0420 631 981 shrek@noobspearo.com

Travel Insurance — What You Need to Know Before You Book

Please note: Noob Spearo is not affiliated with any insurance provider mentioned below, receives no commission or benefit from any of them, and we are not insurance experts or licensed to give insurance or financial advice. The information here is general in nature — always read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) and speak to the insurer (or a licensed adviser) to confirm a policy suits your circumstances.

Safety comes first on every trip

Every Noob Spearo trip runs on documented safety systems: a written emergency plan for each location, count-of-persons procedures on every dive, participant assessment and medical screening before you get in the water, and in-water supervision protocols led by experienced instructors. We carefully select our charter and dive partners — in Australia and overseas — and work only with operators who meet our safety and professionalism standards. Our team completes annual refresher training, and every trip carries a location-specific risk assessment.

In short: we do everything within our control to keep you safe. Travel insurance covers the things outside anyone’s control.

What we require, in one paragraph

For trips within Australia, we strongly recommend travel insurance that includes diving accident and evacuation cover. For all trips outside Australia, appropriate travel insurance is a condition of booking — no exceptions, no discretion, and we will ask you to confirm your policy details before you travel. The rest of this page explains what that policy needs to include and why we’ve landed there.

Trips within Australia — strongly recommended

For Australian trips, we strongly recommend you hold travel insurance that includes diving accident and evacuation cover (for example, DAN — Divers Alert Network — membership with dive accident insurance, or equivalent). While Australia has excellent emergency services, dive-specific cover protects you for evacuation, hyperbaric treatment, and trip cancellation costs that standard policies and Medicare don’t cover.

One important caveat if you’re relying on DAN: for Australian residents, DAN’s dive accident insurance responds to accidents occurring outside Australia. It is the right product for an overseas trip and it is not a substitute for cover at home. If you want dive-accident protection on a domestic trip, ask a provider directly about a policy that covers you within Australia.

International trips (PNG, Bali and beyond) — required

For all trips outside Australia, travel insurance is a condition of booking. Your policy must include:

  • Diving accident cover — spearfishing and freediving specifically. Check the policy wording covers breath-hold diving, not just scuba or snorkelling.
  • Emergency medical evacuation and repatriation — we ask for a minimum of AUD $250,000. Remote locations can require air evacuation, and the bill runs into tens of thousands of dollars without cover.
  • Trip cancellation and disruption cover — for at least the full non-refundable cost of your trip, including flights, deposits, weather delays and unforeseen changes. Our deposits are non-refundable from the dates set out in your booking terms, so match your cover to that schedule rather than to the deposit you’ve paid so far.

When we need it, and what happens if we don’t get it

  • By final payment — or 30 days before departure, whichever comes first — send us your provider name, policy or membership number, and the 24/7 emergency contact number.
  • Without those details, you can’t travel with us. Standard cancellation terms apply, which for most trips means your deposit is not refundable. We’re stating that plainly now precisely so nobody discovers it at the airport.

We’re not asking so we can audit you. We’re asking so that if something goes wrong at sea, we can start making calls in the first hour instead of going through your phone looking for a policy document. That genuinely changes outcomes.

Why we require this — from our insurer

Our insurer supports this requirement directly:

“In relation to travel exposures, I strongly support your requirement that participants maintain their own travel insurance, including diving accident and evacuation cover. Given there is no cancellation or booking protection built into this liability policy, ensuring your guests have appropriate travel insurance provides an important additional layer of protection and peace of mind for both your customers and the business.”

Put simply: our business insurance covers our liability as an operator — it is not a substitute for your personal travel, medical, or cancellation cover. Your own policy is what protects you if you need to cancel, get sick, or require evacuation.

What we carry, and what it does for you

It’s fair that you know where we stand before we ask you to think about your own cover.

Noob Spearo Pty Ltd holds specialist dive and watersports public liability insurance, placed through a marine insurance broker and underwritten at Lloyd’s of London. In broad terms:

  • AUD $20 million combined limit for public and products liability
  • Legal defence costs payable in addition to that limit
  • Worldwide territorial cover, so it travels with us
  • A specialist dive wording, meaning freediving and breath-hold spearfishing are expressly covered rather than treated as an unrated oddity
  • Participant-to-participant cover — if one guest injures another
  • Statutory defence costs cover

We pay a significant amount for it, and we carry it because running trips without it would be reckless.

Here’s the important part. Our policy covers our legal liability. It responds if something goes wrong and we’re found to be at fault. It is not health cover for you, and it does not pay your medical bills, your hyperbaric treatment, your evacuation, your cancelled flights or your lost gear. No operator’s liability policy anywhere does that.

