The NAUI Sidemount Diver course at Scuba Connection is an intensive specialty program designed for experienced divers who want to significantly elevate their equipment proficiency, underwater control, and gas-management discipline. This is not simply a gear-orientation class—it is a performance-based course focused on precision diving, situational awareness, and repeatable skill execution in a sidemount configuration.

Sidemount diving replaces the traditional back-mounted cylinder system with independently managed cylinders worn along the diver’s sides. This configuration provides superior access to regulators and valves, enhanced balance and trim, and a highly adaptable platform for complex dive environments. When trained correctly, sidemount offers exceptional control, redundancy, and efficiency—making it a preferred configuration for advanced recreational, overhead, and technical diving applications.

Training Philosophy & Skill Emphasis

This course is built around deliberate skill development and real-world readiness. Training emphasizes stable buoyancy, horizontal trim, controlled movement, and disciplined gas management under varying conditions. Every skill is taught with the expectation that it can be executed smoothly, neutrally buoyant, and without task loading.

You will develop a complete understanding of sidemount system configuration, including harness adjustment, cylinder rigging, regulator routing, and weighting strategies. Equal emphasis is placed on why each component is configured as it is, allowing you to make informed adjustments based on exposure protection, cylinder size, and dive objectives.

Core Skills & Competencies Developed

Throughout academic sessions, confined water practice, and four open water dives, you will progressively build the following competencies:

• Precision sidemount equipment configuration for balance, trim, and streamlining
• Dive planning using independent cylinders with structured gas management strategies
• Advanced buoyancy control and body positioning specific to sidemount systems
• Efficient propulsion techniques that support control and environmental awareness
• Regulator switching and gas monitoring procedures to maintain balanced reserves
• Out-of-air and gas-sharing drills executed in a controlled, neutrally buoyant manner
• Cylinder removal and replacement techniques at the surface and underwater
• Problem recognition and resolution related to gas supply, equipment, and task loading

All in-water skills are evaluated for control, awareness, and consistency—not just task completion.

Real-World Application & Diver Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, you will be certified as a NAUI Sidemount Diver and qualified to plan and conduct independent sidemount dives within no-decompression limits, in environments comparable to your training.

More importantly, you will leave the program with:

• A refined understanding of sidemount diving principles
• Greater confidence managing multiple gas sources
• Improved overall diving stability and efficiency
• A strong foundation for advanced training, including technical, wreck, or overhead-environment pathways

This course is an excellent choice for divers seeking to move beyond basic recreational configurations and adopt a more disciplined, adaptable, and performance-oriented approach to diving.

Prerequisites & Training Requirements

• Minimum Certification: Advanced Diver (or equivalent)
• Minimum Experience: 25 logged dives
• Training Structure: Academic development, confined water skill refinement, and four open water dives
• Certification Issued: NAUI Sidemount Diver