Booking Conditions

The small print is never exciting but it is very important that you read and understand the following booking conditions before you decide to book with Secret Paradise PVT Ltd. It is also important that you read the relevant itinerary and understand what is involved in the type of tour you are intending to book.

By making a booking you agree that you have fully read and understand these terms and conditions.

The below booking conditions, the relevant web pages, each itinerary that the Client has booked, and the booking form, all of which are hereby incorporated into and shall constitute the entire contract made between the Company and the Client.

Secret Paradise Private Limited is a Ministry Of Tourism approved Travel Agency and existing under the laws of Maldives Company Registration, Number C-0059/2012 with registered offices at 2-2-10, Nirolhu Magu, 25000, Hulhumale, Maldives. Secret Paradise (‘the Company’, “we”, “us” and “our”) accepts bookings subject to the following conditions. Except where expressly stated, these conditions only apply to tour arrangements booked by the client with Secret Paradise and which Secret Paradise agrees to make, provide or perform (as applicable) as part of their contract with the client. All references in these conditions to “tour”, “holiday” “booking”, “contract” or “arrangements” mean such tour arrangements unless otherwise stated.

YOUR TOUR CONTRACT

The contract is between Secret Paradise and the client (“the client” and “you” in these conditions), being any person traveling or intending to travel on a tour operated by the Company including any person who is added or substituted after booking. We both agree that Maldives law (and no other) will apply to your contract and to any dispute, claim, or other matter of any description which arises between us (except as set out below). We both also agree that any dispute, claim or other matter of any description (and whether or not involving any personal injury) which arises between us must be dealt with by the Maldives Courts of Law only. No employee of the Company other than a director has authority to vary or omit any of these terms.

1: BOOKING & PAYMENT OF DEPOSIT

1. A completed booking form is to be received at time of booking request. In the event of a group booking a deposit may be required which will be advised at the time of booking. If a booking is made 30 days or less prior to your arrival date, the full payment of the cost of the tour is required with your booking form. The booking is binding on the Company only when it has issued confirmation by email. Any person submitting a booking, or on whose behalf a booking is made, is responsible for ensuring that the payment of any sums due in respect of the booking is duly made to the Company.
2. The Company reserves the right to decline any bookings.
3. The Company is not under any obligation to dispatch any tickets, vouchers, or documents until full payment of the booking has been received by the Company or its authorized travel agent.

2: PAYMENT OF FULL BALANCE

The total cost of any booking shall be paid so as to be received by the Company not later than 30 days prior to the scheduled arrival date of the tour. In the event that the payment is not received by the Company by that date, the Company may choose to treat the booking as canceled by the client in which event the cancellation fees listed in 3 shall apply. In the case of non-payment of the balance by the due date, the Company reserves the right to cancel your booking, and cancellation charges will apply. Payment of the deposit can be made by an online payment link and the full amount is required by SWIFT bank transfer. SWIFT bank transfers may be subject to a bank handling fee – we advise you to contact your bank directly for further information. All Maldives bank charges will be accounted for by Secret Paradise.

3: CANCELLATION BY A CUSTOMER

When a client wishes to cancel a booking, notification of the cancellation must be made in writing to the Company, to be received within the periods stated below for the following percentages of the entire cost of the booking to be charged. Note, some suppliers have conditions that require the payment of higher or different charges (including the imposition of 100% cancellation charges well in advance of the normal balance due date) which you will have to pay in the event of cancellation. You will be advised at the time of booking if this is the case for your tour.

• No charge for Secret Paradise Tours cancelled more than 14 days prior to arrival date
• 2 days – 13 days charged at 50%
• No show or 0 – 2 days = charged at 100%

It is strongly recommended that comprehensive travel insurance is taken out which includes cover against cancellation charges. Depending on the reason for the cancellation, you may be able to reclaim the cancellation charges (less any applicable excess) under the terms of your insurance policy. All claims must be made direct to the insurance company. In the event of the cancellation of a booking where the client is liable to pay to the Company cancellation charges in excess of the amount already paid to the Company at the time of cancellation, the client cannot transfer or add these charges to another booking or use any amounts paid to us in relation to the canceled booking by way of part payment for another booking. Part cancellation of a booking may result in additional costs being payable by the remaining clients.

