Help me choose a once-in-a-lifetime SCUBA trip!

[KathyV]

For this trip, single ticket is a requirement. I'm a tech diver, and I'm not doing wreck penetration in rented single-tank gear, so I will need baggage. I'm not dealing with moving baggage around in and out of security multiple times in international airports, let alone all of the scheduling issues that can come from split tickets. Single airline is not a requirement, but a real strong preference: it's hard enough to manage things like baggage fees and requirements across a single airline, let alone multiple.

As for the cost of the flight: Sure: I can use Momondo and find $900 flights to anywhere (well, except TKK). That's not enough. The problem is in the details: flights that allow *zero* baggage; flights that take 50 hours to get somewhere; two or three nights spent with a 12-hour overnight layover in an airport -- sometimes consecutively; flights that will have me getting a taxi in a Middle Eastern country at 4 A.M. Not for my money. So just because you type a few details into an aggregator website and see a flight show up doesn't mean it's a flight that will actually *work* for any reasonable definition of "work".

But fortunately, after several nights of research, I have a flight identified!

I'm normally *not* a trip insurance type of person. DAN medical insurance is a *given*. Given the complexities involved and the fact I'm dealing with people *continents* away, additional travel coverage might be worth it in this case. Having said that, the cost is literally 10% of the trip. I'm not really worried about the money for the trip, or reimbursement of lost diving days, or things like that. I'm mainly worried about my personal safety (including medical, chamber access, evacuation, etc.), not about trip cancellation or things like that. And between my normal health insurance, DAN, credit card protection, etc. I think that biggest chunks of the trip are somewhat protected. So I'm still thinking.

Any other issues that anyone would like to share for travel, insurance, logistics or other such items? How about gear packing suggestions? I'd love to hear you thoughts!

Your personal health insurance will probably not apply in a foreign setting, most countries have government funded healthcare and you and I don't pay taxes in that country. My husband and I both developed middle-ear infections after diving in Egypt and our US medical insurance didn't work in Egypt.

Plus, the issue of transfer to the medical facility of your choosing can be a big deal. If you are seriously sick or injured in a far distant land they may not have the same level of care you are used to receiving. Or you may just want to get back home and near to family. It can be very expensive to transfer to a preferred facility.

When we went to the hospital clinic in Egypt with our infected ears, they poured Mercurochrome into our ears (yes, that nasty orange/red stuff!) then packed our ears with cotton and sent us on our way - it did absolutely no good - we had middle ear infections, not outer ear, except now we each had an orange ear! I was glad that we didn't have anything more serious. We visited the ENT for treatment soon after we got home.

I have a broad range of minor experience with health care facilities in foreign lands. Frequently one or the other of us develops an ear infection or other issues when diving and I can now ask the question "where is the pharmacy?" in several languages!

Even first-world countries that speak English are not set up to treat patients that don't carry a government health card. They don't know how much to charge and don't have a system in place to take payment with cash or credit cards. We discovered that when my husband tried to get some contact lenses in Vancouver. His eye doctor had faxed the prescription and order and he went to several eye centers and they had the correct lenses in stock, but they all were stumped as to how to process his order. His doctor was not a licensed provider in Canada and they only knew how to process citizens with Canadian health cards. Finally a kind person took pity on him and gave him a "sample supply" of contacts for free because that was the easiest option.

 

[Maverick17]

As for the cost of the flight: Sure: I can use Momondo and find $900 flights to anywhere (well, except TKK). That's not enough. The problem is in the details: flights that allow *zero* baggage; flights that take 50 hours to get somewhere; two or three nights spent with a 12-hour overnight layover in an airport -- sometimes consecutively; flights that will have me getting a taxi in a Middle Eastern country at 4 A.M. Not for my money. So just because you type a few details into an aggregator website and see a flight show up doesn't mean it's a flight that will actually *work* for any reasonable definition of "work".

I haven't seen any suggestions that say you should take a 50 hour flight or one with zero baggage. The ones I suggested were one-stop under 20 hours and include two bags either to Egypt or to Bali/Philippines. But if you're using momondo then you're already in the wrong place. (As an aside many Middle East countries have flights that land and take off during the night due to the high heat and the effect on ops and on the physics of flight, as well as the connections in Europe. So sometimes a 4 a.m. taxi is normal and the best option) Glad you found a flight though that you like. Good luck.