Our insurance and your insurance do completely different jobs. You need your own.

The problem with spearfishing and insurance

Spearfishing falls through the cracks of most standard travel insurance. Australian travel policies generally work off a closed list of covered activities, and spearfishing and breath-hold diving simply aren’t on most of those lists. Several policies also carry a blanket “hunting” exclusion.

That means you can buy a comprehensive-sounding policy, tick every box you think matters, and still have nothing the moment you get in the water with a gun. It’s not a scam and it’s not fine print trickery — insurers price what they list, and most of them have never thought about us.

We’ve spent a decent chunk of time going through what’s actually available to Australian residents. Here’s what we found.

The honest disclaimer

We are spearos and instructors, not insurance brokers or financial advisers. Nothing here is financial or insurance advice, and we receive no commission, referral fee or benefit of any kind from any provider mentioned.

Your age, health history, circumstances and travel plans are different from ours. Please read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) yourself before buying anything and satisfy yourself it suits you. If you’re unsure, talk to a licensed broker or the provider directly.

Naming these two providers is not us telling you to buy them. They are simply the combination we could verify covers what our trips involve. If you find cover that meets the requirements above through a different insurer, that is completely fine by us — send us the details and we’ll tick you off.

Prices, plan names and activity lists in this article were checked on 18 August 2026. Insurers change wordings, activity lists and pricing regularly — verify everything at the point of purchase.

What we found: a two-layer approach

No single product we could find does the whole job. Dive-accident policies cover the water but not your cancelled flights. Travel policies cover your flights but usually not your speargun. So, two layers.

Layer 1 — DAN (Divers Alert Network)

The in-water medical layer: hyperbaric treatment, decompression illness, blackout, speargun injury, emergency evacuation.

Why we rate it: DAN’s Australian FAQ states that treatment for injuries from recreational snorkelling, freediving and spearfishing is covered, with competition activity excluded. Very few providers put that in writing. DAN is also a non-profit — membership dues fund dive safety research, safety resources and the 24/7 emergency hotline that exists whether or not you ever claim on it. That matters to us and it’s a big part of why we point people there.

One point of detail worth your attention: the FAQ names spearfishing explicitly, but the PDS itself works through its definition of “recreational snorkelling activity” rather than using the word “spearfishing”. If you want certainty, email DAN before you buy and ask them to confirm in writing that breath-hold spearfishing on a recreational trip is covered under the plan you’re selecting. Keep the reply.

The single most important thing on this page

DAN has two separate parts and you want both:

  1. DAN World Membership — around AUD $82.50/year. Gives you TravelAssist, including emergency medical transportation up to AUD $250,000 (diving and non-diving emergencies), repatriation, and the 24/7 hotline. It does not cover your treatment costs.
  2. Dive Accident Insurance — an optional add-on. Master around AUD $66 (treatment to AUD $150,000, 50m maximum depth). Preferred around AUD $108 (treatment to AUD $300,000, no stated maximum depth). Both plans are available from age 12 to under 80.

Membership alone is not dive insurance. Plenty of people pay the $82.50, assume they’re covered, and aren’t.

Critically: the insurance can only be added at the time you join or renew. Join now without it and you can’t bolt it on before we depart — you’d be waiting for your renewal date. Tick the insurance box in the same transaction.

On the Preferred plan’s “no depth limit”: the cover terms condition it on the diver being appropriately experienced, certified and equipped for the dive in question. “No stated maximum depth” is not the same as “any depth, no questions asked.” If you’re diving deep, make sure your certification and logged experience actually reflect it.

And on where it applies: for Australian residents, DAN’s dive accident insurance covers accidents occurring outside Australia. The right product for this trip. Not a substitute for cover at home.

Layer 2 — World Nomads (travel insurance)

The everything-else layer: general overseas medical, cancellation, trip disruption, flight delays, baggage, theft.

Why this one: as at August 2026, World Nomads is the one mainstream Australian travel insurer we could confirm lists “Spearfishing” by name on its activity schedule. We haven’t checked every insurer in the market and others may well cover it — but a named activity removes the argument entirely, which is what you want at claim time. It’s underwritten in Australia by Pacific International Insurance and arranged by nib Travel Services (AFSL 308461), so there’s a PDS, a Target Market Determination, and access to AFCA if a claim goes sideways.

