Which Scuba Destinations Do You Consider Rather Dangerous?

[Lorenzoid]

Would anyone now reconsider their trip to the Red Sea and classify Egypt as a no go now?

Okay, I would be a little creeped out if I had a trip scheduled for right now. On the other hand, like anywhere else that has recently experienced an attack, security will be very tight there going forward. The odds of another attack on an airliner departing Egypt are probably vanishingly low. No--the next major attack will be somewhere else entirely and not involve aircraft. If I had plans to travel to Egypt next year, this incident would not deter me.

 

[Manneca]

Right now, I consider anywhere in the Middle East a no-go. I went to Sharm a few months after the Gazala Hotel was blown up. I was on Mabul diving Sipadan a couple months after a kidnapping. But, the situation in the Middle East is a lot more volatile than it was even a couple of years ago. There are two many other nice places in the world to dive. Statistically speaking it is unlikely that anything would happen, but still. . . I wouldn't dive in Mexico just because I don't particularly like Caribbean diving.

 

[KathyV]

...Returning to the topic of this thread, though, there are far more likely misfortunes that I might take into consideration in deciding where to travel than being being killed. Dengue and malaria, for example...

The dangers of travel sickness have become much more important to me in recent years. It has always been a concern but I recognize that that you can get sick anywhere so you have to make sure you are informed and take the proper precautions. But now some personal health issues and medications with increased susceptibility to infections has made this a major factor in selecting a travel destination.

 

[bowlofpetunias]

Yes things do change as we age and we have to keep that in mind

 

[drrich2]

The discussion about illness type issues got me thinking about a post by Roger_Scuba with a trip report on the Aggressor Okeanos to Cocos Island. From this report:

You will be diving in conditions that will be intimidating even to seasoned divers. There is a high chance that there will be strong currents at each dive site and that the swells can be quite high (we had one such case where my girlfriend and another diver decided not to dive once we reached the site. If you don't feel comfortable, don't do it). Because of these conditions, you will need to enter the water negatively (no air in BCD) buoyant and quickly drop to the meeting point, which for most sites is around 100ft. You will be diving from 90-114ft most of the days, so if you are not comfortable with these depths, you will not enjoy the trip.

Diving that deep may not be a big issue; diving with currents may or may not be; swells could make exits 'interesting,' I suspect. But really deep diving and strong currents at the same time, with substantial swells! Adding to your drama:

Aggressor will require that you buy diving insurance (such as DAN) and with good reason. There are no medical or chamber facilities in CocosIsland. If you have a diving accident, you risk dying before getting the medical attention you may need. Remember that you will be 36 hours from the mainland and extracting you from Cocos quickly is a physical impossibility. Aggressor has a basic medical response with oxygen and a defibrillator aboard but that may not be enough for the attention you need.


With DAN insurance, the captain will use the satellite phone on the ship to call for a high speedboat to come from Costa Rica with a dedicated DAN doctor aboard. But even a high speed boat will take 16-20 hours depending on sea conditions to transverse the 330 miles. This is why it is so important that you dive safely and within your skills. Do not push your boundaries in this trip. Please note that the captain will also collect an additional $30 cash to supplement the DAN evacuation program. I never asked how this fee was used.


Aggressor also recommends buying optional travel insurance. This will cover the costs of non-diving emergency evacuation should you need it. During this trip, I had a family emergency and I inquired about options about returning to the mainland. The cost of a speedboat was between $20K-30K depending on which company would answer the call. The island has a cleared area for a helicopter landing but we were told that Costa Rican helicopters are not large enough to have enough fuel to make the roundtrip so your only choice to evacuate is boat-based and takes up to 1+ days roundtrip.


As a side note, the captain went way above the call of duty in looking for other options for me to return to the mainland. He even went to a ferry which was unloading materials for the park rangers to see if they could bring us back with them but the timing didn't work out so we finished our trip with Okeanos.


So learn from this experience...buy travel insurance. You may not need it but if you do, you will easily save $20K, well worth the $150/person cost with TravelGuard.

Talk about committing to a trip!

Richard.

 

[Maverick17]

This thread devolved quickly. If I knew scubaboard better, I'd recruit Ron Burgundy memes. I think for the thread to be useful, the place in question needs to have more warning necessary than the normal "don't be an obvious tourist" spiel. Almost every place, including the US obviously, has places that need that disclaimer.

For places that get my extra few minutes of study and review, Sipadan is one I've looked at and read the kidnapping reports and keep that in mind when I think of it. My ability level and budget has kept me away more than the kidnappings, but it's worth keeping in mind. There are places in the southern Philippines that also are dangerous with the same issue, but most of the diving is away from there. Manila is actually probably more dangerous than any dive location in the Phils, but just for the usual issues of robbery/theft/mugging.

Another place worth remembering is Lima, Peru. Although I don't know of diving in Peru, if you are traveling to various places in the region and transiting through there (it's a LAN hub, for example), it is considered a bad place to have checked bags. Many stories (although I'm sure there is exagerration) claim that drugs unwittingly end up in random checked bags there if you have much of a layover, especially on the LIM-MEX route.

In S. Africa I went to do a shark cage trip, and the robbery/theft is above average also, IMO and IME as a tourist.

 

[Lorenzoid]

Okay, I would be a little creeped out if I had a trip scheduled for right now. On the other hand, like anywhere else that has recently experienced an attack, security will be very tight there going forward. The odds of another attack on an airliner departing Egypt are probably vanishingly low. No--the next major attack will be somewhere else entirely and not involve aircraft. If I had plans to travel to Egypt next year, this incident would not deter me.

So, as I was saying just yesterday, the next attack will be somewhere else and not involve aircraft. I didn't expect it so soon, though. My sympathies to Paris and everyone affected.

 

[gkrane]

So, as I was saying just yesterday, the next attack will be somewhere else and not involve aircraft. I didn't expect it so soon, though. My sympathies to Paris and everyone affected.

Those vermin need to be extinguished.

 

[Centrals]

HKSAR Gov has issued various degrees of "travel warning" to Egypt, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.
In another word, SE Asia is nearly off limited for scuba diving for us!!!!!

 

[gkrane]

I for one do not think Egypt will get this out of control situation back in order for me to feel safe traveling to the Red Sea in July. It is a shame that may will suffer due to the loss of tourism, but a more aggressive approach to tending the garden would have gone a long way.