Dive and Travel Insurance

MERMAID LIVEABOARDS

After booking your liveaboard, the next important item to arrange for a trouble-free holiday is your travel and dive insurance. In Indonesia dive insurance is mandatory by government law, but also because accidents can happen at any time, you want to make sure that you are covered.

Choosing one can be a bit time-consuming at first, but it is worth the time investment so you can travel without worries. As safe as traveling in Indonesia is, and as much as local care is cheap, the more advanced private care, although excellent with regards to international standards, can end up really expensive.

Not only Hyperbaric chamber treatments in case of DCS, also seemingly innocent incidents like a small car or scooter accidents, getting acclimatized to the heat, bugs, or even simply hitting your toe badly, can make you unable to enjoy your liveaboard trip fully. But also unexpected family and health considerations may force you to stay at home. And then we are not even touching the subject of hurricanes, volcano eruptions, and earthquakes yet. Now, anything can happen and that is no reason to stay at home, but being well prepared with a good insurance puts the mind at ease in case something does happen.

Mermaid Liveaboards recommends 3 of the most respected insurance companies in the world: DAN, Dive Assure and World Nomads. Please bear in mind that with the information below we are giving you an overview of options and considerations, but policy’s do change, so make sure you thoroughly check the actual documents you get from the insurance provider.

What do you need?

Minimum needed:
– Dive accident and incident coverage plus Hyperbaric Chamber treatments whilst abroad and possible further treatment when back at home
– Emergency medical costs coverage
– Medical evacuation coverage

Strongly recommended:
– Trip interruption and cancellation coverage. We can not stress this point enough. If you can’t make it to the trip due to unfortunate happenings, like accidents, incidents, unexpected illnesses, etc. at least you don’t lose the whole amount of your trip on top of that!
– Travel assistance services for example if your passport is lost

When comparing insurances, it may be worth considering the following:
– Check if the insurance covers tropical weather situations and/or natural disasters, like volcano eruptions, earthquakes, typhoons, fires, etc. sometimes these circumstances are defined as an “Act of God” and therefore excluded
– What falls under emergency evacuation costs?
– How often do you travel? Does it make sense to be covered continuously or only per holiday?
– Are non-refundable deposits covered?
– Are there certain hospitals/healthcare providers you have to use?
– Will this insurance be primary insurance or is it secondary to other insurances you may have?
– Is there a coverage limit per incident or for a lifetime?

Below you find a short summary of the three insurances we can recommend, please read their full policy’s carefully and ask the insurance provider if anything is not clear.

DAN has a short-term dive insurance that covers you in case of a diving accident. You can choose from 1 to 30 days coverage and price ranges from US$10 to 50. You can sign up onboard upon your check-in at Mermaid Liveaboards. Click here to check the details of the short-term insurance coverage.

Tips: If you are an avid diver who does multiple diving trips in a year, we suggest you book DAN Annual membership. It offers 12-months coverage that includes Worldwide Emergency Evacuation Coverage. It costs US$ 65 for single membership and US$ 90 for family membership. You can join DAN Annual membership by clicking here.

DiveAssure offers two types of plans: Diving Accident Coverage (DiveSafe) and Dive &Travel insurance. Their Dive & Travel PLUS provides premium coverage for international trips and liveaboard vacations. This plan secures your investment for your liveaboard trip – if you miss your liveaboard departure or lose diving days due to illness, boat issues weather, etc, you will be covered! Book now or sign up on board.

World Nomads offers you several kinds of coverage depending on your trip. We recommend their Travel insurance and also their Diving insurance. You’d rather not think about all of the things that might go wrong on your trip, but unfortunately, sometimes these things can and do happen. World Nomads travel insurance has been designed by travelers for travelers, to cover your trip essentials.

Please Note:
1. Mermaid Liveaboards cannot be held responsible for any specific insurances purchased from any company nor claims made against these policies/companies. The above information is offered to help you find possible insurance options, but there are many more options out there, personal choices in which coverage you choose, and possible adjustments to policies throughout the year.

2. We prioritize all guests safety and comfort equally. Therefore, before and during your trip, Mermaid Liveaboards have and reserve the right to refuse to take someone diving or to stop a dive in progress if we deem there could be a danger to anyone’s safety based on sound, consistent and safety-related following reasons:

• guest is clearly unfit to dive, exhibits breathlessness or is beyond your ability to manage them if in medical distress
• guest is unable to manage gear or is out of breath when performing basic functions
• guest is is under the influence of alcohol, drugs or other stimulants
• guest is medically unfit to dive (Require clearance from a dive medicine physician for preexisting conditions, or use a systematic instrument such as the Recreational Scuba Training Council medical statement for all clients. In extreme circumstances you can still refuse service even if the diver has a medical fitness-to-dive certificate.)
• guest has physical infirmity due to advanced age
• guest has a medical condition such as a cold, congestion, difficulty breathing, lack of balance, confusion, physical injuries or other issues that may jeopardize the client’s health and safety
• guest exhibits behavior such as aggression, recklessness, not following briefings or refusing instructions from the dive professional or the boat captain
• guest has inadequate certification, experience levels or apparent competence for the dives you will be doing
• guest in-water skills show a lack of ability to undertake a specific dive activity
• guest has difficulty following the safety requirements
• guest has a disability that precludes your ability to safely manage them or that you cannot reasonably accommodate
• guest lacks knowledge of the equipment, especially on a demanding dive
• guest has dive equipment that is clearly compromised or damaged

Finally, others reasons service can be refused are if the weather, current, forecast or other external conditions might affect everyone’s safety.

Insurance Reminder

• Dive & Travel Insurance are both compulsary for all of our trips. Please check your travel insurance policy for your diving needs. If not covered then we recommend DAN who provide comprehensive dive accident cover along with their travel assist plans.
• Travel Insurance:
  Mermaid Liveaboards, PT Indonesia Liveaboards, MMC Marine Pte Ltd, or CMC Marine Ltd cannot be held responsible for any trip disruption or cancellation resulting from any costs related to COVID-19 issues, resulting in delay/medical/extraction/quarantine/or trip costs incurred due to potential positive testing/refusal of admittance to the country or your trip, before, during or after.