1.Bookings
- Bookings can be made on our website, e-mail, phone (including WhatsApp) or directly with one of our staff members in the city of Faro or Olhão (CityPOS). Alternatively, tickets can be purchased directly on the boat if previously arranged by phone;
- As of 2022 the maximum capacity of our boat tours is 8 passengers
- Bookings are subjects to availability;
– Website and E-mail Booking
By submitting a form through our website, you will receive an automatic pre-booking e-mail. However, this does not guarantee you a place yet. In order to confirm your booking, a deposit of 20% of the total amount might be required;
If you book your tour directly by e-mail, one of our staff members will inform you with all the tour details and procedures for the ticket order placement;
–Phone booking
If you prefer, you can book by phone or WhatsApp. An e-mail and/or text message will be sent with all the required information regarding departure times, payment and other details;
2. Payment methods
- We accept Bank transfer, Credit / Debit Card ( VISA | MASTERCARD), or Cash
3. Cancellation
- Ocean Vibes, Lda owns the right to cancel any activity at any given time if security is at risk. We take safety very serious, and because of that we may have to cancel boat tours due to weather, sea or other natural conditions;
- Costumers can cancel their intentions on joining our tour without any penalty up to 3 days before departure (Your deposit will be refunded) when booking online;
- In case of no-show there is no refund;
- Our activities are highly dependent on tides and therefore departures may be changed in order to improve the costumer experience (ie. Birdwatching tours);
- In case of cancellation due to natural or unexpected reasons a total refund is guaranteed by the company
4. Meeting Points and Departure Times
- Our company runs boat tours from Faro, Algarve – Portugal and the tours depart from Faro harbour and the meeting point is at “Ocean-emotions” shop;
- If for some reason a departure time shall be changed, you will be warned with enough time in advance to either re-schedule or refund your purchase;
- Meeting takes place 10 minutes before boarding if you already have a ticket (fully paid) or 20 minutes before departure time in case you need to pay the remaining amount;
- Delays that exceed the departure time by 15 minutes will not be tolerated and will be taken as a no show situation with no refund;
–Departure from FARO
- Meeting point is outside of Nautic Bar. You will find 2 gates into the harbour nearby, and also a row of flags. One of our crew members will meet you there. Boarding is either from the inside of the harbour of the exterior pontoon
–Departure from OLHÃO
- Meeting in front of Real Marina 5* Hotel, at boat tours stand reception desk.
5. Conduct
- By joining an activity by Ocean Vibes, you acknowledge that you will take part in a Ecoturism/Nature Tourism experience and therefore have good practices during that time. Our tours are held inside a Natural Park which is considered a Protected Area in Portugal. Environmental pollution is forbidden and punishable by the portuguese law. You agree not to throw ANY GARBAGE outside of the boat into the water, land or marshland. You do also agree not to leave any garbage on the islands/places that you visit with us, even though the company takes NO RESPONSABILITY for costumers actions;
- Delays can happen to anybody. However, we kindly ask you to respect our skippers time schedule during our stops, as other costumers may be negatively affected by others delays. A 15 minute tolerance policy is taken in consideration. After this time, Ocean Vibes owns the right to proceed with the activity;
- Certain activities include wildlife observations with specific briefings provided by our guides (ie: Dolphin Watching). Those might include activity-specific rules that shall be respected at all costs by the costumers on behalf of animal welfare;
- By purchasing a ticket, you agree to respect our Skippers and Guides safety and conduct briefings for our activities. Safety instructions include (but are not limited to) the use and activation of auto-inflatable Life-jackets. You also acknowledge (and agree) that the use of a lifejacket is mandatory by the Portuguese law, and the lack of its use may be punished by law.
6. Company Obligations and Other conditions
Ocean Vibes owns all the necessary licenses and insurances for the activity acording to the current Portuguese law. Our Maritime Tour Operator License is RNAAT nº476/2019 by the Tourism of Portugal.
Our staff might take pictures, videos or recordings from our activities in order to promote our product or activies. No identity is stored or associated with pictures unless specifically required / intended by the costumer, and approved by the company management. If you do not want this media to be used, captured, posted or shared, please let us know. In case you find a picture, video or similar of yourself, friends or family and you want it to be removed, please contact us by e-mail to proceed with the removal.
Any costumer is free to take his own pictures and videos of the activities. However, some machines may be inappropriated for some scenarios, and you might be asked to turn off your device if that is the case. One example is the use of certain equipments near cetaceans or other marine mammals (as those can cause direct harm to the animals). The company does NOT own the media captured by the costumers, however, we can kindly ask you to provide it if:
- a) the media captured contains one or more individuals of our team
- b) the media is considered to be relevant for research purposes on marine mammals
- c) the material captured can potentially be used for promotion or marketing
Ocean Vibes owns a complainant book available online with direct communication with local Portuguese authorities.
