Travel Insurance for upcoming trip to Cozumel

[outofofficebrb]

Dive insurance is one thing, travel insurance is another. I've never purchased travel insurance and I traveled to Cozumel in October annually for over a decade. One year a tropical depression decided to park itself over the island/region for a few days and that was bummer but no travel insurance would have kicked in as no mandatory evacuation order was issued. If it's windy and raining beyond belief due to a tropical depression and no mandatory evacuation order has been issued the insurance company is gonna say that's just tropical weather.

Realistically a hurricane could impact anywhere in October over a several thousand mile swath that generally spans from NC in the states all the way down to the depths of the southern Caribbean before you reach the ABC islands (Aruba/Bonair/Curacao) which are pretty much south of the hurricane zone. I say skip the travel insurance and travel with no concerns. The odds of you being at ground zero within 50-100 miles of the eye of a major hurricane in Cozumel during your 2 weeks in October are so small it's a waste of $ in my opinion. You caught your lightening strike of a hurricane in Coz already. I doubt you'll ever catch another hurricane strike on vaca there the rest of your life..

You don't need an evacuation in order for travel insurance to cover something. So long as it's some type of meteorological event that had a watch, warning, etc. that can be documented, it will be covered. Or, for example, if a flight could not fly and you couldn't get to your destination, your non-refundable deposit or rooms would be covered. I recently dove with some dive shops in the Bahamas that do not give refunds for any reason, including weather - and they strongly advised that you buy DIVE travel insurance. They required pre-payment as well. So, in this case, that would make sense, especially if you are traveling in shoulder season or a time when hurricanes are likely to hit. My experience is with Dive Assure so YMMV.

I would also look at it from a cost-benefit analysis. How much is the total trip going to be that is non-refundable? If it's not much, it might not be worth purchasing it but if you are running into the thousands for this trip and it's only $150-$200 for the peace of mind, I say go for it. Only you can make that decision for yourself. @ReefHound is also correct in that if you for some reason break a leg or something happens to you where you can't continue travel or dive, etc., that is also covered....So many instances that I don't care to ever find out about that are covered.

Your credit card also has some basic coverage, but a lot is also not covered so you'll have to read the fine print. I have the Chase Sapphire Reserve card that is known for great benefits but even for my dive travel purposes, in some instances, I still purchase the additional dive travel insurance with a high dollar trip. especially when non-refundable.

 

[mediumone]

Dive insurance is one thing, travel insurance is another. /QUOTE]

I buy a travel insurance policy. What coverage do I not have if I'd purchased a dive insurance policy instead?

 

[ReefHound]

You'll just have to read the policy. Travel insurance is not a universal product. Some exclude scuba diving or limit it to 120 feet. And travel insurance is typically for a single trip. My DAN Preferred is $70 and covers dive accidents anywhere, all year long.

 

[mediumone]

You do need to read the policies though. Some plans specifically exclude scuba diving. Some cover you to 120 feet, most that do cover scuba, cover to 130.

You'll just have to read the policy. Travel insurance is not a universal product. Some exclude scuba diving or limit it to 120 feet. And travel insurance is typically for a single trip. My DAN Preferred is $70 and covers dive accidents anywhere, all year long.

Yeah, that's what I've heard.

 

[cvchief]

Well, I have a GOOD DAN plan for diving. After that I buy what used to be FrontierMedex and is now a United Healthcare thing. SafeTrip International Travel Medical Insurance

But I am not interested in protecting a bunch of travel costs, just dive accident insurance and medical insurance with a good evac coverage. That being said it does have some lost bags coverage and such. I actually buy a year's coverage at once for the wife and I and then buy the short term plans for anyone we take.
I also believe they told me that scuba was not a hazardous sport so the base plan covers, but I add the hazard sport on, in case we do something crazy....

 

[ggunn]

You'll just have to read the policy. Travel insurance is not a universal product.

That's my impression as well. Generally, the more that insurance covers and the easier it is to justify a claim, the more it costs.

 

[outofofficebrb]

There are a few things that are popping up in this thread. Just to be clear in case someone is lurking, there are a few things we are talking about here and they are not interchangeable terms:

• dive accident insurance - insurance that covers accidents or issues from diving itself. getting bent, barotrauma, etc. some policies also offer some (minimal) non-diving medical emergencies. check your plan.
• dive travel insurance - similar to regular travel insurance and covers many of the same things but in addition, has dive coverage. Dive coverage in this case is not dive accident insurance. Think things like lost diving days due to weather or your inability to dive due to medical reasons, lost/stolen dive gear, non-refundable and pre-paid dive bookings (especially when the operator cancels due to weather - check your booking policies!). Some also offer liveaboard riders - so if someone on the boat is bent and they have to medically evacuate and it interrupts diving, those are considered lost diving days. Compressor malfunctioning or boat breakdown - also covered. Think things that are out of your control while you are already on a liveaboard. Many have clauses in booking that state they don't offer refunds for all of this.
• regular travel insurance. traditional travel insurance.

I highly recommend everyone have at the very least the first - dive accident insurance. Regarding the other 2, I think you have to approach it from a cost-benefit and worst-case-scenario analysis. If you are traveling to dive and you are paying for dives one at a time rather than a pre-paid package deal and you'll just decide whether you will dive the night before or based on weather, you might not need the dive travel insurance. Maybe you just want the travel insurance. Maybe you aren't worried about the financial implications because you don't have much locked down in a non-refundable predicament. Then you can use some of the coverage in the credit cards but not to the extent of regular travel insurance. Some travel and/or dive insurance policies also offer missed connection coverage. It pays for you to catch up to your original travel plans. e.g., if you miss a connecting flight due to weather and you have to buy a new ticket out of pocket to ensure you get to your liveaboard in time before it leaves you screaming at the dock.

Either way, read the policies thoroughly and find out what coverage makes the most sense for you.

The last one that I also like to get since it's very inexpensive is travel medical. The coverage is a lot higher than what you can usually find in the regular travel insurance and dive travel insurance that I have found. I get $1M coverage, no deductible, covers pre-existing conditions. They can act as primary or secondary coverage depending on the facility. It's through GeoBlue Traveler and is a Blue Cross Blue Shield product. This coverage for Mexico for me 2 years ago was like $20 bucks if that. It's age and zip code based.

 

[NDL_Diver]

There is also travel medical insurance. DAN does not cover if you become ill. They cover dive Accident and some of there better plans limited non dive ACCIDENT medical costs. They don't, at least what i have read, cover any illnesses. So if you get Dengue, or any other illness you will pay out of pocket. Like Chief suggested, also get travel medical.
I am belt and suspenders type of guy, I have DAN, travel medical for illness, and my work insurance does have some international medical coverage. Big thing DAN does not cover is medical illness and illness evacuation. The third party covers you hospital bills and evact if you become sick.

 

[NDL_Diver]

I get $1M coverage, no deductible, covers pre-existing conditions. They can act as primary or secondary coverage depending on the facility. It's through GeoBlue Traveler and is a Blue Cross Blue Shield product. This coverage for Mexico for me 2 years ago was like $20 bucks if that. It's age and zip code based.

GeoBlue cost me and my wife $98 for a 11 day trip to mexico. We are mid 50's. $0 deductible, $1M limit, with $250k evac.

Al

 

[blue steal]

Thanks for the information outofofficebrb.
For myself I have DAN dive accident insurance.
Was looking for travel insurance that had primary medical , evacuation, and perhaps lost luggage.
Reviewed several companies, maybe 20 or so, narrowed it down to 3-4, but reviews of those always show when it comes to filing a claim, not so good.