Traveling with a drone has become increasingly popular. Everyone from professional travel bloggers to 12-year-old kids can be found flying drones in dream destinations. Drone photography and videography is all over Instagram. Drones give you amazing perspectives. In the past, you’d have to pay hundreds of dollars for a helicopter ride to get those shots. Now, you can just send up a drone and voila, you’ve got epic travel photos.

Drones are definitely the hottest toy in the travel industry, and we’re often surprised at how many travelers have drones. However, they are not actually toys. They are small remote-controlled aircrafts.  They can be very dangerous in the hands of someone who doesn’t know how to properly operate them or who doesn’t follow drone regulations. When used responsibly, drones are extremely fun and take your travel photos to a whole new level.

We’ve certainly made our fair share of drone mistakes through the years of traveling with drones. We’ve learned, sometimes the hard way, about mistakes you want to avoid when flying a drone. Here are 10 things not to do when traveling with a drone (or using a drone anywhere). Listen up and save yourself some headaches.

10 Things NOT to do when Traveling with a Drone

1. Don’t fly a drone near an airport or in any no-fly zones!

This seems like common sense but we’ve heard too many stories of airports being shut down because someone was flying a drone nearby. Don’t be that person. It’s incredibly dangerous and of course illegal. Don’t fly a drone within 5 miles of an airport. If you see planes flying overhead but aren’t near an airport, you also should keep that drone out of the sky.

Also, don’t fly drones where there are signs indicating not to fly them. When we first started flying our drone 5 years ago, we didn’t see signs prohibiting drones. Nowadays we see them all over the place when traveling. Respect drone rules and don’t fly your drone if a no-fly zone. Do your research ahead of your travels to see if flying a drone is allowed in the places you will be visiting. We flew our drone freely in Iceland during our first visit in the winter and saw no signs restricting drones. However, when we returned a few years later there were signs at many of the waterfalls and main tourist attractions banning drones.

It was disappointing not to fly, but it’s also not worth getting arrested, fined, or do damage to the environment if you accidentally crash your drone and are unable to retrieve it.

When we were in Bratislava, Bertaut flew his drone near Bratislava Castle. There were no signs prohibiting drones, but an angry guard came running over and demanded that he land his drone immediately. We found out later on that there was a European Union summit in town and were lucky the drone wasn’t seized or worse. Luckily, the footage below didn’t end with us in jail. So do your research ahead of time to avoid any unpleasant run-ins with law enforcement.

 

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A post shared by Family Luxury Travel Hackers (@worldtraveladventurers) on Jun 3, 2017 at 9:01am PDT

2. Don’t try to smuggle a drone into a country where drones are banned

This brings us to mistake #2- don’t bring a drone into a country where drones are illegal. Bertaut tried to smuggle a drone into Nicaragua and use me as his mule. I wasn’t aware that drones were banned in Nicaragua so said “sure” when he asked me to carry his small Mavic Pro in my purse as we made our way across the border from Costa Rica. His logic was that a White woman would have more luck than a Black man getting out of the situation if the drone was discovered. I can joke about this lightheartedly now because it worked out fine. I wouldn’t be laughing if I had gone to prison for his little stunt.

When I placed my purse on the security belt for the X-ray scanner, Bertaut started to look a little nervous. Moments later Nicaraguan border patrol officers were standing over my bag, shaking their heads, and speaking angrily in Spanish. I don’t speak Spanish so I had no clue what they were saying, but knew it couldn’t be good. Thankfully Bertaut speaks Spanish and stepped up to try to talk his way out of this one.

They explained that drones are illegal (while he pretended to be shocked) and confiscated it. Fortunately, Bertaut smooth talked them enough that they allowed us to collect the drone on our way back through the border several days later. Nonetheless, it was a process that took several hours, walking back and forth all over the border, filling out paperwork, and going to a bank to get Nicaraguan money to pay the fine.

