A Little History

Many active divers and instructors now a days have heard of what is said to be the 'newest dive craze" or more commonly referred to as Side Mount scuba diving. A brief look back in History shows us that Side Mount was first developed and used in the 1970's by sump divers in England, the use of the configuration made it easier to transport gear between submerged sections of the cave system making exploration less testing. For the past forty years Side Mount has been used in the exploration of submerged cave systems that are too small or "restricted" for traditional and most commonly dived, back mount configuration. Until recently Side mount gear was not readily available or mass produced with most systems being developed using the "tried and tested" technique with many "in the field changes".

Thankfully with the growing popularity and need for development, Side Mount equipment has been developed and being produced by equipment manufacturers and marketed appropriately by relative training agencies.

Many may think that Side Mount diving is only intended for caves no bigger than a man's shoulders and the exploration of these deep underground cave systems. This is what it was developed for years ago yes, but these explorers have thousands of hours underwater and have had proper training as well as extensive knowledge of these systems and use their acquired skills for the better exploration and conservation of these magnificent systems.

Side mount has transformed to a very practical and versatile configuration of Scuba diving used at all levels from recreation and technical diving, having the ability to dive with one or multiple tanks mounted on the sides of the body. Some benefits include ease of transportation, ease of donning and doffing cylinders, and the ability to monitor air supply and valves more closely. All of these benefits and many more are helping to make side mount more readily available within the recreational training agencies and relative instructors world wide.

With the introduction of mainstream equipment manufacturers it won't take long before Side Mount Scuba diving is hitting shores near you.

Are you ready for a new lease of diving in what could possibly be the most versatile, comfortable and reliable configuration in the seas.