DAN provides access to affordable annual dive cover plans to meet the individual needs of divers. Become a DAN member today!

My name is Julika Kennaway! I had a major diving crisis. It was on a remote island in West Papua in Indonesia. Without DAN I dread to think what would have happened to me. The reality is that I could be blind, paralysed or dead.

DAN members have a passion for the water, a quest for knowledge and love of community. They love being part of something bigger. You can join nearly 500,000 divers worldwide and experience valuable benefits to make you a safer, smarter diver. Divers Alert Network (DAN) is the world’s most recognised and respected dive safety organisation comprised of dive professionals and medical experts dedicated to supporting divers. Through research, medical services, educational programs and global response initiatives For nearly 40 years, DAN has created an extensive network capable of providing divers around the world with vital services. Everyday divers rely upon DAN for dive safety information and health guidance. They know that in event of emergency, we’ll be there for them - no matter where adventure takes them. For almost 40 years DAN has been helping divers and we will continue to cultivate a culture of dive safety! Join DAN today and be part of the largest dive safety community.

Most divers realise that diving is an adventure sport that may result in injuries as such they want the peace of mind that, in case of a diving emergency, there is a 24-hour hotline to call with membership benefits for the medical services they will need.

DAN membership is not expensive by most standards. Diving medical advice is offered free of charge and is available 24/7/365. Membership benefits are secondary to any primary insurance or medical aid and include diving medical and travel-related cover that are also extremely affordable and very competitive. DAN members also have access to discounts on safety and educational materials.

Many divers like being part of an organisation that is so obviously committed towards their safety. Apart from being available as a diving emergency and diving-medical-information line, DAN is always actively campaigning for safety, initiating and supporting safety initiatives, and finding practical ways to make diving safer and more enjoyable.

DAN is a very personal organisation. Callers quickly learn that DAN is not an “institution”; it is a living and vibrant organisation. In many ways, DAN members feel that they are becoming part of a “family” who look out for one another – “divers helping divers” as we always like to say.

So, many divers just seem to like the idea of being part of something worthwhile and they are willing to give up some of their discretionary income to be a part of it.

That being said, it is also common knowledge that DAN offers top-rated services and has an exceptional network of experienced diving medical professionals. One call to the DAN hotline and divers find themselves talking to a professional diving doctor who “speaks their language”. This is truly something special. With access to so many like-minded people, DAN is able to arrange evacuation by land, sea or sky if required and help injured divers gain access to specialised medical treatment facilities such as recompression chambers.

In a nutshell! DAN members help support a 24-hour hotline. This hotline offers access to specialists trained in diving medicine and is freely available to members with a diving-related query. The DAN hotline can be called 24/7/365 by a member worldwide in the event of a dive emergency. DAN membership subscription contributes towards the 24-hour emergency and information line. The emergency and diving-medical-information line is freely available to DAN members. So members can call for medical advice on any topic to do with diving or ask to be referred to a health professional knowledgeable in diving medicine.

When you support DAN, you support the organisation’s ongoing efforts to reduce dive injuries and improve first response and medical treatment. One hundred percent of DAN’s profits are reinvested in research, medical services and programs that make diving safer for all divers. As a diver, you need DAN and DAN needs you. DAN offers comprehensive plans that provide protection and peace-of-mind in the event of a dive accident for far less than the cost of an unplanned event. DAN’s dive accident cover plans are recognised worldwide providing secondary coverage of up to R800,000 and paying 100% of eligible expenses.

It is true that some primary medical insurance include cover for diving injuries. However, divers who have tried to go this route soon discover that it is not easy to work with a primary medical insurance when trying to organise an emergency evacuation for a diving injury. That is simply not the time to discover that your medical aid is not able to assist you in getting the most appropriate treatment or advice. Their convenient 0800 toll-free number doesn’t work in Zanzibar and even in South Africa, working your way through a multi-prompt menu from a cell phone is not what you need in a crisis. Also, getting documented authorisations takes time and nearly all private emergency service providers now insist on a written Guarantee of Payment (GOP) before responding. That is not surprising given that most aeromedical evacuations in Africa come in at R200 000 or more and even evacuations by ambulance approach R20 000 plus when advanced life support services are involved. Evacuations are costly. Recompression, on the other hand, is not that expensive in Africa. In the rest of the World, it may set you back about R100 000. However, if evacuation and hospitalisation are called for, the costs can be very high.

As a DAN member, all these concerns disappear. One number and you have all the help and cover you need for a diving emergency. The travel and medical benefits are an added bonus, but don’t tear up your primary medical insuarnce card just yet. So, should a diver have primary medical insurance or be a DAN member? A diver should be both!

All applications are usually processed within 2-days. If you don't hear from us within 2-days after submitting an application please contact the DAN-SA office directly on +27 11 266 4900 or at [email protected] Please note that the DAN administrative office is closed on weekends and public holidays.

Dive Masters and Instructors working abroad within the DAN Southern Africa region now have access to the additional benefit of being able to extend their diving-only cover benefits, on specific application and only as a Master member. To activate this extension benefit, an application will need to be submitted to the DAN office for approval whenever the period exceeds 90 consecutive days, for each successive 90-day period.
 
It is necessary to contact the DAN office within 85 days when working abroad within the DAN Southern Africa region to be able to extend the membership benefits for any additional 90 day period.
 
Dive Masters and Instructors working abroad must apply for Master membership within their country of residence prior to departure.

It is important to note that the following is not covered as part of your DAN membership. Search and recovery, working on a cruise ship, sailing vessel or on a boat travelling from one country to another.

Dive Masters/Instructors working abroad now have access to the additional benefit of being able to extend their diving-only cover benefits up to a period of 365 days, on specific application and only as a Master member. To activate this extension benefit, an application will need to be submitted to the DAN office for approval whenever the period exceeds 90 consecutive days, for each successive 90-day period.
 
It is necessary to contact the DAN office within 85 days when working abroad to be able to extend the membership benefits for any additional period, with an overall limit of 365 days. If the period exceeds 365 days, the Dive Masters/Instructors will need to join the relevant international DAN office in the area that they are working in.
 
For Dive Masters/Instructors working outside the DAN Southern Africa territory, there will be an additional fee to extend their diving only membership benefits. Diving-only cover may be extended, based on contacting the office and requesting extended cover, for a fee of R350 per 90 day period, up to a maximum of a 360 days continuous period away.
 
Dive Masters/Instructors working abroad must apply for Master membership within their country of residence within the DAN Southern Africa region prior to departure.

To apply for a travel extension it is highly recommenced to have additional travel insurance in place. It is important to supply DAN with your work address details when working outside your country of residence for more than 90 days. This is to ensure that you don't forfeit any of your DAN diving cover membership benefits.