We strive to make our policies clear and concise. Please read the following clauses carefully before placing a booking with us. If you do not agree with these terms or do not understand them, please contact us at www.skooba.co. Only place a booking if you agree with all these terms.

All bookings you make on this website are made between you (referred to as “you, customer, passenger, client, pax”) and Skooba Asia (referred to as “we, us” in this contract). By booking a ‘service’ with us, you are considered to have agreed to the present Booking Conditions which are legally binding and your booking will be accepted by us on this basis.

All prices published on our website are final

• All payments shall be made in Malaysian Ringgit (RM) or US Dollars (USD)

You are required to pay a minimum, non-refundable deposit per person for our tours and other services in order for your booking to be confirmed. The amount of this deposit varies according to the type of service (maximum 50%) but you are informed of this amount at all times. By agreeing to pay the required deposit, you and Skooba Asia agree to the following:

• You agree that by paying the deposit, you are confirming your participation in the tour, trip, activity and/or service and that all deposits made will be non-refundable (see our Cancellations and Refunds policy).
• We agree that by receiving a deposit payment from you, we are obliged to fulfil the tour, activity or service that you paid the deposit for, upon receipt of the applicable balance, unless the tour, activity or service is cancelled either by you or us according to our Cancellations and Refunds policy.

NOTE: No service/trip/tour can be confirmed without prior deposit payment. It is not possible to pay on the first day of the service/trip/tour. Do not consider your booking as “Confirmed” if no payment has been received by us before the departure date.

Balance must be paid in full no later than 30 days before departure. However, this can vary according which itinerary you pick so please check your specific trip itinerary on www.skooba.co.The method of payments accepted are:

• FPX – a real time online payment gateway that facilitates interbank transfer of funds whenever customers make payment for their online Skooba Asia purchases
• Credit card
• Paypal

Some of our trips have a set departure date/price that is provided by us based on factors that make it necessary to do so for the convenience of our customers (e.g. season, weather, demand, etc.). These dates generally cannot be modified (unless customer opts for a ‘private’ departure). These trips can only depart as long as the minimum number of participants has been reached or if the client changed his/her booking to a flexible, private departure date.

In the unlikely event that you are booked for a fixed-date departure and we are not able to reach the minimum number of customers necessary making it impossible to run the trip/service, we will offer you an alternative date, private flexible departure or a refund if applicable. Dates are least flexible when forming groups of unrelated people in order to make up a group and make a departure/price viable. Customers might need to change their preferred dates if able, in order to join a larger group for the departure to become viable.

Most trips have a flexible departure date. The departure date may be requested by our customers or suggested by us, but the actual departure could take place on any given date of the year (except on selected national holidays which we will advise).

Dates are completely flexible when requested on a private-basis by our customers (e.g. customer selects his/her date of choice). Please be advised that in order to qualify for a flexible, private departure, customers must pay the corresponding amount according to their group size.

All services offered by Skooba Asia are on a private-basis by default, unless specifically requested otherwise by a customer. On a private trip, no third parties will be allowed to join the group and all transport, accommodation, guiding, etc. will be provided for the customers who requested such private service/trip/tour only (vehicles, hotel rooms, etc will be private except when otherwise stated on the service/trip/tour description page).

On the other hand, if you requested to book a “shared” service/trip/tour, you agree to share vehicles, boats, guides, restaurants, accommodation and other facilities with other customers and local people if applicable. Skooba Asia does not discriminate against personalities, nationalities, religion, sexual orientation, language, ethnic background or political views of any of the other participants if you choose to join a group. You do so by free will and at your own risk but we will naturally ensure at all times that a respectful and responsible relationship exists among all participants to the best of our ability.

For some of our tours and/or services, full payment is required at the time of booking. This is the case for most day trips and day tours. Upon receipt of total required payment, the tour and/or service has a status of CONFIRMED and you agree to the following:

• You agree that by making full payment, you are confirming your participation in the tour, activity or service required and such payment is non-refundable (see our Cancellations and Refunds policy) and that in the case of a cancellation a written cancellation request must be received by Skooba Asia.
• We agree that upon receipt of payment in full, we are obliged to fulfill the trip/service in a timely manner, unless we have to cancel for a valid reason in which case the service is considered “CANCELLED BY US” and a refund or credit may be applied according to our Cancellations and Refunds policy

Solo travelers are welcome to book all of our dives/tours/services or request tailor-made services. Solo travelers must be aware that most tours require a minimum number of customers booked in order to depart but they can also depart with a minimum of one person provided the person is willing to pay the respective price for one passenger.

Alternatively, solo travelers should try to encourage other people to join him/her given that prices are lower the more people in the group. We attempt to form groups in order to allow solo travelers to join an existing group or form a new one in order to make his/her payment lower but we cannot always guarantee this.