4: MODIFICATION BY THE CUSTOMER

Should you wish to make a change to an existing booking we will arrange this, subject to availability, an administration charge will only be applied to bookings involving domestic flight ticketing. An administration charge of USD $25 per person per booking changed may be charged. Dates of travel, accommodation, or tour selected can be modified up to 30 days prior to arrival date.

Short notice alterations are not always possible and should you find it necessary to cancel your holiday the cancellation charges listed in 3 above will apply. Any amendment charges imposed by suppliers will be charged to the customer.

5: MODIFICATION BY THE COMPANY

1. While the Company will do its best to operate all tours as advertised, it reserves the right to change and correct errors in any of the facilities, services, prices, or itineraries provided by email or described on our website at any time before or after your booking is confirmed. Most changes are minor. Occasionally, we have to make a significant change. If a significant change has to be made, the Company will inform the client as soon as reasonably possible, if there is time before departure. In the case of any material modification or of cancellation, the Company will, if possible, offer alternative arrangements or, if these are not acceptable, a full refund of monies will be paid. When offering alternative arrangements the Company will, if accommodation is affected, endeavor to provide an alternative in the same area. If the Company is only able to offer a lower classification of the hotel it will refund the difference in the price.
2. A significant change, as mentioned in 5a above, is one which has a significant effect on the customer’s holiday, such as change of accommodation to a different property or to any inferior room classification in the same property, a change of departure or return timings of more than 20 hours which will cause substantial inconvenience to the customer.
3. Force Majeure: Except where otherwise expressly stated in these conditions, we regret we cannot accept liability or pay any compensation where the performance or prompt performance of our obligations under our contract with you is prevented or affected by, or you otherwise suffer any injury, damage, loss or expense of any nature as a result of “force majeure”. In these conditions, “force majeure” means any event which we or the supplier of the service(s) in question could not, even with all due care, foresee or avoid. Such events may include actual or threatened war, riot, civil strife, terrorist activity, industrial dispute, natural or nuclear disaster, adverse weather conditions, disease, fire, and all similar events outside our control.

6: CANCELLATION BY THE COMPANY

1. The Company reserves the right to cancel a tour in any circumstances, but will not cancel a tour less than 30 days before the start of the holiday except for force majeure (see clause 5c), or the client’s failure to make all payments (including the final balance and any surcharge) when due. Please note, some tours require a minimum number of participants to enable us to operate them (cruises for example). If any tour does not have the minimum number of participants required to make it commercially viable, we are entitled to cancel it. We will notify you of cancellation for this reason no less than 30 days before the start of your tour. If we have to cancel, we will tell you as soon as possible.

If there is time to do so before departure and the cancellation does not result from your failure to pay, we will offer you the choice of purchasing another available tour from the Company (paying or receiving a refund in respect of any difference in price) or receiving a full refund of all monies paid to us. We regret we cannot meet any visa, vaccination or similar costs in the event of any change or cancellation by us.

1. Similarly, you are advised only to book fully flexible transport and other arrangements which can be canceled or changed without charge, we cannot pay any cancellation, amendment of other charges you may incur in relation to any transport or other arrangements which you have to change or cancel as a result of the cancellation of your tour.

7: THE COMPANY’S LIABILITY TO THE CUSTOMER

Bookings are accepted on the understanding that clients appreciate and accept the possible risks inherent in water activities, diving, traveling by public transport, and that they undertake the holidays featured in our program at their own volition. Each person wishing to participate in such activities may be asked to sign additional forms and in all cases must adhere to the restrictions imposed by either Secret Paradise or the supplier.

