95 episodes

The podcast where we talk all things sidemount diving, from equipment, skills, techniques and sidemount diving expeditions to interviews with some of the world's top sidemount divers. Whether you are new to sidemount diving, been diving sidemount for years or are just want to know more, this is THE place for all things sidemount.

Subscribe to receive new episodes every week. If you like the podcast please consider leaving us a 5-star review. More info via our website and Facebook page:

https://www.sidemountpros.com
https://www.facebook.com/speakingsidemount/

Speaking Sidemount Steve Davis - Sidemount Diver & Instructor

    • Sport
    • 5.0 • 32 Ratings

The podcast where we talk all things sidemount diving, from equipment, skills, techniques and sidemount diving expeditions to interviews with some of the world's top sidemount divers. Whether you are new to sidemount diving, been diving sidemount for years or are just want to know more, this is THE place for all things sidemount.

Subscribe to receive new episodes every week. If you like the podcast please consider leaving us a 5-star review. More info via our website and Facebook page:

https://www.sidemountpros.com
https://www.facebook.com/speakingsidemount/

    Florian Symoens - "Transitioning to a Full Time Instructor"

    Florian Symoens - "Transitioning to a Full Time Instructor"

    Hey, great to bring you Episode 94 Florian Symoens - "Transitioning to a Full Time Instructor" with the support of our show sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support which helps to make this show possible.
    Well, there must be something in the water in Belgium. For such a small country, located in northern Europe… there seem to be so many divers from there doing great things. To date I've interviewed David DeBruyne 48, Laurent Miroult 63, Sanne Volja 74, and Ellen Cuylaerts 91… and for some time now I've been following the exploits of Florian Symoens.
    Florian is an ISE Tech and Cave instructor who for many years juggled his diving passion with his hospitality business. Surprisingly during COVID while his "nightlife business" was in lockdown, Florian's diving activities boomed with more courses and the time to explore the mines in Belgium with Sanne.
    As the world opened up so did the possibility that Florian could transition from his nightlife business to becoming a full-time Technical Diving instructor. As Florian and I discuss, there are so many of us who juggle our careers and diving so it was outstanding to hear his story and his plans for the future.
    In this episode, Florian and I discuss his diving background, the Inner Space Explorers or ISE Agency, and ISE's take on sidemount diving. We get into how Florian became a cave instructor and given that much of the diving in Belgium is mines, we contrast cave, wreck and mine diving, covering the similarities and the differences we need to be aware of.
    Florian takes us through the sale of his business and his progression to a full-time Tech instructor. We talk mine exploration in Belgium and then the tools required including the KISS Sidewinder rebreather on which Florian is now an instructor.
    Florian has experience on a bunch of rebreathers so we compare and contrast a few, in particular, the Dive Soft Liberty before we share our excitement on the upcoming release of the second generation KISS Sidewinder or Sidewinder 2.0
    We close on Florian's plans for this year and beyond.
    Enjoy :)
    Steve

    • 1 hr 4 min
    Tamara Adame - "The Path to Cave Instructor"

    Tamara Adame - "The Path to Cave Instructor"

