I have a diving question that I hoped someone would have an opinion on. Should I be a member of Divers Alert Network for the insurance and other benefits? Does typical insurance not cover decompression etc? At my dive certification the instructor made it sound as though you would be an idiot to not get membership. Is this a sales pitch or are most of you members? Any insight is appreciated. Thanks.
Maybe Sport Diver has an answer? I am curious about this too... CALLING SPORT DIVER, WHERE ARE YOU?? :rolleyes:
Check out this link
[URL=http://www.diversalertnetwork.org/]
DAN Is a good deal, its a worthwhile outfit.The money pays for and supports diver safety worldwide. Yea, the risk is small. the benefits are large, all it takes is one time.
Most, I say most insurance will not cover chamber expenses, plus DAN will pay to haul your butt out of some unknown remote places as part of your insurance regardless of whether it is a dive related illness or not. Ever pay for an air ambulance?? The insurance is dang cheap in comparison plus they have additional member services. When you don't have insurance, more than likely that is when you'll need it. Just my opinion.
This does bring up a question. If I remember correctly, AC does have a chamber (correct me if I'm wrong). Who has access to it? I did a lot of diving in Cozumel, and there was a chamber there that anyone had access to. The divemasters all charged an extra fee (like $5) for each trip that supported the thing.
If you are going to dive, get DAN. The premium membership is $99/year and well worth it considering what it would cost if you did not have it. My father got bent in Cozumel due to some complications and a worthless divemaster. He had to spend an extra five days on the island for a total of 13 hours in the chamber. DAN covered the extra cost of the stay, the charges from the airlines, all of his chamber treatments and the cost of the followup doctor visits at home. The total would have run about $15K! Not a bad deal for $99/year. I'm renewing today for my trip to AC in two weeks.
I don't dive but from what one of our friends went through last year you'd be nuts not to get it! He got slightly bent and was in the Chamber in San Pedro, unfortunately later that night there was a house fire nearby which caused problems with the electricity in that block so the chamber was non-functional and my friend and another person had to be transported to Cozumel and he had to stay there for several days. DAN covered the chamber, transportation and such which saved him what would have been thousands of dollars extra! All our other friends who weren't members immediately signed up after hearing about his experience. My boyfriend has been a member for years and says he can't imagine why anyone would dive without it and take that chance of having to pay thousands! I guess each chamber treatment for our friend cost nearly a thousand (as he had to be in there for several hours with a doctor monitoring, a person with him in the chamber and such) and he required several treatments.
Anyway, we are heading back to San Pedro in May including our friend who went through that.. and all who are diving made sure to get DAN in advance!
Andrea in Atlanta
Happy to be a surface dweller!
My wife and I are going to AC the 28th of this month and are thinking about trying our hand at skin diving. We would probably go the resort diving way to see if we are going to enjoy it or not. Would we need to be concerned with getting bends as with this course we would be diving shallow? We were there 3 years ago and enjoyed snorkling the reef and shark ray and may take it to the next level. We will be at Bananas till the 5th so would appreciate any information we can get. Thanks D&J
Thanks for all the advice. I have decided to purchase membership and their Master plan insurance. Only $64 a year and it sounds like not having it can be a real nightmare. Thanks!
It's really good that you'll have DAN coverage while you're diving in Belize.
However, don't forget to say to your dive shop here in San Pedro a big "YES" to the option of paying a dollar or two more to cover local dive chamber insurance for each dive you do during your stay. Not only does the slight extra cost cut down on paperwork and worry in the event of an incident, it also goes to a very good cause...the safe and professional running of the Hyperbaric Chamber here on Ambergris.
ONLY AFTER A VERY BAD ACCIDENT - did i buy insurance for my husband and son. my accident occurred because of a hole in my heart and i can no longer dive. BUY IT. you will not be turned away from a chamber - thank god, but in some remote areas of the world you must pay for air transport - sometimes upfront. i cannot stress it enough.
you will all be very happy to know that i feel that the ac chamber staff is great. dr. otto was great. sometimes i feel that i owe them more than my subaquatic bill which was covered 100% by my group health insurance. i thank my lucky stars and the subaquatic staff everyday.
gay