TERMS & CONDITIONS

This agreement applies as between you, the User of this website and The Happy Hippo Diving of P.O.Box 2045 Willemstad, Curacao (“The Happy Hippo Diving”, “we”, “us”, or “our”), the operator(s) of www.thehappyhippodiving.com (this “website”). 

Your agreement to comply with and be bound by these terms and conditions is deemed to occur upon your first use of the website. If you do not agree to be bound by these terms and conditions, you should stop using the website immediately.

  1. BOOKING ENQUIRY
    • You can make Booking enquiries via telephone, email, online form or other means.
    • We will provide an offer based on the information requested on the website or otherwise provided by you.
    • Please note that inaccurate or insufficient information provided by you may delay the preparation of or can lead to the rejection of an offer.
    • You agree to provide current, complete, and accurate information for all Booking Enquiries made with us.
    • You agree to promptly update your information, including your email address so that we can provide an offer and contact you as needed.
  1. GENERAL BOOKING TERMS
    • You are entitled to a full refund less the price of training materials supplied if you cancel up to fourteen (14) days prior to the commencement of the course. When there is less than fourteen (14) days’ notice before the course start date there will be no refund payable.
    • Bookings made within fourteen (14) days prior to the scheduled commencement date of a dive course are non-refundable.
    • If you have chosen the eLearning option for a course, you will lose the cost of the eLearning option (price varies depending on the course but is equal to the amount PADI charges for that eLearning option at the time of cancellation).
    • Once you start/commence the course and wish to cancel then no refund can be provided.
    • Once you begin a dive course and you complete the course on a different date (on a date other than the one stipulated in the course) extra costs will apply.
    • If you choose not to show up without notifying us in advance, you will forfeit your entire booking.
    • We advise you to obtain trip insurance when you book your vacation.
    • If we are unable to do a day of your course due to bad weather, The Happy Hippo Diving will move you to the next available day instead.
  1. PREPARING FOR A COURSE OR (GUIDED) DIVE
    • Medical Statement:
      • Prior to any course, we will send you a medical statement. If any of the stated questions are answered with a YES, you must visit a doctor for medical clearance. If you show up for a course with a ‘YES’ on the medical statement and you don’t have clearance from a medical doctor, you can’t start the course. Costs to reschedule the course will be charged to the guest.
      • There are no alcohol, drugs and smoking allowed at any time during the entire course or guided dive.
    • Homework:

Most courses require homework in advance, like eLearning. Students who didn’t complete their homework delay the course for other participants and might therefore not be able to continue the course. Extra costs to continue, later on, will be charged to the guest.

  • Being late or no show for a dive or a course:
  • The Happy Hippo Diving will clearly communicate with you at what time we expect you to be at the agreed place for your dive or course. If guests are late, we will wait a maximum of 15 minutes. If a guest misses a dive because of being late, there is no refund. Students might not be able to start or continue their course if showing up late.
  1. “REGISTRATION AND LOG SHEET”, “DIVING RELEASE AND WAIVER”, “RELEASE OF LIABILITY”:
    • You are requested to fill in our “Registration and Log sheet”, “Diving Release and Waiver” and our “Release of Liability” please place your initials and signing where necessary for agreement.
    • Customers must acknowledge that any diving equipment used or borrowed is your responsibility, and you are financially accountable for any loss or damage through carelessness, e.g. not attaching your cylinder to the boat it falls, or your tank is on the Pick-up Truck and falls, dropping your weight belt on equipment and damaging it. You, the customer, authorize The Happy Hippo Diving to charge you to cover any loss or damages to equipment borrowed or hired.
    • The Happy Hippo Diving is not responsible for any personal loss, damages to equipment, injury or seasickness.
  1. BONAIRE NATIONAL MARINE PARK FEE (ONLY APPLICABLE FOR DIVING IN BONAIRE):

All the waters surrounding Bonaire are part of the internationally recognized Bonaire National Marine Park. Before entering these waters, all users are required by law to purchase the STINAPA Marine Park Tag (Nature Fee). This fee is $45 per diver or $25 for all watersports excluding diving.

