Frequently asked questions

We sort that out in a short phone call before you book. As a rough guide:

• Certified and want to get better: GUE Performance Diver or personal training.
• Already certified and curious about sidemount: Try Dive or SDI Sidemount Diver.
• Heading for technical diving: TDI Intro to Tech in sidemount or GUE Fundamentals in backmount.
• Technical diver, new to sidemount: TDI Sidemount Diver.

SDI Sidemount Diver is strictly no-decompression, down to 40 metres or the limit of your certification. It fits if you want to dive sidemount recreationally.

After TDI Sidemount Diver you may dive sidemount with decompression stops as well, as far as your other certifications allow. The course can be combined with Decompression Procedures. It fits if you dive technically or are heading that way, GUE background included.

No. My courses require basic training first, an Open Water Diver or a comparable certification. After that you can start with me on GUE Performance Diver or a sidemount try dive, for example.

No system wins in every situation. Both have their strengths and typical failure modes, and if you know both you choose per dive rather than out of conviction. I teach sidemount under SDI and TDI and backmount under GUE.

More on the blog: Backmount or Sidemount: The Wrong Question

Both lay the foundation for technical diving and differ mainly in configuration, format and entry requirements. I teach GUE Fundamentals in backmount and TDI Intro to Tech in sidemount. The technical GUE courses require Technical Fundamentals; Intro to Tech leads into the TDI path with Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures.

More on the blog: GUE Fundamentals or TDI Intro to Tech?

GUE offers sidemount as a course of its own only for caves (Sidemount Cave Diver). My open water sidemount courses therefore run under SDI and TDI, with the same standard of trim, buoyancy and team procedure as my GUE courses. Certification is through SDI or TDI; GUE does not certify these courses. For GUE divers, TDI Sidemount Diver or Intro to Tech are a good fit.

No. I teach sidemount under SDI and TDI and GUE courses from Performance Diver to DPV 1, all in open water. The cave photos on this site were taken in Mexico, where I trained up to Full Cave myself.

I do not offer the TDI course called Advanced Sidemount either. Despite the name it is an overhead course for caves, not the next level of sidemount skill. Advanced sidemount skills in open water, meaning trim, buoyancy, propulsion and problem solving, are what we work on in TDI Sidemount Diver, Intro to Tech and personal training.

Since standards v10, GUE separates recreational and technical diving more clearly. The former Fundamentals has become three courses: Performance Diver, Basic Fundamentals and Technical Fundamentals. Technical Fundamentals is for divers who want to start technical diving or already dive technically. Moving up from Basic to Technical Fundamentals is still possible; the missing content has to be made up, which means at least one extra day with two dives. Details are in the GUE standards.

We meet at 8:30 at Deepstop in Schwetzingen. The day starts with theory, matched to where you are rather than a fixed programme. Then I look at your equipment and adjust it where needed. Next come dry runs: every skill is explained and practised on land. After that we drive to a nearby lake for one or two dives, and the day ends with a detailed debrief.

Yes. I teach in English as well as in German.

Theory takes place in the training room at Deepstop, which also has the facilities to set up equipment and fill cylinders. There is a bakery and a few places to eat nearby, or bring your own food.

The dives are in lakes in the area, for example Rheinauer See or St. Leon. Which lake depends on visibility, weather and what the course needs: depth, entry, navigation targets, bottom. Some lakes have toilets and warm changing rooms, others only a car park. Entries usually have no steps or ladder.

Because you will dive in lakes afterwards, not in a pool. I teach by “train like you fight”: cold, thick gloves, a drysuit and poor visibility belong in training, not in your first dive after the course. All courses take place in local waters, never under the easier conditions of an indoor dive centre. I run the shallow water sessions in the lake as well. GUE standards allow open water for this, up to 9 metres deep with adequate visibility, a calm surface and negligible current.

I dive all year, but courses normally run between March and November. When the water is too cold, concentration drops too much, and skills are hard to perform when you can barely feel your fingers. That applies to sidemount in particular.

Usually yes. Splitting a course over several dates is possible by arrangement.

I teach at most three students per course. Whether one-to-one teaching is possible is answered under one-to-one teaching.

Yes. Just sign up on your own, I match up individual sign-ups. That also applies to GUE courses that need at least two participants under the GUE standard.

