Terms & Conditions

1. Responsibilities

Academy Bay Diving is the direct operator for daily diving services. All land tours, hotels and cruises are contracted through 2nd parties and Academy Bay Diving acts only as an intermediary agent for passengers contracting these tours or hotels.

Academy Bay Diving takes no responsibility for accidents, loss, damage, delay, inconvenience or any other irregularity that may be caused by defects of any vehicle, or through situations of omission, neglect or negligence of any of these secondary companies. Academy Bay Diving also accepts no responsibility for tour or service cancellations by the secondary companies as a result of vandalism, strikes, war, governmental actions, weather conditions, or other factors which imply additional expenses caused by delays, itinerary changes or other causes.

Academy Bay Diving reserves the right to accept or reject any request for reservation of any passenger, any tour or package tour or to cancel or change a tour package, if circumstances so warrant. The application of any requested service to our company will be understood as a consent to these conditions.

2. Prices and Rates

All prices and rates are in US dollars and are subject to change without notice, until payment has been made and proper confirmation of availability.

Prices and rates of tourist packages are per person, on a double occupancy standard room at all hotels. Rates and fees do not include extras, tips, airport taxes, airfares (unless otherwise indicated), entrance fees to the national park or other islands, excess baggage or any other item not specified in the tour program.

3. Itinerary

The itineraries are planned with great care, although, for operational reasons, it may be necessary to change the order of activities in the itinerary or the specified route, and though such cases are rare, in general the itinerary should be treated only as a basic guide.

The company reserves the right to make unannounced changes to the order of the excursions or trips due to weather conditions, ocean tides, time of arrival or departure of aircraft, buses or boats, availability of tours and hotels, or for any other relevant reason , to complete all activities stated in the tour package or diving tour.

4. Reservations

All reservations are subject to confirmation until full receipt of full payment for services. Or in such case as to have reached a point agreement between the company and the customer, the reservation can be confirmed with a partial payment of 30% for daily diving tours, 40% for packages with hotels standard, and 65% for packages with higher end or luxury hotels or cruises. However, the balance must be paid before commencement of services – from 7 – 90 days before service dates depending on the package/ hotel or cruise.

Payment for our services can only be done as stated in our methods of payment. Once the tour package booking is confirmed with customer by e-mail with a service voucher, the tour or package is guaranteed, unless cancellations arise due to reasons stated under the heading of responsibilities which are totally unrelated to the company.

The confirmation of the hotels are subject to availability, if your specified hotel has no space you will be given another hotel of similar category and price.

5. Payment Policy

All tours or packages must be paid in full 7 – 15 days before the commencement of the tour or package, unless otherwise arranged with Academy Bay Diving.

If booking cruises, some companies require payment in full 90 before cruise departure, you will be notified of this requirement during the reservation process.

Deposit Payment Methods:

  • Bank deposit/ Transferwise to Ecuador OR USA account $20 fee.
  • Sending money by Western Union or Money Gram.
  • Credit or debit card with online payment system

Payments in our offices:

  • Cash.
  • Credit Card VISA and MASTERCARD (+ 4% fee).

6. Documentation

The passenger is responsible for having a valid passport or other travel documents and visas according to their nationality accepted by the laws of the governments of the countries you are visiting.
To confirm to your booking we will also require your information.
Necessary details vary by trip; they include but are not limited to full name as per passport, date of birth, nationality, passport number, passport issue and expiry date and any pre-existing medical conditions you have which may affect your ability to complete your travel arrangements, food preferences etc.
We will also require also passengers participating in diving or snorkelling tours to sign our online release form. The link will be sent during the booking process.

7. Luggage

The weight limit accepted in domestic air flights and ground service is 23 kg. (50 lb.), free of extra charge. The passenger is responsible for their luggage and any claim for loss or theft will have to do directly to the transport operator.

