Dive Accident Insurance Limitations

[boulderjohn]

According to Owen Lee, in his book :Complete Illustrated Guide to Snorkel and Deep Diving," 1963 (foreword by J-Y Cousteau) and predating most of he agencies, 139 feet was already established as a practical max depth for no-decompression diving, because:

• that's about all you could do with a 72cuft tank (the standard at the tome)
• not much to see deeper than that
• limited bottom times

And, this even assumed just one dive per day.

The Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving said a primary concern was that beyond 130 feet, narcosis affects just about everyone.

 

[tursiops]

According to Owen Lee, in his book :Complete Illustrated Guide to Snorkel and Deep Diving," 1963 (foreword by J-Y Cousteau) and predating most of he agencies, 139 feet was already established as a practical max depth for no-decompression diving, because:

• that's about all you could do with a 72cuft tank (the standard at the tome)
• not much to see deeper than that
• limited bottom times

And, this even assumed just one dive per day.

I had a typo. I said 139 ft; I meant 130 ft.

 

[tursiops]

The Encyclopedia of Recreational Diving said a primary concern was that beyond 130 feet, narcosis affects just about everyone.

Owen Lee said nitrogen narcosis ("Rapture of the Depths") "usually begins to affect the diver at around one hundred feet and sharply increases with depth thereafter."

 

[SteveCapnK]

In a recent thread, a poster related a story about having to correct someone's misinformation about dive accident insurance. That misinformation has been repeated often in ScubaBoard threads. The correction is well buried in a long thread, so I thought I would create a dedicated thread that makes it clear and which can easily be linked in future threads. This one specifically refers to DAN accident insurance, but I think it would be good if other companies had their policies clarified here as well.

The misinformed person had stated that dive accident insurance only covers you if you are diving within the depths covered by your certification level. For a basic OW diver, that would be 60 feet. I checked with DAN and got the following response from Greg Moore, programs manager at DAN:

Coverage under DAN dive accident insurance is not limited to the maximum depth of a diver's certification level. It is based on the definition of a covered dive accident, as outlined in the certificate of insurance:​

​

"COVERED DIVE ACCIDENT means an Accident, DCI, or In-water Accident that results from a Covered Dive, regardless of the depth."​

My recent experience confirms @boulderjohn’s original post in my circumstance

- DAN Asia Pacific (Australia) ‘Master’ plan (50m limit)
- AOW certified to 30m
- DCS incident after a liveaboard which included dives up to 32m
- Provided all the right documentation including dive profiles for the week.
- No evac necessary as the boat had just docked 5 min from the hospital with a chamber.

My claim for overseas medical expenses was approved with minimum fuss.