We may cancel a tour or service at any time prior to departure. A cancellation at any time prior to departure is possible if, due to social and political instability, terrorism, natural disasters, and other events beyond our control, it is not possible for us to operate the planned tour or service.
If we cancel a tour and/or service for reasons under OUR direct control, you have the ability to transfer the amount paid to a different departure date or receive a refund according to our Cancellations and Refunds policy.

In circumstances where the cancellation is due to events outside our reasonable control such as social conflict, political instability, terrorism, natural disasters, cancelled flights, road closures and other events beyond our control, refunds will not be offered (see Cancellations and Refunds policy). Skooba Asia is not responsible for any incidental expenses that you may have incurred as a result of your booking including but not limited to visas, vaccinations, travel insurance or non-refundable flights.

If you cancel some or your entire dive tour and/or service, your forfeit any deposits paid unless the cancellation was made within 24 hours of placing your booking and it is more than days stipulated on the trip plan / itinerary before departure (if booking was placed less than 30 days before departure, you have a window of 12 hours to cancel without any penalty). After 24 hours have passed, all deposits are non refundable under any circumstances. Please see our Cancellations and Refunds policy for details.

All of our services/trips/tours are guaranteed to depart once they have one fully-paid traveler (private-basis, based on the applicable rate) unless minimum group size is specifically stated on the tour or service page/email (shared-basis). In cases where you may have made a deposit and we were not able to fill a tour with the minimum number of people (shared-basis), we reserve the right to cancel the tour at our own discretion and you will be communicated in due time, as well as receive a refund (if applicable) of your deposit according to our booking conditions.

Once we accept your booking you will be issued a confirmation invoice/ticket via email. A contract will exist between us from the date we issue this confirmation invoice/ticket. Please refer to your confirmation email for details regarding final payments (balance, etc.).

If you fail to show at the agreed place for a pre-booked trip, tour or service, there will be no refund of any deposit or payment that you might have made. See our Cancellations and Refunds policy for more details.

All credit card payments are processed by our secure payment processors FPX and PayPal. All major credit cards and certain debit cards are accepted. There are no additional fees to the prices we publish and/or confirm when you request a booking with us (except in cases when we specifically state otherwise). You do not need an account with PayPal in order to pay with your credit card, but you may be required to sign up for a new account depending on the country from where the booking is made. All payments are processed on a secure, external system and therefore, your payment information is not visible to us at any time; thus, we do not store your credit or debit card information in our servers as we never have access to it.

In order for us to confirm your tour or service you must provide all requested details at the time of booking. Necessary details may include all or some of the following: 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 and dives. Your booking cannot be confirmed without provision of these details. We will not sell, reveal or make wrong use of your personal information according to our Privacy Policy.

All our tours and services include what is specifically stated on the product/service page, which typically is:

• The services of a tour guide or group leader in our multi-day trips according to the package of your choice
• All accommodation as listed in the What’s included section of the tour page
• All transport as listed in the What’s included section of the tour page
• Meals as listed in the What’s included section of the tour page. Food is handled hygienically and it is our priority that you are satisfied with the limited resources available in some regions. Vegetarians/Vegans are welcome, we will do what we can to serve appropriate portions of vegetables and fruit in the menu based on our supplies

Anything not listed in the What’s included section of the tour/service page is deemed to be under your responsibility including:

• Airport transfers, taxes and excess baggage charges unless otherwise specified
• Meals other than those specified in the What’s included section of the tour page
• Regular and alcoholic beverages other than those specified in the What’s included section of the tour page
• Travel insurance
• Personal expenses and extra services or tours

Travel insurance is compulsory for all travelers taking a tour, trip and/or service with Skooba Asia which is provided as part of the package and included in the price. Our travel insurance coverage includes: Medical expenses, Emergency Repatriation, Air Evacuation, Search & Rescue Cost, Personal Accident, Travel Delay, death, medical expenses and emergency repatriation. For more information please refer to our Insurance Coverage Policy. It is vital that you provide the correct information required, including pre-existing conditions.

You acknowledge that the nature of our tours and services is adventurous and participation involves a degree of personal risk. You will be visiting places and taking part in activities where the physical and psychological challenges may be greater than those you may be used to on a regular basis.

It is your own responsibility to acquaint yourself with the social, language and political issues of our country and you acknowledge that your decision to take our tours and/or services is made taking into consideration this information and you accept that you are aware of the personal risks involving participation in these activities. By placing a booking with us, you explicitly agree to our Waiver Release of Responsibility which is legally binding.

You acknowledge that the nature of our tours and/or services requires considerable flexibility and you should allow for alternatives. It is understood that the itinerary provided for each tour and that the route, schedules, itineraries, amenities and mode of transport may be subject to alteration without prior notice due to local circumstances or events within or outside our control. Any changes will be notified in a prompt manner to you and will be done for the benefit of all the participants.

These Booking Conditions, Cancellations and Refunds policy as well as our Privacy Policy are governed by the laws and policies of the Malaysian Law and any legal disputes or claims are governed by the laws of this country.