  1. WHEN BOOKINGS ARE NOT ACCEPTED
    • While we do our best to always accept bookings, we could however refuse a booking in certain cases, for example if:
      • you provide us with incomplete, incorrect or fraudulent information regarding your identity, age, payment details, billing information;
      • we discover that there was an error on our website relating to the services you booked, for example as regards the price or description displayed;
      • the Services you ordered are unfortunately no longer available;
      • we have reasonable grounds to believe that you intend to resell the Services.
    • If we cannot accept your booking, we will contact you by email as soon as possible but in any case, no later than 7 days from the date of your booking. If we cannot accept your booking because the services are no longer available, or because of an error in the price and/or other information on our Site, we will refund you any money you may have already been charged for such booking.
  1. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
    • All Content included on the website, unless uploaded by Users, including, but not limited to, text, graphics, logos, icons, images, sound clips, video clips, data compilations, page layout, underlying code and software is the property of The Happy Hippo Diving, our affiliates or other relevant third parties. By continuing to use the website you acknowledge that such material is protected by applicable National and International intellectual property and other relevant laws.
    • You may not reproduce, copy, distribute, store or in any other fashion re-use material from the website unless otherwise indicated on the website or unless given express written permission to do so by The Happy Hippo Diving.
  1. LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

This website may contain links to other sites. Unless expressly stated, these sites are not under the control of The Happy Hippo Diving or that of our affiliates.  We assume no responsibility for the content of such web sites and disclaim liability for any and all forms of loss or damage arising out of the use of them.  The inclusion of a link to another site on this website does not imply any endorsement of the sites themselves or of those in control of them.

  1. PRIVACY
    • For the purposes of applicable data protection legislation, The Happy Hippo Diving will process any personal data you have provided to us in accordance with our Privacy Policy available on the The Happy Hippo Diving website or on request from The Happy Hippo Diving.
    • You agree that, if you have provided The Happy Hippo Diving with personal data relating to a third party (1) you have in place all necessary appropriate consents and notices to enable lawful transfer such personal data to The Happy Hippo Diving and (2) that you have brought to the attention of any such third party the Privacy Policy available on the The Happy Hippo Diving’s website or otherwise provided a copy of it to the third party.
    • You agree to indemnify The Happy Hippo Diving in relation to all and any liabilities, penalties, fines, awards or costs arising from your non-compliance with these requirements.
  1. DISCLAIMERS
    • The Happy Hippo Diving makes no warranty or representation that the website will meet your requirements, that it will be of satisfactory quality, that it will be fit for a particular purpose, that it will not infringe the rights of third parties, that it will be compatible with all systems, that it will be secure and that all information provided will be accurate. We make no guarantee of any specific results from the use of our Service.
    • No part of this website is intended to constitute advice and the Content of this website should not be relied upon when making any decisions or taking any action of any kind.
  1. AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE
    • The Service is provided “as is” and on an “as available” basis. We give no warranty that the Service will be free of defects and / or faults.  To the maximum extent permitted by the law we provide no warranties (express or implied) of fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy of information, compatibility and satisfactory quality.
    • The Happy Hippo Diving accepts no liability for any disruption or non-availability of the website resulting from external causes including, but not limited to, ISP equipment failure, host equipment failure, communications network failure, power failure, natural events, acts of war or legal restrictions and censorship.
  1. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
    • To the maximum extent permitted by law, The Happy Hippo Diving accepts no liability for any direct or indirect loss or damage, foreseeable or otherwise, including any indirect, consequential, special or exemplary damages arising from the use of the website or any information contained therein. Users should be aware that they use the website and its Content at their own risk.
    • Nothing in these terms and conditions excludes or restricts The Happy Hippo Diving’s liability for death or personal injury resulting from any negligence or fraud on the part of The Happy Hippo Diving.
  1. NO WAIVER

In the event that any party to these Terms and Conditions fails to exercise any right or remedy contained herein, this shall not be construed as a waiver of that right or remedy.

  1. SEVERANCE

Every effort has been made to ensure that these terms and conditions adhere strictly with the relevant provisions. In the event that any of these terms are found to be unlawful, invalid or otherwise unenforceable, that term is to be deemed severed from these terms and conditions and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining terms and conditions.  This term shall apply only within jurisdictions where a particular term is illegal.

  1. LAW AND JURISDICTION

These terms and conditions and the relationship between you and The Happy Hippo Diving shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the Law of Curacao and The Happy Hippo Diving and you agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Curacao.