We certainly won’t be making that mistake again. Luckily we didn’t lose our drone, end up in prison, or have to pay thousands of dollars. So fellas, don’t use your wife as a mule to smuggle your drone into a country where they are illegal. To put it in perspective, we were telling our story to the manager of the hotel we stayed at in Nicaragua. He told us that you’d have better luck smuggling crack cocaine into Nicaragua than getting a drone in. So folks, don’t try it. It really was such a shame though because the scenery in Nicaragua was jaw-dropping and we could have taken some sick shots there!

Here’s a list of other countries that have banned drones: Algeria, Barbados, Brunei, Cote d’Ivoire, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Madagascar, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Syria. Do your research before you travel to make sure drones are not banned where you’re going and to familiarize yourself with the drone laws and regulations there.

3. Don’t fly a drone without a permit

There are many countries that haven’t outright banned drones, but they require a special permit to fly them. Don’t fly a drone without a permit unless you’re willing to take the risks associated with breaking the drone laws in that country. For example, drone use in the UAE and Oman requires a permit, which can be very difficult to obtain. Many people have taken that risk and didn’t get caught. However, we have also heard of travelers being arrested internationally for flying drones without a permit. That would definitely ruin your vacation, and could be very traumatic depending on where you are traveling. It’s wise to play it safe and get required permits before sending your drone into the sky.

4. Don’t fly a small drone in high winds

There are many different types of drones that people take on their travels. Some are light and compact, while others are much larger and sturdier. We made the mistake of flying a small light drone, the DJI Spark, in a windy area. It couldn’t handle the wind and crashed into the rocks you see in the photo above. Bertaut had to climb up the canyon like a billy goat and retrieve his drone. So know the limitations of your drone and only fly it in conditions that it can handle. If flying in strong winds, make sure you have a heavy duty drone like the Phantom 4.

We used to always travel with 3 drones, but now we stick with just the DJI Mavic Pro 2 since it takes excellent photos and videos, folds up into a small case, and can handle wind surprisingly well for its size. It is the best travel drone in our opinion, and it doesn’t take up half a suitcase.

5. Don’t fly a drone if there’s a chance of a helicopter flying nearby

Ok, we’ll admit, this is not exactly something you can predict. But we had to throw it in since it was one of the big mistakes we made and it makes for a funny story. While flying his first drone in the Maldives over the Indian Ocean, Bertaut suddenly lost signal on his drone. It was nowhere to be found, and the GPS locator wasn’t showing it anywhere. Suddenly a helicopter flew overhead from out of nowhere. Turns out that a billionaire with a massive yacht decided to fly over to our hotel, the Park Hyatt Maldives, for lunch. We speculate that the helicopter’s signal interfered with the drone’s signal, causing it to drop into the ocean.

Flash forward one month later, we received an email from the hotel asking if we’d like our submarine drone back. They found it while scuba diving. It had seen better days after spending a month at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. We decided to pay $100 to have it shipped back to us in the U.S., and then shipped it to DJI. DJI determined that it was a motherboard failure that caused the drone to fall from the sky, not user error. So they shipped us a brand new drone, free of charge.

So, the lesson of the story is to watch out for random helicopters when flying drones. They can come out of nowhere, and it would be really dangerous if your drone hit the helicopter. It was a major disappointment losing our first drone on our first trip to the Maldives, on day 2 of our vacation. You can read more about that incident in our post about our submarine drone.

6.  Don’t fly your drone near large birds who can take it down

We’ve had several occasions flying our drone near the ocean when large sea birds tried to take it down. It seemed like a territorial battle for the birds. They wanted to defend their turf and take out any competitors. We watched nervously as huge birds dive bombed toward our drone, barely missing it. Maybe they were trying to just scare if off. Well, they succeeded. We landed our drone and thanked our lucky stars that they didn’t send another of our drones into the ocean. So if you see birds flying around your drone, flying precariously close to it in attack mode, bring it down. It would be pretty traumatic if a bird actually hit the drone. Those high speed propellers would do some serious damage. Which brings us to our next tip.