8. Obligations

If a service can not be provided by an error, failure or fault attributable directly to the operator of the service, Academy Bay Diving will to do their best to provide a solution of equal value to the service not provided. Any claim regarding any services not provided during the trip will only be accepted if this is done, in writing, within seven days after completion of the trip. Cancellations, returns and refunds of money will be governed by the terms and conditions set forth in the Policies Cancellation, Return & Refund.

9. Cancellations

Cancellation by you – Individual passengers – Diving tours only:

a) Cancellation 8 days or more prior to service date – refund given minus any bank fees/service charges
c) Cancellation 7 days or less prior to service date – We will retain the 30% deposit paid by you
d) Cancellations less than 48 hours prior to service date – we will retain 100% of the cost of the tour(s)

Cancellation by you – passengers in groups of 4 divers or more – Diving tours only:

a) Cancellation 30 days or more prior to service date – refund given minus any bank fees/service charges
c) Cancellation 20 days or less prior to service date – We will retain the 30% deposit paid by you
d) Cancellations less than 7 days prior to service date – we will retain 100% of the cost of the tour(s)

Cancellation by you – Individual passengers and groups – PACKAGES (with hotels or tours not operated by Academy Bay Diving)

a) Cancellation 45 days or more prior to service date – refund given minus any bank fees/service charges
b) Cancellation 44-30 days prior to service date – we will retain 40% of the total cost of the package (some hotels and tour operators are more lenient with cancelations, so we can take this case by case and possibly retain less than 40%)
c) Cancellations less than 29 – 16 days prior to service date – We will retain 60% of the cost of the package
d) Cancellations less than 15 days prior to service date – we will retain 100% of the cost of the package

Note: Certain Hotels and all cruises have stricter cancellations policies than this, Academy Bay Diving reserves the right to apply the cancellation policy of specific hotels, cruises and tour operators included in your package.

Any credit resulting from a cancellation under this clause is valid for 9 months from the original service date, and may be applied towards any available tour or package offered by us. This credit is not transferrable or redeemable for cash.

Cancellation by us:

Certain services may be interrupted or may be canceled due to weather conditions, force majeure, or other reasons beyond the control of the hotels, airlines, suppliers or us (academy bay diving).

Cancellation due to Force Majeure
If a trip is cancelled due to a Force Majeure Event, we can offer you a choice of:
a) a 100% credit of monies paid for your trip; or
b) a refund minus unrecoverable costs.

If the cancellation due to a Force Majeure Event occurs after a trip has commenced, we can offer you a choice of a pro-rata:
a) 100% credit for the days that remain on your trip; or
b) refund minus unrecoverable costs of the days that remain on your trip.

Any credit resulting from a cancellation under this clause (Cancellation by us):
– does not have an expiry date and may be applied towards any other available trip offered by us;
– are not redeemable for cash;

During the high season, our company reserves the right to alter cancellation policies, if our suppliers should apply penalties to those listed above.

A “Force Majeure Event” includes but is not limited to: acts of God; war; civil commotion; riot; blockade or embargo; fire; explosion; breakdown; union dispute; earthquake; epidemic, pandemic or other health emergency; flood; windstorm or other extreme weather event; lack or failure of courses of supply; passage of any law, order, proclamation, regulation, ordinance, demand, requisition or requirement or any other act of any government authority, beyond the reasonable control of the parties, whether or not foreseeable, which would make it dangerous or not viable for a trip to commence or continue.

10. Travel & Dive Insurance

Travel insurance and Dive Insurance is recommended for all our customers. Some travel insurance does include dive insurance whilst others categorise it as an extreme sport and do not include it.
We recommend that your travel insurance includes cover against personal accident, death, medical expenses and emergency repatriation with a recommended minimum coverage of US$200,000 for each of the categories of cover. We also strongly recommend it covers cancellation, curtailment, personal liability and loss of luggage and personal effects. If you have travel insurance connected to your credit card or bank account please ensure you have details of the participating insurer, the insurance policy number and emergency contact number with you rather than the bank’s name and credit card details.

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