 

[outofofficebrb]

For this trip, single ticket is a requirement. I'm a tech diver, and I'm not doing wreck penetration in rented single-tank gear, so I will need baggage. I'm not dealing with moving baggage around in and out of security multiple times in international airports, let alone all of the scheduling issues that can come from split tickets. Single airline is not a requirement, but a real strong preference: it's hard enough to manage things like baggage fees and requirements across a single airline, let alone multiple.

As for the cost of the flight: Sure: I can use Momondo and find $900 flights to anywhere (well, except TKK). That's not enough. The problem is in the details: flights that allow *zero* baggage; flights that take 50 hours to get somewhere; two or three nights spent with a 12-hour overnight layover in an airport -- sometimes consecutively; flights that will have me getting a taxi in a Middle Eastern country at 4 A.M. Not for my money. So just because you type a few details into an aggregator website and see a flight show up doesn't mean it's a flight that will actually *work* for any reasonable definition of "work".

But fortunately, after several nights of research, I have a flight identified!

I'm normally *not* a trip insurance type of person. DAN medical insurance is a *given*. Given the complexities involved and the fact I'm dealing with people *continents* away, additional travel coverage might be worth it in this case. Having said that, the cost is literally 10% of the trip. I'm not really worried about the money for the trip, or reimbursement of lost diving days, or things like that. I'm mainly worried about my personal safety (including medical, chamber access, evacuation, etc.), not about trip cancellation or things like that. And between my normal health insurance, DAN, credit card protection, etc. I think that biggest chunks of the trip are somewhat protected. So I'm still thinking.

Any other issues that anyone would like to share for travel, insurance, logistics or other such items? How about gear packing suggestions? I'd love to hear you thoughts!

I would look into your home health insurance and see what they cover if anything and what your coverage amount or deductibles for that are. Some don’t cover internationally at all, some say emergency life threatening only and that is subjective. Some stipulate you pay first then they reimburse or not at all. Some medical coverage will help medically evacuate you to a nearby country for appropriate care, some will evacuate to home country after stabilization. There are many factors.

I buy Geo Blue Traveler Insurance. It’s based on duration of trip, age, and zip code. At 32, I can buy $1M coverage with $0 deductible 100% coverage for 3 weeks for $52. Mr. OOO at 46 is $57 for 2 weeks.

I have spoken extensively abou dive travel insurance on the boards. Search “Dive Assure” using my username and you will get loads of results. The short question you should ask yourself is if something went wrong, either flight delays/cancellations causing you to miss your boat, you get sick, someone else on boat gets sick, something breaks down, disaster strikes...can you afford to lose that money or buy yourself a new ticket to fix something or catch up to the boat, etc. Think of all the downsides and if you are okay with that and spending additional money for that assurance doesn’t do anything for you, then you know your answer. It’s as easy as that. Weigh your benefits and risks and compare to your total costs that will be sunk or lost.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I'm so glad you've chosen the Red Sea. You will love it.

I recommended Grenada without realizing season in which you plan your trip. My bad. I don't recommend anywhere in the Caribbean for a trip. Yes, folks go and have awesome times but it can go wrong quickly. And it's not always the destination that's the biggest problem. For example, Grenada is supposedly out of the hurricane belt, even though it was badly hit a number of years ago. The real problem can be flights. Flights get delayed backed up Etc, thousands and thousands of people end up camped out at the airport hoping for a flight out. You know that kind of fun stuff. LOL

 

[chillyinCanada]

P.S. to the poster that asked, no, the Bianca C can no longer be penetrated

 

[tmassey]

I buy Geo Blue Traveler Insurance. It’s based on duration of trip, age, and zip code. At 32, I can buy $1M coverage with $0 deductible 100% coverage for 3 weeks for $52. Mr. OOO at 46 is $57 for 2 weeks.

Thank you very much for this! For me, the coverage ranges from $29 to $39, depending on maximum coverage and deductible. I like that a *LOT*, especially because my normal health insurance has a high deductible. That's a great tip!

DiveAssure does not offer dive insurance for dives in the US. So it will be DAN dive insurance: I do crazy dives all year round!

For trip insurance, I've done the math and analysis: I'm comfortable without it. Relaxed timeframe (I have 36 hours to make up for delays, etc.), relaxed expectations, reputable make-it-right dive company, credit card protection and and it's not a lot of money. For me, I'll keep the $400.

I've done it: I've booked the flight and the liveaboard! Red Sea here I come!

Now, to start a new thread about that: coming soon!

Again, thank you all for your help. And *please* keep the travel suggestions coming! The travel medical insurance is *gold*. What's next?

 

[Darnold9999]

Again thank you all for your feedback!