7. Don’t try to catch a Mavic Pro drone in your hands from a moving boat

Bertaut has successfully launched and landed his drone from boats several times on vacation. When flying the Phantom 4, it is pretty easy to catch the drone in your hands. It’s not ideal to land the drone directly on the boat due to waves causing the boat to move up and down. After many successful landings,  Bertaut thought he had the technique down while flying his drone in Bora Bora during our snorkeling excursion. Turns out it was trickier than he anticipated. A large gust of wind came right as he reached out his hand to catch it. He knew that if he didn’t play this right, his drone would end up in the ocean. So he risked his life and limb (ok, really just his 10 fingers) and grabbed the drone before the wind carried it away.

He ended up looking like Edward Scissorhands got the best of him. All 10 of his fingers were cut up and bloody from the propellers of the drone slicing through them. This was on a shark and stingray snorkeling excursion. Needless to say, he didn’t get out of the boat to swim with the sharks. He would have been the first man to die in Bora Bora while snorkeling with reef sharks. So, don’t try to grab a drone (at least not a Mavic Pro which isn’t as easy to grab while it’s moving) with your hands while bobbing around in the ocean on a boat. That is, unless you want to be shark bait. Check out this gorgeous shot he got from the boat in Bora Bora though! At least it wasn’t for nothing.

 

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A post shared by Family Luxury Travel Hackers (@worldtraveladventurers) on Aug 1, 2019 at 4:06am PDT

8. Don’t rely solely on collision avoidance feature to avoid trees

Many of the newer and more expensive drones have collision avoidance features to prevent drones from flying into things. We learned that this feature does not always work. Bertaut was flying his drone while I was zip lining in Costa Rica. It was the last line of the route and there were tons of trees around. He was watching the footage his drone was capturing on his phone screen and didn’t have eyes on his drone. Next thing he knew, his drone was stuck in a tree. Luckily one of the zip lining crew climbed up the tree and retrieved it for him. So make sure to keep your eyes on your drone instead of relying fully on the collision avoidance feature to keep it out of trees. We’ve heard so many stories of drones getting stuck in palm trees. Don’t let that happen to you.

9. Don’t put your drone in checked luggage

As I write this post I’m reminded of the many drone mishaps we’ve endured. We made the mistake of putting our drone (the Phantom 4 which is large when packed in its protective backpack case) in our checked luggage when flying home from Cameroon years ago. Unfortunately all our luggage was lost in Istanbul for 6 days. When it returned to us, our drone along with several other valuable items were stolen. We filed a claim with the airline but they only reimburse up to $500 for electronics. We pushed hard to get full reimbursement but had no luck. We took a big hit with that mishap and have always carried our drone with us onto airplanes since then.

Make sure to take the batteries out and they should not be fully charged. Check with your airline first before flying with a drone because each airline has their own rules. You can read more about that unfortunate experience here if you’re curious.

10. Don’t invade anyone’s privacy with your drone

Last but certainly not least, don’t invade other travelers’ privacy with your drone. This one seems like common sense and a basic common courtesy. However, we’ve seen people flying drones right over hotel pools and private villas at some of the most luxurious hotels in the world. Imagine that you’re lying naked on the deck of your private overwater villa in Bali, far from anyone’s prying eyes. Suddenly your zen state is disturbed by what sounds like a giant bumble bee buzzing over your head. You realize that someone is flying their drone over your villa and can see you in all your glory.

This actually happened to a couple we met on vacation. Stories like that are the reason so many luxury hotels have banned drones. People don’t respect other people’s privacy. And no one wants to hear that loud buzzing sound while they are sipping a piña colada on the beach. So only fly your drone far from people so you don’t disturb anyone’s peace. We make sure to launch and land our drone in locations that won’t disturb anyone. We also fly it high enough that no one will hear it.  Or we launch it at a time when no one is around. It comes down to the golden rule. Treat others the way you would like to be treated.

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