What Adventure Activities Are Covered?

Insurer	Underwriter	Quad biking	Scuba diving	Jet skiing	Animal conservation	White water rafting	Rock climbing	Sky diving	Contact sports	Buy Now
1Cover BUY	Certain underwriters at LLoyd's		Must hold an open water diving licence recognised in Australia or you were diving under licensed instruction.		Hand tools only.	Rapids graded 1,2,3 only.				BUY
AAMI	AAI Limited		Must hold an open water diving licence.
AllClear BUY	Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Limited
Amex BUY	Chubb Insurance Australia Limited		Must have appropriate licence for country diving in or you are diving under licensed instruction.							BUY
Australian Seniors	The Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd	Must be under direct supervision of a properly licenced organisation, obey all safety codes and wear protective gloves and helmet.	Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified or diving under licenced instruction.				With ropes and safety gear.
Boomers BUY	Allianz Australia Insurance Limited	Single rider only.	Covered up to 30m depth must hold an open water diving licence recognised in Australia or you were diving under licensed instruction.		Under supervision.	Rapids graded 1,2,3 only.	With ropes and safety gear.	You must be in tandem with a licensed instructor.		BUY
Budget Direct BUY	Auto & General Services Pty Ltd	Single rider only.	Covered up to 30m depth must hold an open water diving licence recognised in Australia or you were diving under licensed instruction.		Educational and environment working with hand tools only	Rapids graded 1,2,3,4 only.	Indoor and harnessed only
Columbus Direct BUY	Certain underwriters at LLoyd's	Adults only- you must be with a professional, qualified and licensed guide or operator.	Covered up to 30m depth must be qualified and not diving alone or unqualified if diving under licensed instruction.	Must have appropriate licence for country diving in or you are diving under licensed instruction.		Black rapids grades 1-5 you must be with a professional, qualified and licensed guide or operatory.	You must have the appropriate certification or licence to do this sport or activity.	1 jump - you must be with a professional, qualified and licensed guide or operator		BUY
Cover-More	Zurich Australian Insurance Limited		Must have appropriate licence for country diving in or you are diving under licensed instruction.	No racing or competing
Downunder BUY	Certain underwriters at LLoyd's		Must hold an open water diving licence or you were diving under licensed instruction		Hand tools only	Rapids graded1,2,3 only
Easy Travel Insurance	Zurich Australian Insurance Limited		Must hold an open water diving licence or you were diving under licensed instruction
Fast Cover BUY	Hollard Insurance Company Pty Ltd	Single rider only, no jumping, racing or competition	covered up to 30m depth must be qualified or if diving under licensed instruction.		Under appropriate supervision.	In rapids Graded 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 only	With ropes and appropriate safety gear	You must be in tandem with a licensed instructor.		BUY
Go insurance	Certain underwriters at LLoyd's		Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.			White or black rapids Graded 1, 2 & 3 only with a licenced operator
Insure4Less	Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company	Must be provided by a licensed commercial operator- No cover in the USA or Canada.	Covered up to a depth of 10m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction	Must be provided by a licensed commercial operator- No cover in the USA or Canada.		Graded 1, 2, 3 & 4 only		Must be tandem and provided by a licensed commercial operator- No cover in the USA or Canada.
InsureandGo BUY	Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Limited		Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.		Educational and environment working with hand tools only	Graded 1, 2, 3 & 4 only	Indoor and harnessed only			BUY
Medibank Private	Zurich Australian Insurance Limited		Must hold an open water diving licence or you were diving under licensed instruction
SCTI	Southern Cross		Must be diving under licenced instruction.
Simply Travel Insurance BUY	Certain underwriters at LLoyd's		Must have a qualification accepted in Australia and be diving under licenced instruction.		Hand tools only.	Rapids 1,2,3, only.
Tick Insurance BUY	Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Company Limited		Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.		Educational and environment working with hand tools only.	Rapids 1,2,3, only.	Indoor and harnessed only			BUY
Travel Insurance Direct	Pacific International Insurance		Must be diving under licenced instruction.
Travel Insurance Saver BUY	Pacific International Insurance		Must hold an open water diving licence or be diving under licensed instruction.							BUY
Travel Insuranz BUY	Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance Company	Must be provided by a licensed commercial operator- No cover in the USA or Canada.	Covered up to a depth of 10m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.			Rapids 1,2,3,4 only.		With a licensed instructor. No cover for USA or Canada. .		BUY
Travel With Kit	Certain underwriters at Lloyd's		Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be a holder of an open water diving licence recognised in Australia, or dive with a licensed instructor;		Under appropriate supervision; excludes hunting.		With ropes and appropriate safety gear	You must be in tandem with a licensed instructor.
Virgin Money BUY	Allianz Australia Insurance Limited	Single rider only.	Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.		Under appropriate supervision.	In rapids Graded 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 only.	With ropes and appropriate safety gear.	You must be in tandem with a licensed instructor.		BUY
Webjet BUY	Zurich Australian Insurance Limited	Single rider only.	Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.		Under appropriate supervision.	In rapids Graded 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 only.	With ropes and appropriate safety gear.	You must be in tandem with a licensed instructor.
World Nomads	XL insurance Company Se	16 years old and over You must be with a professional, qualified and licensed guide or operator.	Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.	You must be with a professional, qualified and licensed guide or operator.		In rapids Graded 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 only.	You must be with a professional, qualified and licensed guide or operator.	One jump only.
Worldcare BUY	Allianz Australia Insurance Limited		Covered up to a depth of 10m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.			Rapids 1,2,3, only.	Indoor only with appropriate supervision.
Zoom Travel Insurance BUY	Certain underwriters at LLoyd's		Covered up to a depth of 30m, must be qualified and not diving alone or diving under licenced instruction.		Under appropriate supervision.	Rapids 1,2,3,4 only.	With ropes and appropriate safety gear.	You must be in tandem with a licensed instructor.		BUY

