Travel Health Advise

Although our guides and local operators have comprehensive first aid equipment available it is also worth carrying a personnel travel first aid kit. A few plasters, a spray-on antiseptic, remedies for indigestion and upset stomach, headaches and sore throats which, even if only minor, can impact your holiday. For more remote destinations a more comprehensive kit might be required.

To find out more about fitness levels and suitability of our active holidays go to our Holiday Suitability page

Vaccinations

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct vaccinations for chosen destination and take the necessary precautions against bites from insects and animals. We recommend Hepatitis A, Typhoid, Tetanus and Polio as standard for most holidays. Always check with your GP or vaccination centre for the most up to date advice and visit the NHS website. You should be aware that there may be a fee for vaccinations.

Fitness to Fly

Most airlines assess your fitness to fly based on internationally accepted criteria; the aim being to ensure that all passengers have a safe, comfortable and uneventful journey.

Download the World Health Organisation fitness to fly information (PDF - 84KB)

Fitness to Fly and Pregnancy

Our partner airlines' policies in relation to flying during pregnancy vary. You are generally able to travel until quite late into your pregnancy. Generally for longer flights (over 4 hours) you can travel if the entire itinerary is completed by the end of the 35th week for single pregnancies and the 28th week for multiple births (e.g. twins).

We suggest ALL expectant mothers carry a medical certificate confirming the date of delivery and fitness to fly. While not always required by airlines it does help avoid issues that may arrise while travelling. Where airlines require you to carry a certificate they often stipulate that it must have been issued within 3 days of departure. Please ask for details at time of booking.

Flying and Diving

Always dive conservatively and ensure you allow a safe preflight surface interval. The current safety recommendations for flying, or otherwise ascending to a higher altitude, after diving are:

Dives within the No-Decompression Limits

• A Single No-Decompression Dive: A minimum pre-flight surface interval of 12 hours is suggested
• Multiple Dives per Day or Multiple Days of Diving: A minimum pre-flight surface interval of 18 hours is suggested.

Dives Requiring Decompression Stops

There is little experimental or published evidence on which to base a recommendation for decompression dives. A pre-flight surface interval substantially longer than 18 hours appears prudent.

Important: These recommendations represent the consensus recommendations which should reduce decompression illness risk during flying after diving for the vast majority of divers but do not guarantee avoidance of decompression illness. If a diver has had decompression illness and has not received appropriate recompression treatment, flying can be risky even more than a week after the dive. Preflight surface intervals longer than the recommendations will reduce DCS risk further.