    Hey, I hope you are having a great start to the year :)!! It's great to bring you Episode #93 Tamara Adame - "The Path to Cave Instructor". Thanks again for your support.
    Huge thanks also to XDEEP for sponsoring the show. Their support has been instrumental in the success of this podcast and it is sincerely appreciated.
    One of the pinnacles in the application of sidemount diving is of course cave diving and cave exploration. It's an addictive pastime to research and then ultimately physically search for and then investigate flooded holes in the ground in an attempt to find that euphoric "never seen before… virgin cave passage.
    Many cave explorers either started their journeys as sidemount and cave instructors or found their way to this profession as a way to pay for their passion. For the vast majority, it's a match made in heaven where they get to earn a living sharing and teaching about how to dive caves and then applying their skills to their exploration. Teaching is also the perfect way to keep their cave diving skills current and built into muscle memory.
    The path to becoming a cave instructor is long. There's joining courses with other instructors, observing their teaching styles and content, having your skills reviewed and critiqued, then when you are ready… assisting on courses, being evaluated and then eventually qualifying as a Cavern instructor, teaching, building experience and then repeating this process twice more to reach the coveted level of Full Cave instructor. I'm using the TDI agency levels here but they map easily to the levels of other agencies… long story short… it's a journey full of pressure, failures, learning, and ultimately I am sure one of satisfaction when achieving a pinnacle level in the dive profession.
    In this episode, Tamara Adame joins me to share her journey along this path to cave instructor under the mentorship of Patrick Widmann of ProTec Playa. I had the good fortune to meet and hang with Tamara a bit while I was at ProTec training with Patrick. She's an amazing person, a great diver, and has a real passion for caves and diving.
    Tamara talks about growing up around the ocean in Mexico and how this shaped her love of everything aquatic. She shares on her time in Belgium building her career before she found herself back in Mexico and ultimately falling in love with caves and cave diving. She shares on how she met Patrick and how he guided her on her path to becoming a cave instructor. Tamara goes into how she came to work at Protec and the standards-driven focus of the team there.
    We discuss the challenges, failures and ultimately achieving the standards required in cave instructor training and where Tamara is taking her diving including her scientific diving work and the search for "Tamara's Cave".
    Enjoy :)!!
    Steve

    • 1 hr 20 min
    E092 Pepe Tiburon: "Tren Maya - A Disaster in the Making"

    E092 Pepe Tiburon: "Tren Maya - A Disaster in the Making"

    Great to bring you Episode #92 Pepe Tiburon: "Tren Maya - A Disaster in the Making". Big thanks to all of you and also to our brilliant sponsor XDEEP. Your support makes this podcast possible.
    Many of you will be aware of the environmental issues and development pressures experienced on the Yucatan peninsula in the area spanning from Cancun to Tulum. This area encompasses the largest cave systems in the world, many of which are also of huge archaeological and environmental significance, playing home to rare species of flora and fauna, Mayan artefacts, and geological features dating back millions of years. On top of that, the caves are aquifers that carry the water supply for all life in the region.
    Development pressures and the lack of adequate development controls have already damaged the region recently the Mexican Government's plan to build a train loop from Cancun to Tulum directly through the pristine jungle and above the precious caves of the region has caused huge concern and opposition. Known as Tren Maya, the train was originally planned to run along the highway meaning its impact would be manageable however, following opposition from the hotel industry, the Government decided to move the train 7km inland through the jungle and yes directly over some of the best-flooded caves on the planet. All cave divers should be concerned about this but more than that, the loss of jungle habitat, endangered species, and the ongoing and increasing damage to the water supply should worry us all.
    I have covered this topic in other episodes notably EP #36 Somos Los Cenotes with Phillip Lehmann, Natalie and Vince of Under the Jungle and also with Alessandra Figari #77 and Robbie Schmittner #85 but when Stratis Kas provided an introduction to Jose Urbina Bravo or Pepe Tiburon as he is known I took the opportunity to meet and find out more.
    In this episode, Pepe takes us through the background and history of Tren Maya and then describes the issues and terrible outcomes likely if this project is allowed to continue. He speaks not only of the damage caused by the Tren Maya project itself but also of the "Cancer" that will result in terms of additional development surrounding the train and environmental damage in these last remaining pristine jungle regions of Mexico.
    Pepe updates us on his progress including winning a legal injunction to stop the project before this was overridden by the Government. He talks of the ongoing battle to oppose the project and his recent trip to Mexico City to meet with the Government face-to-face. But Pepe also provides balance to the discussions with ways in which development might occur in the region where technology and modern techniques might both reverse current issues and allow for responsible development in the future.
    Lastly Pepe shares with us ways in which all of us who love this region and care about the environment might assist and support the fight to oppose the Tren Maya project in its current form.
    So sit back and join me with Pepe Tiburon in this episode of… Speaking Sidemount.
    Watch a video of Pepe showing the damage.

