Some offers on this page are from advertisers who pay us, which may affect which products we write about, but not our recommendations. See our Advertiser Disclosure.

Standard travel insurance policies typically don’t cover high-risk activities, such as skydiving, bungee jumping, free diving, and other similar adventure sports. If you plan to participate in one of these activities, it’s worth considering an adventure travel insurance policy.

This is often a type of coverage that you have to add to a base travel insurance plan. So, it’ll cost a bit more as an optional policy, but it may be worth it if you know you’ll be doing high-risk activities on your trip.

Learn more: Travel insurance: What it covers, costs, and how to choose the right policy

The definition of a “high-risk activity” or “adventure sport” depends on the insurance provider and specific travel insurance plan. In some cases, your standard policy may include coverage for activities like hiking, kayaking, and horseback riding.

However, these are examples of activities that a basic travel plan may not cover:

Bungee jumping

Deep-water scuba diving

Fighting sports

Free climbing

Hang gliding

Mountain climbing

Parasailing

Rappelling

Skiing or snowboarding

Skydiving

For a full list of excluded activities, check the terms and conditions of your travel insurance plan or any policy you’re researching.

Learn more: What does travel insurance cover?

It depends on your policy, but some plans won’t cover you in these situations if they stem from participating in high-risk activities.

If you’re injured while participating in a high-risk activity on a standard travel insurance policy, you may not be reimbursed for emergency medical expenses, including hospital visits. This is because many travel plans exclude these types of activities.

You typically won’t receive reimbursement for rescue or emergency transportation expenses for a situation resulting from participation in a high-risk activity unless you have a policy that specifically includes that activity and this type of coverage.

Read more: How much does travel insurance cost?

In some cases, you can add adventure travel insurance as an optional coverage to a standard travel insurance policy. For example, Travel Guard lets you add its Adventure Travel Bundle add-on to its Preferred and Deluxe plans for an additional fee.

Some insurance providers include adventure travel coverage in specific plans rather than as an optional add-on. For example, the Travelex Ultimate plan includes coverage for many eligible activities, in addition to standard travel insurance types, such as trip cancellation, emergency medical, and trip inconvenience.

You may be able to choose between different coverage limits with adventure travel insurance. If this is the case, remember to include as much coverage as you think you may need, depending on the types of activities you plan to participate in.

Keep in mind that your standard travel insurance policy may actually be where you want to adjust your coverage limits. You may need to add a high-risk activities rider to your plan, but you may need to adjust the limits for emergency medical and emergency transportation, depending on how much coverage you want.

A high-risk destination is not the same as a high-risk activity.

High-risk destinations are locations around the world that may be excluded from travel insurance coverage for different situations, such as being in a war or crisis zone. The government may issue travel advisories recommending that you avoid these areas.

High-risk activities are certain types of activities often excluded from standard travel insurance plans. These activities, such as skydiving or rock climbing, are often more dangerous than standard activities, such as hiking or kayaking.

The first thing you want to do is check whether a travel insurance policy includes the activities you want to participate in. You can typically find an exclusion list in a policy’s terms and conditions. If you can’t find an exclusion list, you may need to contact the insurance provider directly to see if they offer coverage for your preferred activity.

Depending on the activity you plan to participate in, you may want to consider having evacuation coverage. For example, backcountry skiing can be particularly dangerous, as there’s typically no nearby infrastructure, especially if you’re dropped in via helicopter.

With evacuation coverage, you can typically receive reimbursement for transportation to the nearest safe place, as well as reasonable related costs, such as meals and lodging.

As is always the case with travel insurance, you should carefully review all exclusions on your policy. When comparing policies, remember to compare exclusions across plans from different providers and within the same provider. In some cases, you may find certain policies are more flexible than others if they have shorter exclusion lists.

Read more: How to compare travel insurance to choose the right policy

Not standard coverage: Adventure travel insurance isn’t typically part of standard travel insurance policies, so you’ll have to choose a higher-cost plan or add it as an optional upgrade.

An additional cost: Since it’s an optional type of travel coverage, you can expect adventure travel insurance to come with an additional cost over your standard insurance premiums.

Check exclusions: If you have specific high-risk activities in mind for your trip, ensure that they aren’t excluded in your travel insurance plan’s terms and conditions, including within an adventure travel insurance add-on.

Tim Manni edited this article.

Learn more about travel insurance and how it works to see if it makes sense for you to purchase a policy before an upcoming business trip or vacation.

Many travelers can benefit from having travel insurance. Learn what travel insurance covers, how much it costs, and how to choose the right policy.

Travel insurance doesn’t cover everything, but it can help protect you in financially taxing situations, including if you need to cancel an upcoming trip.

Learn how to compare different travel insurance policies in seven simple steps, so you can find the right policy to meet your travel coverage wants and needs.

Whether travel insurance makes sense depends on your travel frequency, nonrefundable trip costs, risk tolerance, and other important factors. Learn when it's worth it.

Travel medical insurance can reimburse you for covered medical expenses incurred during your travels. Here's what it covers and when it makes sense.