Adventure Sports and Activities
Travel insurance designed for adventures while traveling.
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When planning an overseas holiday with mates, it’s not always easy to agree on the types of activities you’re going to do. Whether it’s hiking, skiing, scuba diving, or other outdoor adventures that you decide on, you may want to consider purchasing travel insurance before you leave.
Even the most careful of travellers should consider having appropriate cover in place, especially if planning on a mix of outdoor activities that will test physical and mental abilities.
- Adventure sports, travel insurance and what’s covered by our plans
- What activities are covered?
- Questions to ask when choosing a plan
- What’s not covered
Adventure sports, travel insurance and what’s covered by our plans
The following is a small sample of what World Nomads plans offer (up to the benefit limits):
Emergency medical and evacuation coverage: if at any time during your trip, you or any of your travelling companions become sick or injured, then you’ll need to contact our 24/7 Emergency Assistance Team right away. They can help find the nearest hospital or medical centre and will facilitate your repatriation back to Australia if your treating doctor believes this to be medically necessary.
Trip cancellation coverage: if you or anyone in your party gets sick or injured and you need to cancel your holiday plans, we may cover the non-refundable travel expenses. Please note that the traveller must have already been issued with a travellers Certificate of Insurance from World Nomads to have cancellation coverage available to them.
Coverage for extended stays: if you’re having an awesome time on your trip, and choose to delay your return home, then you may be eligible to also extend your travel insurance policy. You must not have had any change to your health, submitted a claim or intend to and are 69 years old or younger at the time to be eligible to extend. This must be done prior to 11:59pm on the return date that is listed on your policy. The policy may be extended for a total of 12 months from the start date that is indicated on your Certificate of Insurance.
Coverage for baggage and personal belongings: if your baggage or personal items are lost, damaged or stolen, then you’ll need to submit receipts, along with police reports or statements from your carrier (if the belongings were lost in transit).
Your coverage will vary according to whether you choose a Standard or an Explorer plan. The features and benefits described are a summary of cover only. Cover is subject to the full terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions outlined in the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS).
Skiing overseas: frequently asked questions
What activities are covered?
During your holiday, you may wish to try activities and sports that aren’t commonly played back home in Australia.
Before purchasing your travel insurance policy, check your PDS to make sure that all the sports and activities that you intend to do are covered. World Nomads provides travel insurance for more than 150 activities, sports and experiences. While this list might seem exhaustive, it doesn’t cover everything. That’s why you should never take for granted that your preferred activities will be covered.
The following are only some of the many sports and activities covered under our policies:
- Kayaking
- Hiking
- Surfing
- Sandboarding
An upgrade for certain sports may be required and terms and conditions apply for each sport. Check your policy for details or contact us if you have questions.
Questions to ask when choosing a plan
When hunting around for a travel insurance policy, you might be tempted to take the most cost-effective cover without reading through the PDS first. There are different policies to cover different types of holidays, and although reading this document can be a tedious task, it’s best to familiarise yourself with all the benefits, policy limits and exclusions before you purchase your cover.
World Nomads offer two travel insurance plans, the Standard Plan and the Explorer Plan. Both plans may offer protection for many of the same types of risks and can cover the costs associated with hospitalisation, repatriation, replacing lost baggage, as well as other unplanned for expenses.
However, the Explorer Plan offers a level of cover, with a wider range of benefits, and higher policy limits. For instance, you might wish to include cover for hiking or diving on your trip. Therefore, when choosing between the two plans, you would need to know the exact altitudes of your hiking trips and the depths of your planned dives.
As with many of the other activities that we cover, there are different levels of cover for hiking. For example, hiking trips to an altitude of 2,000 metres is classed as Level 1. Hikes to an altitude of 6,000 metres are listed as Level 3. There is no cover under our policies for hiking expeditions that exceed an altitude of 6,000 metres.
Before choosing the right type of cover for your holiday, you need to research the details of any activities, sports, and tours you will be participating in, to make sure the cover is adequate for you.
When deciding which policy is best suited to your adventures you might want to consider:
- What kind of activities will I be doing on holiday?
- What activities are my travel buddies planning?
- What cover do the two different plans offer for these activities?
- What exclusions might apply?
Note: It’s important you choose your policy carefully as you can’t upgrade from a Standard Plan to an Explorer Plan mid-trip.
What’s not covered
Here are just a few examples of what is not covered under our plans. Please refer to your policy for the complete list.
- Existing medical conditions: cover is usually not offered for existing medical conditions. Although, there's automatic cover for over 40 existing medical conditions when certain criteria are met. Please check your PDS for the full details.