1. We promise to make sure that the tour arrangements we have agreed to make, perform or provide, as applicable, as part of our contract with you are made, performed, or provided with reasonable skill and care. This means that subject to these conditions and the other information which forms part of your contract with us, we will accept responsibility if your contracted tour arrangements are not provided as promised or prove deficient as a result of the failure of ourselves, our employees, agents or suppliers to use reasonable skill and care in making, performing or providing, as applicable, your contracted tour arrangements. Please note, it is your responsibility to show that reasonable skill and care has not been used if you wish to make a claim against us. In addition, we will only be responsible for what our employees, agents, and suppliers do or do not do if they were at the time acting within the course of their employment (for employees) or carrying out work we had asked them to do (for agents and suppliers).
2. We will not be responsible for any injury, illness, death, loss (for example loss of enjoyment), damage, expense, cost, or other sum or claim of any description whatsoever which results from any of the following: – the act(s) and/or omission(s) of the client(s) affected or any member(s) of their party or the act(s) and/or omission(s) of a third party not connected with the provision of your tour and which were unforeseeable or unavoidable or ‘force majeure’ as defined in clause 5c above.
3. Please note, we cannot accept responsibility for any services which do not form part of our contract. This includes, for example, any optional, additional services or facilities which any supplier agrees to provide for you where the services or facilities are not advertised by us and we have not agreed to arrange them as part of our contract. In addition,  regardless of any wording used by us on our website, in any advertising material, or elsewhere, we only promise to use reasonable skill and care as set out above and we do not have any greater or different liability to you. Any optional excursions or activities booked during your holiday do not form part of our contract as these are all arranged for you directly by the suppliers concerned – please see clause 12 Excursions below.
4. The promises we make to you about the services we have agreed to provide or arrange as part of our contract – and the laws and regulations of the country in which your claim or complaint occurred – will be used as the basis for deciding whether the services in question had been properly provided. Please bear in mind that standards of, for example, safety, hygiene, and quality may vary throughout the destinations, services, and transport your tour involves and may be lower than or different from those applicable in your own country. This is particularly important where liveaboard dive boats and local island guesthouses are concerned when the clear limitations of being on such a small vessel or a local island must be accepted. If the particular services which gave rise to the claim or complaint complied with the local laws and regulations applicable to those services at the time, the services will be treated as having been properly provided. This will be the case even if the services did not comply with the laws and regulations of your home country which would have applied had those services been provided in your home country. The exception to this is where the claim or complaint concerns the absence of a safety feature that might lead a reasonable holidaymaker to refuse to take the tour in question.
5. You must ensure you have appropriate travel insurance to protect your personal belongings.
6. Please note, we cannot accept any liability for any damage, loss, expense, or other sums of any description (1) which on the basis of the information given to us by you concerning your booking prior to our accepting it, we could not have foreseen you would suffer or incur if we breached our contract with you or (2) which did not result from any breach of contract or other faults by ourselves or our employees or, where we are responsible for them, our suppliers.

Additionally, we cannot accept liability for any expenses or losses incurred by or relate to any business including self-employed loss of earnings.

1. You must provide ourselves and our insurers with all assistance we may reasonably require. You must also tell us and the supplier concerned about your claim or complaint as set out in clause 6. If asked to do so, you must transfer to us or our insurers any rights you have against the supplier or whoever else is responsible for your claim or complaint (if the person concerned is under 18, their parent or guardian must do so). You must also agree to cooperate fully with us and our insurers if we or our insurers want to enforce any rights which are transferred.

8: CHARGES

We reserve the right to make changes to and correct errors in advertised prices at any time before your tour is confirmed. We will advise you of any error of which we are aware and of the then applicable price at the time of booking. Once the price of your chosen tour has been confirmed at the time of booking, then subject to the correction of errors, we will only increase or decrease the price in the following circumstances. Price increases or decreases after booking will be passed on by way of a surcharge or refund. A surcharge or refund (as applicable) will be payable, subject to the conditions set out in this clause, in the event of any change in our transportation costs or in taxes or fees payable for services such as landing taxes, embarkation or disembarkation fees at ports or airports, Maldives Tourism Tax or Maldives Guest Service Tax. Any variation in cost will be calculated on the divergence from the exchange rates on which quoted prices are based. Any variation in cost will be calculated on the divergence from these exchange rates. Variation in taxes or port fees, where they are included in the package price, will be calculated and amended at cost. You have 14 days from the issue date printed on the surcharge invoice to tell us if you want to cancel or purchase an alternative tour. If you do not do so, we are entitled to assume that you will pay the surcharge. Any surcharge must be paid with the balance of the cost of the tour. Please note that tour arrangements are not always purchased in local currency and some apparent changes have no impact on the price of your tour due to contractual and other protection in place.