After further research, I think that many of you are right: Chuuk *would* be the trip of a lifetime. I think @Scared Silly's plan is *perfect*, and I really appreciate having it. But it's just not possible with the budget at this time, and I'm not spending that much on something just for me. And anything that starts with a $2500 plane ticket won't work. So I'm going with the trip-of-my-budget instead...

I have made no actual plans, but I think I'm going to go with a liveaboard on the Red Sea. And it was finding the right flight that has pushed me over the edge.

I've found a ~$900 flight that takes less than 20 hours *both* ways, and has *no* long or overnight layovers. It's all with the same airline (EgyptAir) and it allows *two* 23kg/50lb bags. It requires a 4-hour drive to and from Toronto... which is fine. It seems that travel to Egypt from the US just isn't an attractive option. And it'll allow me to spend a couple of days in a great city at the end of my trip.

Yes, I am a little nervous about seasickness. I'm not great in heavy seas, but I'm rarely the worst person on a boat. So I figure if everyone else can do it, I'll tough it out. I'm hoping that like mentioned, if I'm sick it'll only last a bit. But the good wrecks just aren't doable from the shore -- or would be even worse to do from the shore. You nailed it: it's the best way to do the most/best diving in the least time. I will just have to make it work!

I again want to thank you all for your feedback. You've highlighted some great options for future trips. I'm especially intrigued by the options for shipwreck-focused diving in the Caribbean that I was unaware of. I will look into that more closely for future trips. But being close, those trips are certainly more doable in the future. And Scapa Flow is another awesome thing I'm looking at as well. But I would really like water temps with a high somewhat north of 15C for this trip.... (As a proud Great Lakes Diver, I realize how much of a wimp that makes me. For this, I'm OK with it.)

I'm certainly willing to be talked out of this -- I have intentionally not made any plans yet. For me, though, this really seems like it will be the trip I was looking for. It really ticks a lot of the boxes I had outlined. However, I've found the responses in this thread *fascinating* and really valuable. I'd love to hear whatever other locations you might have in mind.

I'm going to do some more specific research on the Red Sea in particular. No doubt I'll have questions, but I'll start a new thread for that. Again, thank you all for your suggestions!

If you are willing to drive to Toronto have a look at Swiss Air for flights to the Red Sea. I flew to their from Vancouver through Toronto for under 1000 USD with 2 50lb bags included. Booked with flightnetwork.com. Sand storm and Easter created a major issue on the return flights and they were good to deal with to resolve the issues.

 

[KathyV]

Thank you very much for this! For me, the coverage ranges from $29 to $39, depending on maximum coverage and deductible. I like that a *LOT*, especially because my normal health insurance has a high deductible. That's a great tip!

DiveAssure does not offer dive insurance for dives in the US. So it will be DAN dive insurance: I do crazy dives all year round!

For trip insurance, I've done the math and analysis: I'm comfortable without it. Relaxed timeframe (I have 36 hours to make up for delays, etc.), relaxed expectations, reputable make-it-right dive company, credit card protection and and it's not a lot of money. For me, I'll keep the $400.

I've done it: I've booked the flight and the liveaboard! Red Sea here I come!

Now, to start a new thread about that: coming soon!

Again, thank you all for your help. And *please* keep the travel suggestions coming! The travel medical insurance is *gold*. What's next?

Congratulations! What LOB did you pick?

 

[Darnold9999]

Even first-world countries that speak English are not set up to treat patients that don't carry a government health card. They don't know how much to charge and don't have a system in place to take payment with cash or credit cards. We discovered that when my husband tried to get some contact lenses in Vancouver. His eye doctor had faxed the prescription and order and he went to several eye centers and they had the correct lenses in stock, but they all were stumped as to how to process his order. His doctor was not a licensed provider in Canada and they only knew how to process citizens with Canadian health cards. Finally a kind person took pity on him and gave him a "sample supply" of contacts for free because that was the easiest option.

That is odd as I can buy contact lenses on line with no prescription and contacts are not included in health care so most people have to purchase them. Selling them to you should have been a simple transaction.

 

[tmassey]

SwissAir: Three stops, a night sleeping in the Zurich airport *EACH* *WAY*, multiple airlines on single ticket, $1500. *No* checked bags on the SA part of the leg, and they disclaim any knowledge of what I'll get on the non-SA parts of the flight -- 'check their website for details'. All from a reservation on the SA website.

I don't know why there's such a disconnect between what people suggest and what I can *actually* *get*, but there *consistently* is... (I guess that's why travel agents still have jobs: I spent 8 *hours* finding my eventual flight...)