 

General Advice Warning: The contents of this article were accurate at the time of writing. Insurers change their policies from time to time, so some information may have changed. You should always read the Product Disclosure Statement of your chosen insurer to understand what is covered and what isn't. The information provided is of a general nature only and does not take into account any personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before making a decision you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your personal circumstances.

General Activities covered by travel insurance

Recreational sports 
If your holiday isn’t complete without a hole in one, a spot on a yacht or a cycling sojourn, you can relax knowing that most recreation sports (excluding contact activities) are automatically covered. A standard travel insurance policy will usually include cover for camping, dancing, fishing, horse riding, ice skating, kayaking, swimming, surfing, trekking, and recreational sports such as football, netball and hockey. 

Water activities
Popular with travellers to island and beach destinations.  Most insurers will cover you for amateur water sports such as jet skiing, kayaking, paragliding, surfing, white water rafting and windsurfing but there are some slightly more extreme activities that require further explanation and some limitations apply.

Bungee jumping
Ready for an adrenaline-fuelled trip? You can leap to your next holiday worry-free as bungee jumping is covered in most travel insurance policies. Yippeeeeee!​

Adventure activities that are sometimes covered

Higher risk adventure activities such as paragliding and sky diving can be covered, but limitations will usually apply.  Some high-risk activities are automatically covered in some cases you’ll be able to pay an additional premium to get coverage and then there are certain activities that can't be covered.

Abseiling and rock climbing
We love holidays that get off the beaten track.  However, if your rambles turn into scrambles and you need to use ropes or climbing equipment you could find yourself high and dry without cover.  Most insurers do not cover mountaineering or rock climbing if you have to use ropes or any other mountaineering equipment. Climbing at altitudes over 6,000 meters is often restricted too.  Insure4Less offers a rock-climbing policy (read more about hiking, trekking and altitude limits).

Archery
Taking aim? You can aim for the stars knowing that in most cases, you’d be covered to shoot arrows at a target, but watch that target as a reckless aim may not be covered.

Cycling 
Holidays can be best explored on carbon-neutral two wheels but you should hit the brakes before bringing your new, carbon fibre bike on holidays.  Bicycles themselves are usually not covered in the case of theft or damage. Get ride ready with extra bike protection.

Heli-skiing
You won’t find many insurers that cover heli-skiing within a standard policy but InsureandGo covers it in their winter sports policy and Ski-insurance.com.au covers it for an additional premium.  Fly me to the Snow!