9: CANCELLATION IN VIEW OF BEHAVIOUR

Clients agree to accept the authority and decisions of the Company’s employees, tour leaders, representatives, and agents whilst on tour with the Company. If in the opinion of any such person(s) or any other person in a position of authority (such as, for example, an airline pilot, hotel manager, dive guide/dive instructor, or dive center manager), the health, level of fitness or conduct of a client at any time before or during a tour is endangering or appears likely to endanger the health or well being of the client or any third party (including any other clients of the Company) or the safe, comfortable or happy progress of the tour, the client may be excluded from all or part of the tour without refund or recompense. Where a client is excluded, the Company will have no further responsibility towards them (including any return travel arrangements) and we will not meet any expenses or costs incurred as a result of the exclusion.

In the case of ill health, the Company may make such arrangements as it sees fit and recovers the costs thereof from the client. If a client commits an illegal act (including, for example, causing any damage, bringing alcohol onto a local island, the inappropriate standard of dress) the client may be excluded from the tour and the Company shall cease to have the responsibility to/for them as above. No refund will be given for any unused services. When you book with us, you accept responsibility for any damage or loss caused by you or any member of your party. Full payment for any such damage or loss (reasonably estimated if not precisely known) must be made direct to the accommodation owner or manager or other supplier or to us as soon as possible. If the actual cost of the loss or damage exceeds the amount paid where estimated, you must pay the difference once known. If the actual cost is less than the amount paid, the difference will be refunded. You will also be responsible for meeting any claims subsequently made against us and all costs incurred by us (including our own and the other party’s full legal costs) as a result of your actions. You should ensure you have appropriate travel insurance to protect you if this situation arises.

If you have any medical condition or disability which may affect your active participation in your tour or the tour arrangements of any other person or have any special requirements as a result of any medical condition or disability (including any which affect the booking process), please tell us before you confirm your booking so that we can assist you in considering the suitability of the proposed tour and/or making the booking. In any event, you must give us full details at the time of booking and whenever any change in the condition or disability occurs. You must also promptly advise us if any medical condition or disability which may affect your active participation in your tour or the tour arrangements of any other person develops after your booking has been confirmed.

10: TRANSFER OF BOOKINGS

If the client is prevented unavoidably from taking his holiday by circumstances such as those which would entitle him to make a valid claim under a conventional insurance policy, then, on giving the Company notice no less than 30 days before departure, he/she will be entitled to transfer his/her booking to another person deemed acceptable to the Company. In such a case the client and the transferees shall be jointly and severally liable for all monies due to the Company, including all charges and reasonable fees consequent upon such transfer, such as cancellation costs imposed by suppliers and charges imposed by airlines for name changes.

11: INFORMATION CONTAINED IN MARKETING MATERIAL & WEBSITE

1. The Company’s website contains statements representing its honest belief that the facts as shown are correct. Every reasonable effort has been made to describe fully, and as honestly as possible, the tour offered and every reasonable attempt will be made to supply what has been described.
2. The Company reserves the right to make changes to the information, prices and itineraries set out on the website prior to confirming a customer’s booking and, provided such changes have been notified to the customer prior to his submitting a booking form or accepted by the customer after submission of the booking form prior to the Company’s confirmation, then such changes shall be binding on the parties.

