PADI Sidemount Diver

The PADI Sidemount Diver specialty teaches you to configure your scuba cylinders alongside your body — one on each hip — rather than on your back. The result is dramatically improved trim, better streamlining, and a level of comfort and freedom that many divers say transforms their experience underwater.

Sidemount was originally developed for cave diving but is now a popular recreational configuration. It reduces back strain, improves horizontal trim, and gives you better access to your valves and regulators. Once you try it, many divers never go back to back-mounted diving.

Minimum age: 15. Prerequisite: PADI Open Water Diver (or equivalent).

Why Learn Sidemount Diving in Koh Samui?

The Gulf of Thailand’s dive sites offer ideal conditions for learning sidemount — calm, warm water, excellent visibility, and dive guides familiar with the configuration. Sites like Sail Rock and Koh Tao reward good trim and streamlined positioning.

Sidemount is also the natural stepping stone toward technical diving — cave, wreck penetration, and mixed-gas diving all use sidemount or sidemount-derived configurations.

What You’ll Learn

eLearning (completed online before arrival):

• Sidemount diving history and development
• Equipment selection and configuration principles
• How to achieve proper trim and buoyancy in sidemount
• Gas management and cylinder sequencing
• Emergency procedures specific to sidemount

Course Structure

Day 1 — Theory + Confined Water (Pool)

Pool session 9am to around noon. You’ll assemble and configure a sidemount system with your instructor, practise donning and doffing cylinders in the water, achieve proper buoyancy and trim, and work through the fundamental sidemount skills.

Days 2 & 3 — Open Water Dives (3 dives by boat)

Three open water dives at sites between Koh Samui and Koh Tao. Each dive builds on the pool skills — real-condition buoyancy, valve management, gas sequencing, and the sidemount-specific emergency procedures.

Hotel pickup arranged, boat departs 9am, back by 3–4pm.

Skills You’ll Master

• Sidemount system assembly, fit, and weight distribution
• Donning and doffing cylinders in the water
• Cylinder management — valve and regulator switching
• Achieving horizontal trim with sidemount configuration
• Streamlined body positioning and fin technique
• Sidemount-specific emergency procedures