If you go this route, do this

  • Select Spearfishing in the activities list at checkout. On the current Australian activity schedule, Spearfishing is an optional activity — it is not included by default on either plan and must be added at the time of purchase.
  • Add any boating activity that matches our itinerary, including boating beyond 3 nautical miles if it appears on the schedule. Our trips run well offshore.
  • Consider the Explorer plan over Standard. Higher limits, and worth it on a trip with real non-refundable deposits. Check the cancellation limit specifically covers your full trip cost.
  • Declare any pre-existing medical conditions honestly. Undeclared conditions are the most common reason claims get knocked back.

Plan names and activity tiers change. If the checkout doesn’t look like this description, call them on 1300 787 375 and ask directly whether spearfishing is covered on the plan you’re buying.

You cannot add activities to a World Nomads policy after purchase. If Spearfishing isn’t ticked at checkout, you’re not covered for it, and there’s no fixing it later. Check your certificate of insurance when it arrives and make sure Spearfishing appears on it.

Things neither policy will cover

Rather you heard this from us than from a claims assessor.

  • Search and rescue. If a diver’s location is unknown, that’s a search, not an evacuation, and evacuation benefits specifically exclude it. No travel policy funds a SAR operation either. This is exactly why we’re strict about floats, buddy systems, headcounts and dive protocol — it’s a risk we manage in the water because you can’t buy your way out of it.
  • Gear damaged in use. Baggage sections cover loss, theft and damage in transit. They don’t cover your gun when a fish takes it. Check the per-item limit too — often around $1,000–$1,500, well under a decent rig. If your setup’s worth more, ask about specified item cover.
  • Competition activity. Excluded across the board. Not relevant on our trips, but worth knowing.
  • Pre-existing conditions. Both layers have exclusions, and DAN’s is broad. Declare everything.

Your checklist

  1. Join DAN and add the Master or Preferred plan in the same transaction.
  2. Buy travel insurance that names spearfishing — World Nomads, or any other insurer that will confirm it covers breath-hold spearfishing, emergency evacuation and repatriation of at least AUD $250,000, and cancellation to the full value of your trip.
  3. Check your certificates say what you expect. If they don’t, call the provider straight away.
  4. Send us the provider names, policy or membership numbers, and both 24/7 emergency numbers — by final payment, or 30 days before departure, whichever comes first.
  5. Save the emergency numbers in your phone before you fly.

Emergency numbers: save these

  • DAN Emergency Hotline: 1800 088 200 (within Australia) / +1 919 684 9111 (international)
  • DAN Australia office (non-emergency): 03 9886 9166 / infoAP@DAN.org
  • World Nomads (Australia): 1300 787 375

Important: emergency evacuations must be arranged through DAN TravelAssist. If you or someone acting for you arranges an evacuation independently, you may be left with the bill — and these can easily run past AUD $75,000. Call DAN first. Guides, this applies to you too: DAN gets called before anyone books a charter flight.

A note for instructors and guides

Everything above applies to you too, plus one extra piece. Our company liability policy covers the business — it is not a personal professional indemnity policy for you, and none of the products above provide professional liability cover either. DAN doesn’t offer liability insurance in the Asia-Pacific region at all.

If you’re guiding or instructing on this trip, come and talk to me about where you sit rather than assuming you’re covered under our policy. It’s a conversation worth having properly.

Destination advice

Check the current Australian Government travel advice for our destination before you go, and again closer to departure. Some policies void cover entirely for destinations under a “do not travel” warning.

smartraveller.gov.au

Why we’ve drawn the line here

We’re not trying to nanny anyone. We’ve simply watched people end up uncovered through no fault of their own — they bought a policy, they assumed spearfishing counted as snorkelling, and it didn’t. The consequences land on them, on their family, and on the rest of the boat. Ten minutes of reading now saves a genuinely awful conversation later, and that’s why insurance is a condition of booking rather than a suggestion.

Questions about any of this? Call Shrek on 0420 631 981 or email shrek@noobspearo.com. We’d much rather talk it through than have you guess.

General advice warning: Noob Spearo Pty Ltd is not a licensed insurance broker, financial adviser or authorised representative of any insurer. We receive no commission or benefit from any provider named on this page. The information above is general in nature, does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs, and should not be relied upon as advice. Comments about any particular insurer reflect our own reading of publicly available policy documentation at the time of writing and may be incomplete or since superseded — confirm your position directly with your insurer. Details of our own business insurance are provided for transparency only; that policy covers the company’s legal liability and provides no cover to you personally. Always read the Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination before purchasing, and seek advice from a licensed professional if you need it. Arranging your own insurance is your responsibility.

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