Sidemount Diver Course in Subic Bay, Philippines

About my sidemount course in Subic Bay

My sidemount course reflects a reputation for excellence and expertise. During this very comprehensive and uncompromising course, Andy Davis coaches and mentors you to effectively configure and operate sidemount equipment for high-performance diving.

This sidemount certification stresses the development of high attention to detail, situational awareness, ingrained fundamental skills, and expert equipment familiarity. The sidemount course includes a variety of contingency protocols, culminating in challenging emergency scenario training.

Sidemount training consists of a comprehensive full-day sidemount equipment configuration workshop, confined water sidemount skills development, and 2 sidemount training dives (4+ hours in the water!). It is suitable for both recreational and technical divers.

What are the sidemount course prerequisites?

• Minimum 18 years old.
• Certified Open Water or equivalent.

Any certified open-water diver can enroll in this sidemount course. Equivalent certifications from other dive training agencies are accepted. Training is delivered flexibly at the student’s certification level; ensuring challenge and the opportunity to develop all-round diving proficiency whether you are a novice diver or a very experienced technical, wreck, or cave diver.

Why choose your sidemount course with Andy Davis?

Sidemount certification, provided by Andy Davis, delivers decades of specialist sidemount instructor experience and expertise that guarantees your sidemount diving starts with complete proficiency.

This course provides sidemount students with the right knowledge, optimized gear configuration, effective skills, and best practice procedures to empower a very high degree of safety, confidence and competency as a sidemount diver.

Numerous elite-level technical divers, cave divers, and sidemount instructor-trainers have received training from Andy Davis to develop the best possible competency and expertise for their sidemount diving.

Ten reasons to choose a sidemount course with Andy Davis:

• World renown, pioneering technical sidemount instructor
• Decades of specialist EXPERIENCE in sidemount, trimix & overhead diving
• Delivers a PROVEN sidemount system that gets IMMEDIATE student results
• Full sidemount equipment workshop – learn the principles of how it SHOULD work
• NO COMPROMISES on quality: ample in-water time for practice
• High emphasis on developing buoyancy, trim, stability control, propulsion skills, situational awareness, and stress resilience
• Challenging drills to increase your sidemount fluency, equipment familiarity, confidence, and competency
• Promotes self-reliant, high proficiency, comfortable diving
• All skills and dives in neutral buoyancy, horizontal trim (no kneeling!)
• Effective preparation for technical and overhead environment sidemount diving

What is the sidemount certification theory syllabus?

• The history and development of sidemount diving
• Reasons for sidemount diving
• Sidemount diving equipment configuration
• Assembling your sidemount harness
• Rigging your sidemount cylinders and regulators
• Rigging stages and deco cylinders for sidemount *technical diver students
• Sidemount gear and accessories
• Planning procedures for sidemount diving
• Sidemount gas management

What is the sidemount training schedule?

The sidemount course includes theory lectures, an equipment workshop, fundamentals skills training, and open water dives. A typical program would look like:

• Day #1
  • Theory:
    • history of sidemount diving development
    • principles of sidemount systems
    • functional decompression theory
  • Full Equipment Workshop: set up and configure fully optimized sidemount equipment.
  • Dry Skills – Regulator switching, gas sharing, equipment donning.
• Day #2
  • Confined Water Fundamentals
    • Skills include; don/doff equipment, precision buoyancy, horizontal trim, control and propulsion techniques (frog, modified flutter, helicopter turn, and back kick), s-drills, long hose air-sharing.
• Day #3
  • Sidemount emergency and contingency protocols.
    • Skills include; remove/replace cylinders underwater, freeflow regulator and LPI, feather breathing, failed bungee and cylinder bolt-snap, use of sidemount pocket, buddy breathing and *use of stage/deco cylinders (*for qualified technical divers).
• Day #4
  • Dive 1 – Contingency sidemount skills practice
  • Dive 2 – Emergency scenario training

Every dive includes precision buoyancy and trim standards, descent checks (bubble check and s-drill), gas management (SAC), ascent and stop protocols, and DSMB deployment.

All skills developed during this sidemount training program apply cumulatively; so the skills learned on the first dive will be applied on each successive dive. A high standard of mastery is applied throughout the entire sidemount program and certification is entirely performance-based.

How much does the sidemount course cost?

The stated cost includes all tuition and instruction from Andy Davis

• Max 3 per course
• Scheduled courses will be run even if just one student
• Discounts available for group booking
• Private one-to-one lessons are available at a 50% surcharge
• Courses can be scheduled to meet your requirements
• 25% non-refundable deposit to confirm attendance on the course

Tech Supplement: +$250 per day. Additional days of training to cover the configuration protocols and use of sidemount stage/decompression cylinders. This training is suitable for qualified technical divers only.

Sidemount Fast-Track: $400. Condensed course (2 days). Suitable for more skilled divers with exemplary fundamental skills that don’t require diving proficiency development.

Tuition cost excludes hosting dive shop fees covering tank rentals, nitrox/trimix fills (optional), and boat costs as required. Instructor expenses are split between students.

Optional: RAID eLearning and certification fees, if you need a training agency certification card (as well as my own certification).

Contact Andy to book this great course now!