Dive insurance exists because standard health insurance and travel insurance often don't cover diving accidents adequately. Decompression sickness treatment in a hyperbaric chamber can cost tens of thousands of dollars, and medical evacuation from a remote dive site can exceed a hundred thousand. Dive-specific insurance covers these costs for a fraction of the potential bill.
DAN (Divers Alert Network)
DAN is the most recognized name in dive insurance. Founded in 1980, DAN is a nonprofit organization that provides emergency medical assistance, dive accident insurance, and funding for diving research. DAN membership includes access to a 24/7 emergency dive medicine hotline staffed by physicians trained in hyperbaric medicine.
DAN offers tiered insurance plans covering dive accident treatment, medical evacuation, and lost or damaged dive equipment. Their dive accident coverage is available globally and follows you regardless of where you dive. Plans start at accessible annual premiums and scale up with coverage limits.
Other Dive Insurance Providers
Divers Alert Network Europe (DAN Europe) serves European divers with similar coverage to DAN Americas, plus travel insurance bundling for European destinations.
DiveAssure offers accident and medical evacuation coverage without requiring annual membership. Their plans are a la carte and can be purchased per-trip or annually. Coverage extends to freediving and snorkeling in addition to scuba.
Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) provides basic dive accident coverage as part of GUE membership, primarily for their certified technical divers.
What to Look For
Key coverage areas to verify: hyperbaric chamber treatment (the big-ticket item), emergency medical evacuation to the nearest appropriate facility, in-patient and out-patient treatment, and worldwide coverage. Some policies exclude specific activities — technical diving, cave diving, rebreather diving, or diving below a certain depth — so read the exclusions carefully.
Also check whether the policy provides primary or secondary coverage. Primary coverage pays regardless of other insurance you carry. Secondary coverage only kicks in after your regular health insurance pays its share.