Turneffe Island Resort - Requires dive insurance??

[KeithG]

I agree. I did some quick scanning of their website; didn't see any mention of it. Can anyone else find where someone would be informed of this prior to booking?

Richard.

Is this not a de facto practice? I thought every dive op required (or at least strongly suggested) that clients should have the appropriate insurance in place? So I claim this is a non-issue. Get the proper insurance, regardless of the type of vacation travel you are booking.

I do not book our travel (my divebuddy does), but I know that our generic travel insurance covers all of our needs. A quick check of a few of our last trips (not all dive trips!) reveals:

op#1: We strongly recommend each guest purchase comprehensive accident, medical, baggage and trip
cancellation and interruption insurance when space is reserved. Trip insurance will protect you from
financial disappointment if you are prevented from making your scheduled trip due to illness, family illness
or in the event that unforeseen circumstances prevent the airline or yacht from making its scheduled trip. In
the event you cancel your trip, be familiar with Aggressor Fleet and Dancer Fleet’s cancellation policies,
which can be found on the websites. More information can be found on Diveassure or Divers Alert
Network insurance on our websites.

op#2: We will need a copy of your passport at sign up. Your passport must be valid for six months past the date of the trip and have at least two blank pages remaining. Divers must be able to present a certification card and proof of insurance.

op#3: "We strongly recommend that you purchase trip insurance."

op#4: Final payment is due prior to ticket issuance and release of documents. xxx reserves the right to modify the Programmes procedures and fees at any time without notice. Guests are strongly advised to purchase travel insurance.

 

[KathyV]

I agree. I did some quick scanning of their website; didn't see any mention of it. Can anyone else find where someone would be informed of this prior to booking? Richard.

I found this statement, it says "highly recommend" but not "require".

http://www.cayeresorts.com/turneffe-resort-rates

Trip insurance: We highly recommend trip, cancellation medical evacuation insurance. A quote will be given to you upon booking. Caye Resorts or Turneffe Island Resort can not be responsible for missed connections, weather related delays, medical evacuations. Please call our office for details. 1.888.623.5403

 

[KathyV]

...I do not book our travel (my divebuddy does), but I know that our generic travel insurance covers all of our needs...

When we purchase travel insurance I pay slightly more for the "Hospital of Choice Evac Upgrade" otherwise the insurance will only cover evacuation to the nearest hospital and I would rather have some options regarding that decision.

 

[KeithG]

When we purchase travel insurance I pay slightly more for the "Hospital of Choice Evac Upgrade" otherwise the insurance will only cover evacuation to the nearest hospital and I would rather have some options regarding that decision.

Agreed: read the fine print. Every policy is different. You get what you pay for. Cheap insurance (like cheap wine) is worth what you paid for. You may often find that the benefit that suits you best requires a small (or large) surcharge.

Make sure your insurance covers what you want. Self insuring Self-insure is totally valid. Buying crap under-insurance is just stupid and will eventually become disappointing.

I have no idea which provider KathyV uses, but it seems like the "Hospital of Choice Evac Upgrade" coverage makes sense in her case. In my case, this option is already included in our very expensive base coverage (sucks to be me).

Insurance is regulated state by state (province by province up here in the great white north) so coverage may vary by region.

 

[KathyV]

Even though we choose to take insurance I can understand the OP's annoyance at having an unexpected, extra expense suddenly "required" out of nowhere. When I book a vacation I like to know what I am paying for in advance, as much as possible, and I agree that the requirement should have been published on the website as mandatory and stated up front at the time of booking.

OP, when do you book the reservation? My guess is that this is a sudden change of policy in response to Hurricane Earl striking Belize just 2 months ago. It didn't cause the same level of destruction as Hurricane Matthew in Haiti and elsewhere, but the pictures of Ambergris Caye were quite alarming. I imagine that many resort and dive vendors in Belize had to deal with a lot of cancellations and requests for refunds in the aftermath of the storm.

I can see a frustrated resort owner making the snap decision "effective immediately we require travel and medical insurance for ALL guests!" but I think that it would have been more fair to make it "effective for all new reservations..."

 

[KathyV]

Agreed: read the fine print. Every policy is different. You get what you pay for...I have no idea which provider KathyV uses, but it seems like the "Hospital of Choice Evac Upgrade" coverage makes sense in her case...

We use TravelGuard and I found that reviewing the coverage options with an agent was a valuable exercise. I discovered that we don't need to pay extra for "adventure travel" because scuba is covered under the basic plan. We also opted out of any car insurance because we take care of that separately, and as I mentioned above, I learned that the medical evac coverage was only good for the nearest hospital and I didn't much care for that.

I don't remember the amount but the medical evac upgrade wasn't expensive and I think that it is worth it. The link I posted earlier about retired dive shop owner Gary McNabb's fatal injuries was an eye-opener for me. He suffered a serious head injury when diving Turneffe and was initially air-lifted to a hospital on mainland Belize and then his family had him transported by air to a hospital in Texas, where he eventually died. He had VA coverage in the US, but his medical expenses before he got to Texas were said to be uninsured and very, very high.

I am sure that he never intended to leave a financial burden for his family, it was theorized that during the stress of closing down the dive shop and moving to Florida, he inadvertently let his DAN coverage lapse, after paying for it for years, see the gofundme link below. A terrible tragedy on several levels. Click here to support Gary McNabb Family Support Fund by Barbara Brower

I understand the general frustration with insurance, it is expensive and you hope that you won't use it; but when you need it, you really need it!