Terms & conditions

Terms & Conditions

We need to verify your online reservation

When you book on our website we ask for details about you and other divers in your group. We review this information (normally within two hours*). We then confirm your dives or discuss changes with you.

This matters because we:

verify that you and your buddies match the dive plan
reserve equipment for everyone in the group
confirm a member of our team can take you
confirm space on the boat/trip/course/experience
consider the weather forecast if your trip is soon

If we can’t provide the exact trip you reserved, we’ll propose an alternative. If you don’t accept it, we can issue a full refund.

*We aim to review bookings within two hours during standard business hours (7 days per week, 08:00–18:00). If you are booking a trip for tomorrow we highly recommend calling us immediately following your booking to ensure we can verify the booking as soon as possible.

You must be able to prove your certification

This section does NOT apply if you are taking part in an Open Water course or a Discover Scuba Diving experience.

If you are a certified diver joining one of our dive trips you must prove your certification — typically with a physical card or an eCard on your phone. A logbook alone does not prove certification.

If you don’t have a card with you, contact us in advance so we can try to verify your certification in your agency’s database. After we provide confirmation, you can be confident you’ll be able to join the dive you reserved.

Paperwork will need to be signed

Depending on what you book, you may need to review and sign one or more documents with legal statements before diving or in-water training.

If you want to see those documents before committing to a reservation, contact us and we can send copies before you complete your booking.

Information you provide to us must be accurate

During any communication with you (including emails, WhatsApp message, chat platform messages and here on our website) we may ask about the medical eligibility, certification level and experience of you and others in your group. Inaccurate information can mean you or a buddy cannot join booked dives and our cancellation policy will apply.

Medical eligibility for diving

If you are completing an SDI or PADI course with us…

Complete a medical self-evaluation. Use ScubaMedical.com to check eligibility; it will indicate if you need a doctor’s approval before diving.

IMPORTANT: Everyone in training should verify medical eligibility (and obtain clearance if needed) before arriving at the dive center. Last-minute medical clearance is often not possible — in this scenario we may need to cancel your dives in accordance with our cancellation policy.

If you are fun-diving with us (no course)…

You will be asked to sign a document agreeing to safe diving practices, including a declaration that you are medically fit for scuba diving. The recreational diving medical self-assessment was updated in June 2020 and you should review the current form and consult a doctor if you are unsure if you are medically fit for scuba diving.

Group size and total diver numbers

Generally our maximum group size is 5 divers per guide in the ocean and 4 divers per guide in the cenotes. On rare occasions where we have regular clients who are highly experienced we might add these divers to your group. Many times their presence can actually be an overall benefit to the group as they are often able to assist our guide or find some beautiful things on the reef.

Please remember that despite the maximum group sizes mentioned above you will normally be on a boat or at a cenote with other divers. We have our own boats in Playa del Carmen with a maximum capacity of 10 and 16 divers. The boats we use to head directly to Cozumel have a capacity of up to 18 divers. On occasion we may need to place you on boats that we contract for your booking. The Cenotes are public spaces with controlled, paid access. Accordingly, we have no practical way of controlling the total number of people who may be in the cenote during your trip.

If the total number of divers on a trip is of concern for you, please contact us before reserving and we can give you accurate information for the dates you are interested in and we can make notes of any special requirements you may have.

Maximum depths

We conduct recreational dives for students and certified divers between 6m / 20ft and 40m / 130ft.

Many dive agencies provide additional training in order to safely enjoy dives at different maximum depths. Many dive insurance providers will only cover you ‘up to a depth to which you are trained’ and in line with best practice recommendations we don’t take divers below the depth to which they can prove they have been trained.

We understand that other dive centers will routinely take people beyond their training limits, but for reasons of safety and professionalism this is not something we are willing to do. You may wish to contact us to discuss the Deep Adventure dive which allows us to provide deep training to you with minimal hassle.

Making payments in person

If you pay a deposit online and settle the balance in-store, you can pay the balance using the following methods. Many of our prices offer a discount if you choose to pay your balance in cash.

Cash MXN
Cash USD*
Visa / Mastercard / American Express MXN*
PayPal USD*

*USD amounts use the exchange rate we take daily from xe.com.

Facturación

If you need a factura fiscal, tell us when you book and when you pay in-store. It is not possible to issue a factura if you don’t request it at the time of payment.