    • 1 hr 8 min
    Ellen Cuylaerts - "The Power of Positive"

    Ellen Cuylaerts - "The Power of Positive"

    Hey, great to bring you Episode 91 Ellen Cuylaerts - "The Power of Positive" with the support of our sponsor XDEEP, and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Massive thanks to both for their support :)!
    Of all the disciplines associated with diving, photography and videography have always been special to me. The ability to capture that perfect moment, underwater, in often challenging conditions, dealing with lighting and composition along with the technical requirements related to the camera in an underwater environment. Add to that the dive skills to be stable in the water while seeking "the shot".
    I love shooting GoPro videos of my dives, clipping images and then editing them into almost a video logbook of where I have been and dived and then sharing them on the Sidemount Pros YouTube channel is satisfying. But like anything there are levels to this, and in photography, to capture images that are worthy of magazine spreads or covers and win awards against their peers is the pinnacle.
    There are many great photographers and videographers out there and I've had a few on the show such as Laurent Miroult, Stratis Kas, Philip Lehman, Natalie Gibb and Becky Kagan-Schott. Some have also worked on conservation and wildlife photography in their work.
    My guest in this episode is very much in this vein. Ellen Cuylaerts hails from Belgium and is an award-winning photographer focused on ocean wildlife photography. She has a unique perspective on her work as she seeks to develop deeper connections between humanity and nature through her images.
    Ellen is also a cave diver and now an explorer. She was part of the all-female Xunaan Ha project under the tutelage of Robbie Schmittner my guest in Episode 85.
    As we talk of Ellen's diving and her work we can’t help but touch on the many challenges that she has faced from being a mother to two high-functioning autistic children to losing her partner to suicide and a type 2 DCS incident that left her with paralysis. Through all of this, Ellen has shown extraordinary strength and resilience and most strikingly, an amazingly positive attitude and outlook. She now applies this to her work and to her conservation efforts where she is a leading speaker and voice for the environment.
    Sit back and enjoy my conversation with Ellen, in this episode of… Speaking Sidemount.
    Cheers Steve

    • 1 hr 7 min
    Thorsten Waelde - "Exploring the Bel Torrente Cave"

    Thorsten Waelde - "Exploring the Bel Torrente Cave"

    This episode is brought to you by our brilliant sponsor, XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Huge thanks to both for their support that makes this podcast possible.
     In this episode, I catch up for the third time with Thorsten Waelde or Toddy as he is known. I first met Toddy in Episode 24 when we did a deep dive into Toddy Style Sidemount. We caught up again in episode 44 to talk about his Utopia Exploration project in Sardinia only a few months after I had returned from my trip there. I've since been following Toddy's exploits with interest and when I saw the stunning work he was doing on the Bel Torrente exploration via a video on Toddy's YouTube channel (See link below), it was time to catch up and hear more. The amazing part of this project is that it is a multi-sump or siphon project where the cave under exploration has dry sections connected by flooded passages. The penetration length requires the exploration team to live underground for several days, staying at base camps in the dry sections as they progress further into the cave. This creates massive complications to the project, especially the logistics of moving the equipment required and the physical and mental application required is immense.
    In this episode, Toddy gives us an overview of the Bel Torrente project. He talks of the team he has assembled, the skills required before we get into the logistics of this project, the equipment, and the evolution of their procedures as they encountered new challenges and requirements at each section.
    We talk cave geology and the risk and danger of an accident deep in the cave before Toddy explains how he uses Seacraft Dive Propulsion vehicles and the new lightweight Seacraft GO that is easier to carry across the dry sections.
    We finish discussing the Cave Camps that Toddy runs at Protec Sardinia, where qualified cave divers can experience aspects of these projects by diving into a cave and spending a night at a base camp. The Cave Camps include workshops on how to use dry tubes to take equipment into the cave and a heap of time exploring the beautiful dry sections of the caves in Sardinia. I am super excited to check these out.
    Enjoy, cheers!!
    Steve
    Thanks to:
    Our Sponsor - XDEEP
    Thorsten "Toddy" Waelde - Protec Sardinia
    YouTube Video - Follow the Conger: Exploring the Bel Torrente Cave 