- If you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
- If you do not use a professional qualified and licenced guide or operator where required.
- Any search or rescue operations to find or rescue you from a life-threatening situation.
- If you refuse to be repatriated or evacuated for further treatment on the reasonable recommendation of the 24/7 Emergency Assistance Team.
- Damage to sporting equipment while in use.
- Unattended baggage or personal items.
- You are behaving in a reckless manner, or your actions are in breach of the local laws.
- If you participate in any sport or engage in any activity on a professional basis during your overseas holiday.
Overseas adventure activity tips to help you have a safer experience
Your activity operator should be certified/accredited
Whichever country you’re travelling through it always helps to be prepared, here are some general tips for Australian travellers to keep in mind.
Be careful with valuables – wallets poking out of back pockets or unzipped handbags displaying the contents inside are irresistible attractions for pickpockets and muggers. Keep all valuable items safely concealed on your body, or securely locked away in your hotel room when you don’t require them.
Listen to local news updates – during your stay in any country, make sure you pay attention to local news broadcasts, including weather updates. If a violent storm is expected to blast the region in the coming days, then it’s probably wise to postpone any outdoor activities or adventures you had planned until a later date.
Only work with qualified and licensed instructors – if you are planning to participate in any activities that require an instructor, then you should make sure the instructor has received the right training. They must be qualified and licenced to lead hiking, diving, abseiling, or other types of tours and be registered with the governing association for their recreational activity.
There may be specific terms, conditions, limitations and exclusions that apply depending on what you'll be doing. Of course, always read the full terms, conditions limitations and exclusions in the plan you choose so there’ll be no surprises if you need to use it. If you are unsure of your level of travel cover, please contact us for help.
Motorbikes and licences while overseas: frequently asked questions
World Nomads covers more than 150 activities and sports, and if it’s not on the list you can contact us and we’ll let you know if we’ll cover it.
You can read more about coverage for some specific activities, or select your Country Of Residence and click here to see the activities covered by the plans available to you.
We offer cover for:
- 24/7 Emergency Assistance
- Overseas medical assistance
- Cancellation
- Baggage
I bit on something hard
A bone chipped my front tooth, on the top row, and cracked it. Blood started to run down so I had an emergency visit to the dentist to repair it.
B.P. U.S Resident in South Africa.
Travel Insurance Benefits: how we can take care of you
Trip Cancellation
Protect your trip from unexpected cancellation.
- Explorer Plan: Unlimited
- Standard Plan: $5,000
Trip Protection
- Unexpectedly hospitalised?
- Travel buddy unfit to travel?
- Close relative suddenly dies?
We’ve got your back.
Emergency Medical Overseas
Take the pain out of medical costs.
- Explorer Plan: Unlimited
- Standard Plan: $5,000,000
Emergency Medical Insurance
- Need meds quick?
- Accidentally injured?
- Suddenly sick?
We’ve got your back.
Emergency Medical Transport
We'll get you to hospital lickety-split
- Explorer Plan: Unlimited
- Standard Plan: $500,000
Evacuation and Repatriation
- Banged up abroad?
- Need a hospital urgently?
- Medivac home?
Help starts here.
Protect your gear
Cover your stolen or damaged gear and tech.
- Explorer Plan: $10,000
- Standard Plan: $2,000
Protect your gear
- Passport or tech stolen?
- Airline lost your gear?
- Bags delayed?
Help starts here.
- Overseas Medical Expenses
- Emergency dental treatment
- 24 hour assistance
- Emergency medical transport & repatriation
- Cancellation costs
- Trip interruption costs
- Compassionate emergency visit home
- Resumption of trip
- Theft or accidental damage to baggage and personal items
- Baggage delay over 12 hours
- Funeral expenses overseas or repatriation of remains
- Personal liability
24/7 emergency assistance
If you need medical assistance or emergency medical evacuation our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year before and during your trip.
Are you in need of emergency assistance right now?
Phone: +61 2 8263 0470 or Phone: +61 2 8292 1470 (reverse charges via an operator from anywhere in the world)
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Travel insurance for independent travelers and intrepid families. Nobody wants to think about all the things that could go wrong on their trip, but these things can and do happen. So be prepared and get your travel insurance today.
Before your trip, check to see if there are current travel alerts for your destination – you can also view the latest government advice.
Gaza−Israel conflict: For travellers in, or planning on travelling to, Israel or the Palestinian Territories, please see our travel alert with more information.