No. You are certified when you meet the requirements of the relevant standard. On GUE courses I grade every skill on a scale of 1 to 5. We go through each one, and I tell you where you stand and what to change. If something is still missing, you can add days at the same day rate.

Before the course you receive a list of everything you need for it. If you are missing anything, I advise you beforehand. It is best to do the course in your own equipment, because it gets set up for you during the course.

No. GUE prescribes a configuration, not a brand; you learn in the course why it is set up the way it is. For sidemount systems, too, there are several manufacturers to choose from.

Doubles are only mandatory on Technical Fundamentals and the Doubles Primer, and Technical Fundamentals also requires a corded primary light and two backup lights. Performance Diver and Basic Fundamentals work with a single cylinder or doubles; Basic Fundamentals includes a valve drill, so doubles make sense there.

A drysuit is not mandatory. If you want to use one on Advanced Open Water or the primers, for example, you need 15 drysuit dives beforehand, or the Drysuit Primer followed by 10 dives. Similar rules apply to doubles.

Yes, for a fee. Cylinders or canister lights are no problem. You can fill your cylinders on site.

Not on a hunch. On the Try Dive you test sidemount or doubles before buying anything; equipment is included in the price. Many problems on the first dives come down to practice, not equipment. Before you buy, ask someone who has seen you underwater. I also set up sidemount systems at Deepstop.

More on the blog: Buying gear instead of practicing

The prices on the prices page are total prices per person including VAT. They are made up of the day rate times the course days (€225 per day from two participants, €250 for one-to-one teaching), €10 training room per course day and, for SDI and TDI, €35 certification. No certification, no certification fee. The Try Dive is a flat €149 including equipment.

The only things on top are GUE registration for GUE courses, gas fills, lake entry and rental equipment if needed. Instructor expenses only apply if the course is to take place outside the region.

The planned course length is usually enough. If you need longer, each extra day is added at the same day rate.

On SDI and TDI courses, yes, at the day rate of €250. On GUE courses the standard allows one-to-one teaching only for certain courses; with me that is Performance Diver, Doubles Primer and Drysuit Primer. Advanced Open Water, Basic and Technical Fundamentals, the Navigation, Rescue and Deep Primers and DPV 1 run with at least two participants.

Yes, as personal training: half a day costs €100, a full day €225, plus gas and lake entry. Based on a video analysis, I work with you on specific skills; we agree on the content beforehand.

Yes, the standards provide for several combinations:

• TDI Advanced Nitrox with Decompression Procedures: 6 dives in total.
• TDI Advanced Nitrox with Intro to Tech or TDI Sidemount: 4 dives in total.
• Intro to Tech or TDI Sidemount with Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Procedures: at least 8 dives.
• GUE Deep Primer together with a Fundamentals course: one extra day with two dives.
• GUE Advanced Open Water Diver: also via the Navigation, Rescue and Deep Primers.

Please cancel by email. For the course fee:

You can rebook once free of charge up to 14 days before the course. If you send a substitute who meets the prerequisites, there is no fee. If you are ill and have a medical certificate, you can move to a date within six months without a cancellation fee. Fees already incurred with GUE, SDI or TDI (registration, certification, eLearning) are not refundable. You remain free to show that no loss or a lower loss has occurred.

If visibility, weather or conditions are not suitable for a safe course, I cancel or move the day. The same applies if I am ill, or if a GUE course that needs at least two participants loses its second participant. You then get a new date or a refund of the course fee already paid.

Through the contact form or, when a date is announced, via the course dates. I get back to you and arrange a short phone call to go through the details. Get in touch even if you are not sure yet which course is right.

Yes, this comes up often. I am happy to give you a few addresses nearby.

Minors always need parental consent.

For every course you fill in a medical questionnaire. If it points to a risk, you need written clearance from a physician before the first in-water session. With SDI and TDI this clearance is valid for up to 12 months as long as your health does not change. With GUE you also need a physician’s clearance for prescription drugs, except birth control.

For GUE courses, yes. The GUE standard requires insurance that covers diving emergencies including hyperbaric treatment, for example DAN at Master level or equivalent.

For GUE courses, yes. It is a prerequisite in the GUE standard for all courses.

For GUE courses you receive a study packet after registration; SDI and TDI courses come with a manual or eLearning, depending on the course. I go through any required prior knowledge with you beforehand. Come to the course healthy, rested and sober, with your equipment as ready to dive as possible.