I've been wondering if it would be a good idea to become a member of DAN SA. I see that they now cater for spearfisherman.

Ever since I read the article where Mark was bitten by a shark and evacuated from Vilancoulous back to SA by DAN, its played in the back of my mind.

I have never dived outside of SA, but I do plan on doing it in the future. So when that time comes I reckon it would be a great idea to become a member, simply from an emergency evacuation point of view.

However, when just spearing in South Africa, is DAN membership really needed?
My medical aid (Discovery) will cover me for a spearfishing related accident - Well that's what they said on the telephone ....
However I must inform them before doing a trip.

I'm interested to hear your thoughts on the matter?

Hey Stan,

I’ve chatted to DAN SA twice before about exclusive cover for apnea sport divers in South Africa and both times they weren’t keen about providing such services for our sport … That’s the bad news, however there is a loop hole in their terms and conditions and I’m not sure how long it’s going to be before they plug it. If you are scuba qualified, they will cover you even though you are partaking in freediving activities provided you are not competing and you are not diving below 20m. (I stand under correction there) You can enjoy all the benefits offered by DAN (depending on which OPTION you belong too).
My personal view, you can’t go wrong by becoming a DAN member… currently you are spearing in areas which have reasonably good medical reaction time and are close to good medical centers, what if you are spearing at the Kei or Southern Moz and an incident happens??? The closest hospital to Ponta is in Maputo … That is well over 100km of bad ass road to Catembe, then you have to catch a ferry to the main land, alternatively you can always drive around to Boane and into Maputo. Down side to this, you are adding another couple of good kms of more bad ass road. All this translates into time and time when you are in deep sh** could mean the difference between life and death. Alternatively you can make a BEE- LINE for the boarder and land up driving all the way into Pongola or Richards Bay where they can assist you. How long is this trip going to take? If you belong to DAN and sh** strike the fan, you phone them, give them the details and they will air lift you from the site with trained paramedics and all the goodies to keep you alive until they land at a good medical facility and hand you over to the doctors and medical staff.
You have all this piece of mind for only a few hundred rand per year. I also believe that if you alert them of your diving trip before hand and you have a road accident and you need to be air lifted to a medical facility, DAN will cover that air lift. I‘ll enquire about that detail for future

Thanks mate ... It really puts it into perspective. Thanks again

Join DAN. Discovery has excellent marketing (read as promises) but I have very often heard of them coming up short when they have to fulfill what they promise. You don't want to find this out when you hit the beach with a femoral artery spraying the boat

Patrick.O.Donoghue wrote:
Join DAN. Discovery has excellent marketing (read as promises) but I have very often heard of them coming up short when they have to fulfill what they promise. You don't want to find this out when you hit the beach with a femoral artery spraying the boat

That's not my experience with Discovery. The two times I've seen them in action have pretty much blown me away. I'm with Discovery and will continue staying with them.

Very important to belong to a good medical aid and life insurance for that matter guys ... I pay extra on my life insurance because I snorkel and scuba dive… tell them you snorkel other wise they say you are to much of a risk.
DAN will pay in full for hyperbaric chamber therapy. It'll also cover all EMS transportation costs if treatment can't be administrated on site as well as any cost incurred while in transit to a medical facility. As soon as the EMS signs you off into the care of a medical facility, your medical aid kicks in automatically and DAN is not responsible to fit your hospital bill unless you need a hyperbaric chamber. However recreational scuba diving accidents are not as violent as spearfishing accidents so if you are thinking about hooking up with DAN, be sure you understand what they'll do for you and what DAN is responsible for and make sure you know what your medical aid will cover.