminum 80's when doing PADI Tec 40 open water dives. I've dove both sidemount and backmount doubles on these dives and prefer sidemount for open water Tec 40 deco dives.

 

[beanojones]

What if the "typical OW recreational dive" is being done solo? I sidemount two aluminum 80's for solo open water no stop dives. In my mind, its the best application for recreational open water solo dives..

Assuming you mean what I think you mean, I agree with this completely.

Solo diving without sidemount requires either doubles (which are just a pain in the butt), or sidemount. Technically a pony fits some minimum, but having seen how long pony bottles actually last when really needed, I would consider most ponies not really redundant, just bothersome.