Sailing
Cover for sailing and boating varies a lot between providers, so if you’re planning to set sail on your holiday, make sure you understand your policy.  Most travel insurance policies sold in Australia exclude sailing unless it is within a short distance of the coastline.  For example; Southern Cross travel insurance excludes “ocean yachting 12 nautical miles or more from populated land" or in "any area with limited or no telecommunications or medical services", so you may not be covered even if you stayed close to land. Policies underwritten by Allianz excluded "open water sailing more than 10 nautical miles off any landmass".   So dig deep on this one, look for the exclusions. There seems to be a growing demand for policies to cover sailing in international waters and amateur competitive sailing.  Dinghy sailing and dragon boating are usually covered. Go Insurance offer a sailing extension that can be tailored to include offshore boating, recreational sailing, open water racing and regattas which includes cover for equipment, replacement crew members, boat charter excess waivers and more.

Snowboarding and skiing
This is covered by most insurers in Australia provided you have purchased an insurance policy that includes ski/snow cover. However, if you’re planning on racing down the slopes acting recklessly, doing stunts, or skiing off-piste then you might find yourself without cover. InsureandGo covers for off-piste skiing with a professional snow instructor or guide.

Skydiving
If you insist on jumping out of a perfectly fine plane; fear not, there is cover available.  Tandem skydiving or parachuting is commonly covered by travel insurers, but not by all.  There aren't many providers that will cover you for skydiving if you’re planning to jump alone.  Fast Cover, Insure4Less and Zoom Travel Insurance all cover tandem skydives.   Cover-more, Nib, and Travel Insurance Saver will cover you for a solo jump (skydiving and parachuting, but not BASE or cliff jumping).

Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a popular activity for holiday goers so most insurers offer cover but have added in some restrictions to reduce their risk.   Experienced divers with an open water diving certificate are generally covered but depth restrictions may be in place.  Scuba to more info here.

Riding a motorbike
Many insurers will cover you for no additional charge for a bike up to 125cc. However, if you’re riding a motorcycle with an engine capacity of more than 200cc, without a helmet, or without a valid licence for the country you are operating in, you won’t be covered. Some insurers will charge extra for riding a scooter or moped.  See our overseas motorbike riding guide for more information.

Ziplining
Ziplining or flying fox, no matter which way you spin it, it’s important to check that you’re covered before you take off. While the majority of providers will cover zip lining, there’s certainly no harm in asking before you whiz into the abyss.

 

Risky business no travel insurer covers

Increased adrenaline usually means increased risk and there are some activities that insurers simply will not cover.

BASE or Cliff jumping
Travel is all about adventure and exciting experiences, but if you deliberately put your life in danger by taking part in high-risk activities such as cliff jumping or balcony hopping, travel insurance probably won’t pick up the pieces. BASE jumping is significantly more hazardous than other forms of parachuting and is widely considered to be one of the most dangerous extreme sports.

Professional sports
Standard travel insurance policies rarely cover activities when you are competing in a race or participating professionally. On your marks…get set…no!

Motorsport and racing
Motoring is one of those activities that doesn’t tend to be coved by any insurers. If you’re planning on renting a sports car on holiday you’ll probably have insurance with the company you’re renting from – but always check before you hit the road.

Running with the bulls
Running with the bulls in Spain is what it says on the tin. It’s a festival where 12 bulls are let loose in the streets of Pamplona Spain and you have to run in front of them! It’s very dangerous and every year, between 200 and 300 people are injured during the run. For this reason, it’s too risky for travel insurers to cover.  So before you submit your claim for being bucked by a bull in Pamplona, or plan to ‘run with the bulls’, know that you’re not covered if you get injured.

Shooting
Clay pigeon shooting may be the planned activity on the bucks weekend, but shooting the groom before the wedding day isn’t fair play. Travel insurance policies rarely cover sports that include the use of guns. In some cases, additional cover may be purchased. 

Expeditions to inaccessible, remote or previously unexplored places
Planning a Bear Grylls style adventure? If you're hankering to be a first-ever pioneer of some yet unexplored territory or zone, you may have to dig very deep to find an insurer that will cover you. As far we know, there are no listed travel insurers that will cover you for expeditions to inaccessible areas. 

Remember that what each policy does and does not cover varies between insurers so it is important to read the policy document before purchasing or contact your insurer directly if you’re unsure.  If you had a sport or activity planned that didn’t get a mention, it may have slipped under our radar or it may not be covered.  Be sure to contact your insurer to check if your planned activities are covered.  If you can't find cover with your travel insurer, there may be a specialist sports insurer that offers cover.

While it is always good practice to shop around and compare travel insurance policies, your priority should be making sure you are fully covered for your planned adventure activities rather than just snapping up the cheapest quote.


 

Eugene models adventure activity cover

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