BOOKING TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following Booking Conditions together with the Travel Information contained in our information sheets and on our website, our privacy policy, and any other written information we brought to your attention before we confirmed your booking form the basis of your contract with Nomadic Scuba (ABN: 98238413796) (“we”, “us”, “our”).

Please read them carefully as they set out our respective rights and obligations. In these Booking Conditions references to “you” and “your” include the first named person on the booking and all persons on whose behalf a booking is made or any other person to whom a booking is added or transferred.

By making a booking, the first named person (the “Lead Name”) on the booking agrees on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking that:

• He/she/they/them have read these Booking Conditions and has the authority to and does agree to be bound by them,
• He/she/they/them consents to our use of information in accordance with our Privacy Policy,
• He/she/they/them is over 18 years of age and were placing an order for services with age restrictions declares that he/she/they/them and all members of the party are of the appropriate age to purchase those services,
• He/she/they/them accepts financial responsibility for payment of the booking on behalf of all persons detailed on the booking,
• He/she/they/them is to bring the T&Cs to the attention of all individuals on the booking and to confirm that said individuals agree to the T&Cs.

These Booking Conditions only apply to holiday arrangements which you book with and which we agree to make, provide, or perform (as applicable) as part of our contract with you.

1. MAKING YOUR BOOKING

Once we have received your booking and all appropriate payments (as per clause 3), we will, subject to availability, confirm your holiday by issuing a confirmation invoice. We reserve the right to return your deposit and decline to issue a confirmation invoice at our absolute discretion. This invoice will be sent to the party leader or your travel agent. Please check this invoice carefully as soon as you receive it. Contact us immediately if any information which appears on the confirmation, or any other document appears to be incorrect or incomplete as it may not be possible to make changes later. We regret we cannot accept any liability if we are not notified of any inaccuracy in any document within 14 days of our sending it out. We will do our best to rectify any mistake notified to us outside these time limits, but you must meet any costs involved in doing so.

Note: You are advised to submit your details very carefully as, in some cases, it may not be possible to make any further changes without additional charges being incurred, after the booking has been made.

The only exception to this requirement to meet costs is where the mistake in question was made by us and there is good reason why you did not tell us about it within these time limits. If you wish to, you may contact us by e-mail for any of the reasons mentioned in these booking conditions (for example, to request an amendment) providing you do so to info@nomadicscuba.com

2. YOUR CONTRACT

A binding contract between us comes into existence when we despatch our confirmation invoice to the party leader or your travel agent. Changes to these Booking Conditions or the General Information shown in our brochure or on our website will only be valid if agreed by us.

3. PAYMENT PROCEDURE

Having made your inquiry with us, we confirm the availability with our operator/ tour provider and place a reservation.

Once that reservation is placed, we invoice you for a deposit of 30% which is due within 48 hours to confirm your reservation.

Full and final payment is due 90 days prior to commencing your vacation

Bookings under AUD 1500.00, and bookings received less than 30 days before trip commencement require full payment at the time of booking.

NOTE: Some operators have conditions that require the payment of higher or different charges, so we may require you to pay a higher deposit than those stated in these Booking Conditions. There may also be interim payments, or the full balance may be due further in advance of departure than the 90 days as stated above. We will advise you of both the required deposit and the dates for payment for the remainder of your balance, at the time of booking.

If we do not receive this balance in full and on time, we reserve the right to treat your booking as cancelled by you in which case the cancellation charges set out in clause 9 below will become payable.

4. SERVICE FEES

General: We provide our expert advice to plan and create your itinerary free of charge. For any multi-destination itineraries, you may be asked for a research fee of AUD 250.00 up front. This fee will be credited to your dive booking with us.

Amendments: Any changes to confirmed reservations, including ticketed flight reservations, incur an amendment fee of AUD 150.00/person, in addition to fees charged by airlines or operators.

5. ACCURACY

We endeavour to ensure that all the information and prices both on our website and in any advertising material that we publish are accurate; however occasionally changes and errors occur, and we reserve the right to correct prices and other details in such circumstances. You must check the current price and all other details relating to the arrangements that you wish to book before you make your booking.

5. SPECIAL REQUESTS

If you have any special request, you must advise us in writing at the time of booking. Although we will endeavour to pass any reasonable requests on to the relevant supplier, we regret we cannot guarantee any request will be met unless we have specifically confirmed this. Confirmation that a special request has been noted or passed on to the supplier or the inclusion of the special request on your confirmation invoice or any other documentation is not confirmation that the request will be met. Failure to meet any special request will not be a breach of contract on our part unless the request has been specifically confirmed by us. We do not accept bookings that are conditional upon any special request being met.