Backup dive options for bad weather

If bad weather is likely, we may offer a backup activity if your primary plan becomes unavailable. You’re not required to accept a backup. If we cannot run your primary activity, we will offer a full refund.

If you choose a backup, our normal cancellation policy applies to that backup because we will reserve resources to make the backup option available for you.

Course certification is not guaranteed

The course prices found on our website are our standard prices and we have outlined our standard schedules. It is important to remember that all diver training courses are performance based and paying for the course does not guarantee a certification. Our instructors are obliged by their training and membership of professional dive agencies to only certify students who meet the required skill level.

If you are unable to meet the performance requirements within the schedule then it may be necessary to conduct additional training sessions with you. This happens very rarely and we do our best to avoid having to charge you for course extensions. Where we need to charge we try to keep the additional costs as reasonable as possible (typically no more expensive than joining us for a certified dive at the location).

We are independent

We are an independent business owned and run by a dive professional.

We are an SDI 5-Star Dive Center (#1005596).
We have PADI instructors available to teach.

SDI and PADI are international training agencies. We are not owned or run by them; instead, our instructors are trained to teach courses that are created by these organizations.

Swimming/snorkeling with whale sharks cannot be guaranteed

Whale sharks are wild animals — we cannot guarantee sightings or swims. However, if you don’t get to see any whale sharks during your whale shark excursion, we will try to reschedule you during your trip or we will provide a voucher (valid for 2 years) for you to go again.

In recent years, to protect the sharks, the government has enhanced rules regarding the ratios of boats to sharks and this can sometimes mean that if the number of sharks is limited, we may not be able to allow you to enter the water to complete the swims. On these occasions, when we find the sharks but government regulations prevent you from entering the water, we are unable to provide another rescheduled trip or a voucher.

We are normally able to avoid this situation because when we become aware that the conditions or number of sharks is not favorable we avoid booking tours at these times or advise clients they may wish to reschedule their booking.

It’s not possible to guarantee the number of jumps or the amount of time swimming with the whale sharks because this is an experience in the wild and many factors can affect the activity. For example, if you have a great jump with many whale sharks and manta rays all around for maybe 10 minutes, then you may only get one other jump, but if you have a short jump for only a couple of minutes with one whale shark before it swims off, then this should mean there is enough time for you to have more repeated jumps.

Ultimately, we, the guides and the captains want you to have the best time possible, so we will do everything possible to get you in the water for as long as we can. However there are restrictions on the maximum amount of time each boat can remain in the whale shark vicinity and we need to share this time amongst all the other snorkelers on the boat (maximum 10 people).

Dive length and skill matching

The prices on our website are for our standard trips in which we will group divers together with a guide. We do our best to ensure that divers in each group have an appropriate level of skill/experience to safely complete the dive. Where possible, we try to match experience levels within each group.

Every diver is different and in particular gas-consumption can vary between divers. Where we are aware of divers with high gas-consumption we will do our best to provide larger tanks or send additional members of our team to allow the higher gas-consuming divers to end their dive early without affecting the dive time of other clients. However this is not always possible and we can’t guarantee a minimum dive time or amount of gas you’ll be able to breathe before we need to end the dive. It is crucial that safety remains our number one priority.

If you are concerned about the amount of time you will be able to dive, you can book a private guide to accompany you or your group on your trip. This way the performance or gas consumption of other divers will not affect your dives.

Cancellation Policy

At a glance

Except in specific circumstances (defined below) Deposits are non-refundable and are required to cover costs associated with reserving boats, tanks, staff, courses and dive equipment. Refunds for cancellations are available in limited circumstance in accordance with the policy detailed below.

The amount of the “deposit” varies according to the activity or activities you reserve. These specific amounts are detailed below. Any balance paid in excess of the deposit for a cancelled activity is fully refundable. We will only ever retain the deposit element of your payment.

What if I want to move my reservation?

We reserve specific resources for your activity and the day you initially booked. For this reason, if you request to move a booking to another day, we treat that as cancelling the original day and booking a new date.

If you request the change of dates more than 24 hours before your scheduled arrival time, we can simply issue a store credit voucher for the amount of the deposit and then use this voucher to reserve you for the new day. Depending on the specific circumstances of your reservation, we may need to ask for an additional deposit to be paid to maintain your reserved activities.

