Should I buy travel insurance for Mt. Rinjani?

Yes. Absolutely. Without question. If you’re even considering skipping travel insurance for a Rinjani trek, you need to rethink your priorities. This is a 3,726-meter active volcano with no helicopter rescue capability, extremely limited communication infrastructure, and evacuation routes that require overland transport through difficult volcanic terrain to reach hospital facilities. If something goes seriously wrong, getting help is neither fast nor cheap.

A serious injury like a fractured ankle on summit scree or altitude sickness that doesn’t improve with rest means guides and porters potentially carrying you down steep volcanic paths to reach a vehicle, then driving over rough roads to the nearest proper medical facility. That process takes hours, not minutes, and without insurance you’re paying out of pocket for every single step of that evacuation including potential porter overtime, vehicle rental, and medical treatment.

Good travel insurance for Rinjani should cover emergency medical treatment, evacuation and rescue costs, trip cancellation if weather shuts the mountain down unexpectedly, and gear replacement if your pack gets damaged or stolen. Make absolutely sure the policy explicitly covers trekking up to at least 4,000 meters, because some basic policies cut off at 2,500 or 3,000 meters and would exclude Rinjani entirely.

Don’t just buy the cheapest policy you can find online and hope for the best. Read the fine print carefully. Many standard travel insurance policies exclude adventure activities, high-altitude trekking, or active volcanic destinations by default. Lombok-Indonesia.org always recommends proper coverage because we’ve seen what happens when travelers skip this step and then face real medical bills. It’s genuinely not worth the gamble. Spend the extra money on proper insurance and climb with peace of mind.