    • 1 hr 14 min
    Turk Vangel - "Sidemount Fundamentals"

    Turk Vangel - "Sidemount Fundamentals"

    Here's Episode 89 brought to you by our sponsor XDEEP and the patrons of Speaking Sidemount. Thanks so much for your support. 
    Over the past 88 episodes, cave diving has featured heavily and that's no accident. As you'll be aware, sidemount diving grew from the requirements of early flooded cave explorers, firstly the CDG in the UK, with others around the world following and eventually building on sidemount diving, equipment, and techniques to give us what we have today. In many ways, sidemount diving has evolved to the requirements of cave divers however sidemount diving today is enjoyed by many who never have, or in some cases never intend to dive caves.
    Given the large percentage of Sidemount divers diving open water, I thought it was time we pulled together another episode on the Fundamentals of Sidemount diving and what it takes to get good at sidemount. As you may have noted, I don’t tend to get into debates on sidemount on Facebook or other online sites, but I recently had a discussion, let's call it, on the benefits or otherwise of sliding d-rings with Turk Vangel of Prana Divers in Bali. Turk goes by the handle Turk Diggler... an awesome nickname by the way and a great play on the star of the movie Boogie Nights if you didn’t get it.
    Even though I didn’t completely agree with him, Turk was making some solid points, so I thought why not get him on the show and together go through our thoughts on what it takes to be good at sidemount… from soup to nuts, beginning to… we'll, there's never an end to learning… as we'll find out.
    As a side note and I guess a shameless plug, much of what I am covering here is also available in my eBook "Sidemount Fundamentals" which you can check out and purchase via my website at www.sidemountpros.com/store
    With that said… sit back and join me with Turk on the Fundamentals of Sidemount Diving.
    Cheers Steve
    Thanks to:
    XDEEP for their support - XDEEP
    Turk (Diggler) Vangel:
    www.pranadive.com
    https://www.youtube.com/@pranadive
    Instagram - @prana_dive_amed & @scubawithturk

    • 1 hr 12 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
32 Ratings

32 Ratings

neoprenejunky ,

Such a great educational & inspiring listen

Really educational and insightful podcast about Sidemount diving and explores so much beyond that and into the world of many aspects of diving. Such a great variety of quality guests; each sharing their knowledge of diving and experience. Very captivating.

sidemount matt ,

Love this podcast

I love listening to this podcast wen I’m at work I learn so much from Steve and from every guest on there I’m also a patron member so I get all the bonus content as well 😊 good work Steve

Chears
Matt

downbelow19 ,

So inspiring!

Great podcast for anyone interested in diving, dive training, exploration and, of course, sidemount. The topics stretch far beyond Sidemount only, and there is really something in each episode that’s made me think about my own teaching and diving.

Top Podcasts In Sport

53 Minutes
Global
Stick to Football
The Overlap
The Rest Is Football
Goalhanger Podcasts
The Sports Agents
Global
The High Performance Podcast
High Performance
The Overlap with Gary Neville
Sky Bet

You Might Also Like

Off Gassing: A Scuba Podcast
Nicholas Hogle
UTD Scuba Diving Podcast
UTD Scuba Diving
The Dive Table
Fish Dive Surf, Inc.
Into The Planet Podcast
Jill Heinerth
The Great Dive Podcast
Brando & James
The BiG Scuba Podcast
GLK