When a full refund is available

A full refund of your deposit can be provided when we cancel your booking due to…

Adverse weather conditions in which we don’t feel we can safely operate the trip
Issue with the boat / truck or other transportation problems
Port closed by local authorities (usually due to weather)
Instructor/guide sickness or not available to take you
Government restrictions on our ability to operate (usually due to severe weather warnings or international pandemics)

When almost a full refund is available

We can refund MOST of your deposit when you cancel your booking more than 72 hours before to your scheduled arrival time. In these circumstances you can choose:

We retain your deposit and issue you store credit for the full value of the deposit which you can use for future activities within 18 months. You can even transfer this credit to another friend or family member if you wish.
We refund your deposit minus a 200mxn administration fee per person you are cancelling.

When store credit is available

In the following circumstances, a store credit voucher will be issued (no refund available).

If you cancel 24-72 hours prior to your scheduled arrival time.
If you cancel due to sickness less than 24 hours prior to your scheduled arrival time and provide a written document before 14:00 on the day of your activity signed by a local physician confirming you are not medically fit to dive.
Please remember, if other people in your reservation are not sick they will be expected to complete the activity as scheduled.

In the above two circumstances, we will use your deposit to help cover costs associated with your cancellation, however we will issue you with a store credit voucher for the full value of the deposit which you can use for future activities within 18 months. These vouchers can be transferred to other friends and family, but cannot be used for any activities which are already booked.

When no refund or store credit is available

In all other circumstances we will retain your deposit to cover the costs associated with making our resources available to you. No refund or store credit will be given. These circumstances include, but are not limited to:

We refuse to allow you to join the trip because…

You cannot prove your certification
You are not medically eligible for the planned activity
You misrepresented your certification level, experience or skill level
You refuse to sign required paperwork
You appear to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs
Non-compliance with local health regulations

You don’t join the trip because…

You overslept
You misunderstood your scheduled arrival date or time
You were confused about the local timezone
Our timezone is "America/Cancun". We do not change our clocks for daylight savings. This means through the winter we are the same time as Mexico City and Merida, but through the summer we are one hour ahead.
You arrive too late to join the trip
We know things happen and sometimes you are a little late, please call as soon as you know you will be late and we will do what we can to delay our trip so you can still join, but we can’t guarantee this.
You don’t think the weather looks good
If we believe the conditions will be hazardous we will cancel the dives and you can receive a full refund.
Your friend/partner/family member is sick and you no longer want to dive without them
You missed your flight or it was delayed/cancelled
You are refused entry into Mexico

Limitations on store credit for future bookings

If you use a store credit to make a new booking following a previous cancellation no further store credits or refunds for this new booking will be issued if you cancel again.

Additional cancellation policies

Private guides and trips

If you book a private guide or private trip, the costs associated with reserving these resources will be deducted from any refund or store credit that we may issue.

Large groups (6 or more people)

Due to your large group we will have reserved significantly more resources to accommodate your group. We will provide specific cancellation policies relevant to your group size and dive plan when you book with us. In the case of a cancellation, these specific policies we provide to you will apply.

Deposits are required for reservations

We coordinate instructors, boats, trucks, pools, tanks, and gear daily — Your deposit covers the costs of reserving those resources.

The amount of deposit required for a particular activity can be seen on each activity’s page. We have highlighted some popular activities below. If you are unsure when a deposit might be required for a particular activity please contact us.

Discover Scuba Diving: $1,000
Diving in Playa del Carmen: $1,000
Diving in Cenotes: $1,000
Diving in Cozumel: $2,800
Whale shark snorkeling: $2,500
Dive courses: $2,500
Remember, some courses like the Advanced course involve the reservation of dives in Playa del Carmen, Cozumel or Cenotes in addition to the course itself.

Your personal equipment can be your deposit guarantee

You are welcome to store your personal dive gear in the dive center while you are diving with us. We have multiple rinse tanks and plenty of room to hang your gear to dry in a safe and secure environment.

Storing your equipment with us can make the process of billing much simpler since we won’t need to pay a deposit in advance to reserve each of your dives and you can simply settle your entire bill at the end of your trip. When you request a dive we will make the booking and reserve resources for you on the understanding that if you cancel you will need to pay a cancellation fee equal to the value of the deposit amounts outlined in the previous section above.