Jun 26 2019
Off

1.Bookings

 

  • Bookings can be made on our website, e-mail, phone (including WhatsApp), OTA’s, local partners or directly with one of our staff members in the city of Faro (Office in Faro harbour). Alternatively, tickets can be purchased directly on the boat if previously arranged by phone;
  • As of 2025 the maximum capacity of our fibreglass boat is 9 passengers whereas the RIB is 12 (+ extra space for researchers, students & volunteers)
  • 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;

Starting in April 2025: 

In April 2025 the website booking will change to Fareharbor. A deposit WILL BE MANDATORY to secure your booking. Costumers that booked before March 30 (2025) will not be affected. You will be able to pay the deposit using your cards in PayPal, Stripe and other options supported.

–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. American Express is NOT accepted

 

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 2 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
  • We reserve the right to cancel any tour even after it starts in case the crew determines the conditions are not proper to go ahead
  • If we cancel the tour is for your safety and not because we want to stop working. Please do not tell us how “sunny” it looks in your phone app nor insist to go ahead. Sun has nothing to do with waves and sea state.
  • In case of Overbooking the latest group to book has the right to reschedule or have a refund. NO COMPENSATION WILL BE GIVEN IN ANY OVERBOOKING CASE

 

4. Meeting Points and Departure Times

 

  • Our company runs boat tours from Faro, Algarve – Portugal and the tours depart from Faro harbor and the meeting point is in our Office
  • 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 5 minutes before boarding if you already have a ticket (fully paid) or 10 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; 
  • If you are parking nearby, make sure to come earlier especially during weekends. We will NOT wait in case you call us saying “no parking available”.

–Departure from FARO

  • Meeting point is in our office in Faro harbor. Follow google maps “Ocean Vibes Algarve”.

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.

7. Important information regarding OTA, Tour Changes & others

A) ONLINE TRAVEL AGENTS

  1. If you booked through OTA’s you might need to wait several days for refunds
  2. We do not control how fast OTA’s will give your money back, but it usually takes 1-5 business days
  3. Confirmation of OTA cancellation should happen within 24h of departure (except Airbnb)

B) BOAT CHANGE

  1. As of 2025, we have 2 boats available. While some people prefer one, others might prefer another. However, unless you booked private You CAN NOT choose the boat you will be placed into
  2. You can warn the team about your preference but no guarantees are provided
  3. The boats have different handling capacity for waves & sea states, therefore, sometimes one boat can be cancelled and another one goes ahead as their behavior is different.