Booking and Cancellation Policy
Please make sure you read and understand the booking and refund policy. If you have any questions please make sure to ask the staff.
Diving / Snorkeling
Diving/Snorkeling trips and certification courses may be canceled or rescheduled due to the weather conditions that are not suitable for marine sports activities, such as high waves and strong winds. Dive sites are picked daily based on weather and ocean conditions, your safety and the safety of our staff is paramount in our operation. If your requested dive site is unavailable due to weather we will do our best to find a suitable alternative for you.
Seats on a tour are not guaranteed until a deposit is made. Just sending an email or making a phone call does not confirm your seat(s). Deposits can be made via paypal to [email protected] at our online store, via bank transfer set up with one of our reservation staff, or if you are on island stopping in and making and in person payment via cash or credit card.
Our diving instructors / dive masters / boat captain make decision about the selection of the dive sites and/or cancellation of the diving trips. In making decisions, we regard yours and our own safety as the most important. As dive sites are very variable due to weather we can not guarantee a particular site. A change in dive site does not qualify for a refund.
-Boat Diving Trips
When the waves are or become bigger than 2.0m, we may cancel our boat trips or return to the nearest port. For instance, we may change the diving sites from the Keramas to closer to the Okinawa islands (Chiibishi or Ginowan reef) or to shore diving.
-Certification Courses
If the weather condition does not allow us to have calm shallow water, we may use a pool designed for diving training for your Confined Water training sessions. If the ocean conditions are not good enough for Open Water training, your training dives will be rescheduled.
Refund Policy
Cancellation due to the weather condition or mechanical reasons that the boat does not leave port – full refund of all deposits/payments for diving.
Decisions on weather conditions and safety of the boat are at the sole discretion of the captain. Weather conditions that may cause cancellation- waves over 2.0 meters, typhoons, severe weather warning forecast.
For circumstances beyond the customers control such as canceled or delayed flights an attempt to reschedule will be made.
Your bookings are seen as a contract with us- when you schedule a dive/class we make sure that we have the personnel available to teach your course and reserve seats on a boat that can not be sold to someone else. As people need to be paid and boat seats need to be paid for refunds can not be given for late cancellations.
Last minute illness, a poor mood, cloudy or rainy weather, a hangover or jet lag are not acceptable reasons to rate a refund for a scheduled course or trip. If you become seasick during a trip and can not complete the number of dives booked this is not a reason for a refund- it is your responsibility to ensure that you have taken steps to avoid seasickness- there is medicine available at most Japanese pharmacies to prevent seasickness. ("Yoidomae" or boat sickness medicine will get you what you need)
Depending on when you make the cancellation, the following cancellation fee will apply for all courses and dive tours. Cancellation fees for hotels and airlines vary so if booking an all inclusive package of hotel and diving or hotel, airfare and diving separate rates apply for the hotel and airfare cancellations, please inquire for the exact policy when booking an all inclusive tour.
Cancellation Refund Policy for Diving and Dive Classes:
8 days of more advance notice: Full Refund for all diving booked (hotel and airline charges may vary)
3-7 days 80% refund of all diving fees(hotel and airline charges may vary)
48 hours to 72 hours 50% refund of all diving fees (most hotel and airlines fees are 0% refund by this time)
48 hours or less before the scheduled dive or tour 0% refund
Dropping Out
-Cancellation of multiple dives / trips
If you already paid for multiple dives for a day (2 dives, 3 dives) and decided to do less dives (at the dive site), you do not get refund
-There is no refund for unused portions of a package or canceling part of a package once it has already started. (Dives/classes canceled due to the boat not going out, typhoons or mechanical failure are subject to refunds)
-Certification Courses
We do not refund your course fee if you decided to drop out from your certification course after it has started. Dropping the course before it starts is subject to the above listed refund policy. When paying for a course you do not pay for certification, you pay for training- you must meet the requirements for your particular course to earn certification. It is possible to fail a course; failure does not qualify you for a refund.
Your instructor will determine if you can get certified or not, judging how you are meeting the requirements for your particular course (skill demonstration, comfort level in the water, and total dive skills) and your score on written examination and quizzes.
If you do not follow your instructors’ directions, or if you cannot successfully demonstrate the skills that meet the requirement, you may not get certified. If you disagree with your instructor’s evaluation of your diving skills you can request a reevaluation by the Training Director or another Reef Encounters instructor. All students who do not earn certification in a course will be provided with a written explanation of why they were not certified.
Rental/Loaned Gear Loss or damage
Rented/loaned gear for class and dives is the responsibility of the client – you will be charged for loss or damage of rental gear. Divers dunking a regulator with the dust cap off will be charged a Y2000 maintenance fee as the reg needs to be serviced before putting it back in use. Please be careful with the gear we loan out to you.
Torn mouthpieces or broken fin/mask straps are not subject to replacement fees as this is a part of normal wear and tear of the gear. If you notice your mouthpiece or mask/fins straps are worn let us know so we change them right away so there is not a problem. (We try to keep on top of this but during the busy season we sometimes miss something.)