6. PRICING

The price of your vacation has been calculated using exchange rates quoted by XE.com on an ongoing basis in relation to the following currencies: AUD, GBP, EUR, USD, CAD, THB, PHP and IDR.

NOTE: We reserve the right to amend the price of unsold holidays at any time and correct errors in the prices of confirmed vacations. We also reserve the right to increase the price of confirmed holidays solely to allow for increases which are a direct consequence of changes in:

1. the price of the carriage of passengers, resulting from the cost of fuel or other power sources,
2. the level of taxes or fees applicable to the vacation imposed by third parties not directly involved in the performance of the vacation, including tourist taxes, landing taxes or embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports and airports,
3. the exchange rates relevant to the package.

You will be charged for any increase in accordance with this clause. However, if this means that you must pay an increase of more than 8% of the total price of your confirmed holiday (excluding any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements), you will have the option of:

1. accepting the price increase and paying the requested amount,
2. accepting a change to another holiday if we can offer one (if this is of equivalent or higher quality you will not have to pay more but if it is of lower quality, you may be refunded the difference in price); or
3. cancelling and receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us, except for any insurance premiums and any amendment charges and/or additional services or travel arrangements not forming part of your package. Should you decide to cancel for this reason, you must exercise your right to do so within 7 days from the issue date on your confirmation

Should the cost of your holiday go down due to the changes mentioned above, then any refund due will be paid to you less an administration fee of $50. However, please note that travel arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your travel due to contractual and other protection in place.

There will be no change made to the price of your confirmed holiday within 30 days of your departure nor will refunds be paid during this period.

7. INSURANCE

Nomadic Scuba does not currently offer travel or dive insurance, nor do we take responsibility for ensuring that you have relevant and valid insurance for your trip. The responsibility for personal, travel and equipment insurance reside with you and the members in your party.

All our operators will refuse to provide diving services without relevant insurance and proof of qualifications. We strongly recommend purchasing insurance if you intend to dive.

8. CHANGES AND TRANSFERRING YOUR BOOKING

Should you wish to make any changes to your confirmed booking, you must notify us in writing as soon as possible. This should be done by the first named person on the booking. Whilst we will endeavour to assist, we cannot guarantee we will be able to meet any such requests. Where we can, an amendment fee of $50 per person/per booking will be payable together with any costs incurred by ourselves and any costs or charges incurred or imposed by any of our suppliers. You should be aware that these costs could increase the closer to the departure date that changes are made, and you should contact us as soon as possible. Please note, some changes requested less than 90 days before departure may be treated as a cancellation of your original booking. Where we are unable to assist you and you do not wish to proceed with the original booking, we will treat this as a cancellation by you. A cancellation fee may be payable in accordance with clause 9.

Transfer of Booking:  If any member of your party is prevented from travelling, that person(s) may transfer their place to someone else, subject to the following conditions:

• that person is introduced by you and satisfies all the conditions applicable to the Arrangements,
• we are notified not less than 7 days before departure,
• you pay any outstanding balance payment, an administration fee of $50 per person transferring as well as any additional fees, charges or other costs arising from the transfer,
• the transferee agrees to these booking conditions and all other requirements applicable to the Package Holiday booking,
• You and the transferee remain jointly and severally liable for payment of all sums.

If you are unable to find a replacement, cancellation charges as set out will apply in order to cover our estimated costs. Otherwise, no refunds will be given for passengers not travelling or for unused services.

Note: Certain arrangements may not be amended or transferred after they have been confirmed and any alteration could incur a cancellation charge of up to 100% of that part of the arrangements.

9. IF YOU CANCEL YOUR BOOKING BEFORE DEPARTURE

Should you or any member of your party need to cancel your chosen holiday once it has been confirmed, the party leader must immediately advise us in writing. Your notice of cancellation will only be effective when it is received in writing by us at our offices.

To secure your vacation, we will pay suppliers of accommodation, diving packages, tours, and transfers in advance of your travel. In processing your holiday booking, we also incur administration costs. Deposits, interim payments, and final balances are non-refundable as they represent these costs in delivering your planned holiday, paid by us in good faith of your intent to travel. If our suppliers are unable to re-fill these places, in particular, at short notice after your balance is due, then their charges to us will typically be 100% loss.

If we have sufficient advance notice, and on the rare occasion we can resell your holiday, we may be able to make a partial refund of payments lost at cancellation. This would be minus any costs incurred, administration fees and will also take into account any discounts that had to be offered to refill your holiday place.  

Some suppliers have conditions which require the payment of higher or different charges, including the imposition of 100% cancellation charges well in advance of the normal balance due date. You will be advised at the time of booking if this is the case for your tour, and this will act as an amendment/ inclusion/ extension to these general terms and conditions.