Diving/Snorkeling trips and certification courses may be canceled or rescheduled due to the weather conditions that are not suitable for marine sports activities, such as high waves and strong winds. Dive sites are picked daily based on weather and ocean conditions, your safety and the safety of our staff is paramount in our operation. If your requested dive site is unavailable due to weather we will do our best to find a suitable alternative for you.
Seats on a tour are not guaranteed until a deposit is made. Just sending an email or making a phone call does not confirm your seat(s). Deposits can be made via paypal to [email protected] at our online store, via bank transfer set up with one of our reservation staff, or if you are on island stopping in and making and in person payment via cash or credit card.
Our diving instructors / dive masters / boat captain make decision about the selection of the dive sites and/or cancellation of the diving trips. In making decisions, we regard yours and our own safety as the most important. As dive sites are very variable due to weather we can not guarantee a particular site. A change in dive site does not qualify for a refund.
-Boat Diving Trips
When the waves are or become bigger than 2.0m, we may cancel our boat trips or return to the nearest port. For instance, we may change the diving sites from the Keramas to closer to the Okinawa islands (Chiibishi or Ginowan reef) or to shore diving.
-Certification Courses
If the weather condition does not allow us to have calm shallow water, we may use a pool designed for diving training for your Confined Water training sessions. If the ocean conditions are not good enough for Open Water training, your training dives will be rescheduled.
Refund Policy
Cancellation due to the weather condition or mechanical reasons that the boat does not leave port – full refund of all deposits/payments for diving.
Decisions on weather conditions and safety of the boat are at the sole discretion of the captain. Weather conditions that may cause cancellation- waves over 2.0 meters, typhoons, severe weather warning forecast.
For circumstances beyond the customers control such as canceled or delayed flights an attempt to reschedule will be made.
Your bookings are seen as a contract with us- when you schedule a dive/class we make sure that we have the personnel available to teach your course and reserve seats on a boat that can not be sold to someone else. As people need to be paid and boat seats need to be paid for refunds can not be given for late cancellations.
Last minute illness, a poor mood, cloudy or rainy weather, a hangover or jet lag are not acceptable reasons to rate a refund for a scheduled course or trip. If you become seasick during a trip and can not complete the number of dives booked this is not a reason for a refund- it is your responsibility to ensure that you have taken steps to avoid seasickness- there is medicine available at most Japanese pharmacies to prevent seasickness. ("Yoidomae" or boat sickness medicine will get you what you need)
Depending on when you make the cancellation, the following cancellation fee will apply for all courses and dive tours. Cancellation fees for hotels and airlines vary so if booking an all inclusive package of hotel and diving or hotel, airfare and diving separate rates apply for the hotel and airfare cancellations, please inquire for the exact policy when booking an all inclusive tour.
Cancellation Refund Policy for Diving and Dive Classes:
8 days of more advance notice: Full Refund for all diving booked (hotel and airline charges may vary)
3-7 days 80% refund of all diving fees(hotel and airline charges may vary)
48 hours to 72 hours 50% refund of all diving fees (most hotel and airlines fees are 0% refund by this time)
48 hours or less before the scheduled dive or tour 0% refund
Dropping Out
-Cancellation of multiple dives / trips
If you already paid for multiple dives for a day (2 dives, 3 dives) and decided to do less dives (at the dive site), you do not get refund
-There is no refund for unused portions of a package or canceling part of a package once it has already started. (Dives/classes canceled due to the boat not going out, typhoons or mechanical failure are subject to refunds)
-Certification Courses
We do not refund your course fee if you decided to drop out from your certification course after it has started. Dropping the course before it starts is subject to the above listed refund policy. When paying for a course you do not pay for certification, you pay for training- you must meet the requirements for your particular course to earn certification. It is possible to fail a course; failure does not qualify you for a refund.
Your instructor will determine if you can get certified or not, judging how you are meeting the requirements for your particular course (skill demonstration, comfort level in the water, and total dive skills) and your score on written examination and quizzes.
If you do not follow your instructors’ directions, or if you cannot successfully demonstrate the skills that meet the requirement, you may not get certified. If you disagree with your instructor’s evaluation of your diving skills you can request a reevaluation by the Training Director or another Reef Encounters instructor. All students who do not earn certification in a course will be provided with a written explanation of why they were not certified.
Rental/Loaned Gear Loss or damage
Rented/loaned gear for class and dives is the responsibility of the client – you will be charged for loss or damage of rental gear. Divers dunking a regulator with the dust cap off will be charged a Y2000 maintenance fee as the reg needs to be serviced before putting it back in use. Please be careful with the gear we loan out to you.
Torn mouthpieces or broken fin/mask straps are not subject to replacement fees as this is a part of normal wear and tear of the gear. If you notice your mouthpiece or mask/fins straps are worn let us know so we change them right away so there is not a problem. (We try to keep on top of this but during the busy season we sometimes miss something.)