Depending on the reason for cancellation, you may be able to reclaim these cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. Claims must be made directly to the insurance company concerned. You can request in writing, confirmation of losses for insurance purposes from Nomadic Scuba if your insurance company requires it.

Where any cancellation reduces the number of full paying party members below the number on which the price, number of free places and/ or any concessions agreed for your booking were based, we will recalculate these items and re-invoice you accordingly.

Please note, no refunds at all can be given until we receive back from you all travel documents, we have sent to you (where these have been issued.)

Should one or more member of a party cancel, it may increase the per person holiday price of those still travelling and you will be liable to pay this increase.

Where a cancellation has been requested 31 days or more prior to the commencement of the vacation, Nomadic Scuba will apply a service fee of $250.00/person in addition to any charges applied by the service provider.  There are no refunds for a cancellation request within 45 days of travel.

10. PASSPORTS & VISAS

It is your responsibility to ensure that you have valid passports, visas and re-entry permits which meet the requirements of immigration and other government authorities. Any fines, penalties, payments, or expenditures incurred as a result of such documents not meeting the requirements of those authorities will be your sole responsibility.

We aim to provide up to date information on travel requirements within our ‘destinations’ listings on the Nomadic Scuba website however, we cannot be held responsible for any delays in updates. For time-sensitive confirmation of requirements please refer to www.smartraveller.gov.au (or the equivalent service of your national government).

11. OFAC

Please note that at the current time we are not able to take bookings from individuals in countries which are on the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctioned countries list, nor do we offer any tours within any of these countries.

12. DISCLAIMER

All information on the Nomadic Scuba website is thoroughly researched and published to the best of our knowledge. However, Nomadic Scuba does not accept any responsibility for the correctness of this information. Travel itineraries, prices and service descriptions are subject to change at any time at the service providers’ discretion. Please refer to prices and booking terms outlined in your invoice as the only legally binding text.

Nomadic Scuba operates as an agent between you (the client) and the service provider.

We arrange various travel related services on behalf of diving, transport, accommodation, and other wholesale service providers. Nomadic Scuba’s obligation is to make travel bookings on your behalf and to arrange relevant contracts between you and travel service providers. We have no responsibility for these services, nor do we make or give any warranty or representation regarding their standard. All bookings are made subject to the terms and conditions and limitations of liability imposed by these service providers. Your legal recourse is against the specific provider and not Nomadic Scuba. If for any reason, any travel service provider is unable to provide the services for which you have contracted, your remedy lies against the provider and not with Nomadic Scuba.

13. FORCE MAJEURE

In the event Nomadic Scuba and its service providers/operators are unable to perform their obligations as specified on your invoice from causes including fires, floods, earthquakes, embargoes, shortages, epidemics, quarantines, war, acts of war (whether war be declared or not), acts of terrorism, insurrections, riots, civil commotion, strikes, lockouts or other labour disturbances, or any other causes reasonably beyond their control, Nomadic Scuba and its service providers shall not be liable for any damages resulting from such failure to perform said obligations.

14. DIVING REQUIREMENTS

You must dive strictly within the limits of and meeting the requirements of your current qualifications and experience and agency standards. You must not dive alone. In order to dive whilst on vacation with us you must hold a minimum qualification of a PADI Open Water Diver [or PADI Junior Open Water Diver] or equivalent from a recognised agency (as judged by the Company) except where you have booked a trip, one of the purposes of which is, to obtain that minimum qualification. Clients must submit evidence of their diving qualifications to the Dive Guide/Instructor at the dive centre or dive site and if, requested to the Company prior to departure before diving can commence. All clients participating in scuba diving must be in good health and not have any medical history of lung disorders, asthma, epilepsy, diabetes or recent surgery and agree to discontinue diving if respiratory congestion takes place during the trip. If you have any medical condition contrary to these requirements you must produce a diving medical certificate of fitness prior to diving. If you fail to produce evidence of satisfactory diving qualifications or medical certificates, we or the Dive Guide/Instructor will be entitled to prevent you from taking your holiday and/or diving. In this case neither we nor the Dive Guide/Instructor or other applicable dive supplier will have any liability to provide you with any refunds or compensation in respect of any diving you are unable to take part in as a result or you being prevented from traveling on your holiday. Please note: Diving activities carry inherent risks. You must always behave in a fit and proper manner in accordance with all recognised diving practices and procedures and take proper responsibility for your own safety. Certain diving sites are very remote, either by distance or time or both, from a recompression chamber. If you participate in such activities, you may be asked by the supplier to sign ‘liability releases & assumptions of risk’ and ‘medical disclaimer’ forms and/or provide a current medical and in all cases must adhere to the restrictions imposed by the diving supplier/ instructor. Copies of relevant forms are available, prior to departure, on request from us or the dive supplier concerned.