12: EXCURSIONS

We and our representatives may provide you with information (before departure and/or when you are on holiday) about optional activities and excursions which do not form part of your pre-booked holiday arrangements and which are available in the area you are visiting. We have no involvement in any such activities or excursions which are not run, supervised, controlled, or endorsed in any way by us. We have no knowledge as to whether such activities or excursions and their operators comply with local legal requirements or have any insurance. Some activities/excursions involve the risk of personal injury. They are provided by local operators or other providers who are entirely independent of us. They do not form any part of your contract with us even where we suggest particular operators/providers and/or assist you in booking such activities or excursions in any way. Where a tour leader collects payment for or otherwise assists in booking any such activity or excursion for you, we and the tour leader act solely as a booking agent for the local operator/provider of the activity or excursion with whom you will have a contract. The local operator/provider’s terms and conditions will apply. We cannot accept any liability on any basis in relation to such activities or excursions and the acceptance of liability contained in clause 7(1) of our booking conditions will not apply to them. We do not, however, exclude liability for the negligence of ourselves or our employees resulting in your death or personal injury.

We do not guarantee that any optional activity or excursion mentioned on our website or elsewhere will be available to book during your holiday and/or will operate as advertised as these services do not form part of our contract and are not under our control. They may not be available for various reasons. Any prices given in advance are indicative only. We will not be liable if you cannot, for whatever reason, book any such activity or excursion or if the activity or excursion does not operate as advertised.

13: COMPLAINTS

Should the client have a complaint about any of their tour arrangements, the client must tell both the relevant supplier and the Company’s representative at the time. It is only if the Company and the relevant supplier know about problems that there will be the opportunity to put things right. Failure to complain on the spot may result in the client’s ability to claim compensation, if applicable, from the Company being extinguished or at least reduced. If the client’s complaint cannot be resolved on tour they should notify the Company in writing within 28 days of their return from the tour.

14: PASSPORTS/VISAS/VACCINATIONS

Clients are responsible for arranging and must be in possession of, a valid, acceptable passport and any visas and vaccination certificates required for the whole of their journey and tour. Information about these matters or related items (climate, clothing, baggage, personal gear, etc.) is given in good faith but without responsibility on the part of the Company. We regret we cannot accept any liability if you are refused entry onto any transport or into any country due to failure on your part to carry all required documentation. If failure to have any necessary travel or other documents results in fines, surcharges, or other financial penalty being imposed on us, you will be responsible for reimbursing us accordingly.

15: INSURANCE

Travel Insurance is mandatory for all clients whilst on a tour organized by the Company. Clients are wholly responsible for arranging their own insurance. Clients should forward details of their insurance policy to another company for our records. Clients are responsible for ensuring that they have personal travel insurance with protection for the full duration of the holiday with adequate and appropriate cover. Clients should ensure that there are no exclusion clauses limiting or excluding protection for the type of activities included in their holiday. Clients should satisfy themselves that all travel insurance purchased meets their particular requirements and should arrange supplementary insurance if need be. Clients together with their personal property including baggage are at all times solely at their own risk.

16: FLIGHTS

Clients are responsible for arranging, paying, and confirming return flights to the Maldives. Details of arrival and departure flight numbers and times must be communicated to Secret Paradise upon payment of the final balance. We cannot accept any liability for any change, cancellation, or delay in your transportation from or to your home country or during your tour whether any change, cancellation, or delay is caused by adverse weather conditions, rescheduling by a transport supplier, airline, or airport authority, action by air traffic controllers, mechanical breakdown, industrial action or any other event or circumstance outside our control. Where long flight delays result in lost tour time, no refunds are given by hotels or suppliers. Similarly, except where the Denied Boarding Regulations apply, airlines do not offer compensation for flight delays. Clients are responsible for ensuring that they have personal travel insurance with protection for the full duration of the holiday with adequate and appropriate cover.

17: DIVE QUALIFICATION, DIVE EXPERIENCE, AND DIVING LOGBOOK

Some destinations or liveaboard itineraries require a minimum level of qualification and/or diving experience. It is your responsibility to ensure that your diving experience and/or qualification meet these requirements. If on arrival you are deemed not to have the level of experience and/or qualification required for the trip booked, you will not be able to participate in the diving activities advertised. If this is the case, Secret Paradise or any of Secret Paradise’s suppliers will not have any liability for any missed diving or costs paid for the holiday. Your logbook is the only true representation of your diving experience (i.e. number of dives completed).

18: LOCAL ISLAND GUIDELINES

The Maldives is a Muslim country and care needs to be taken in relation to the dress code on local islands. Whilst it is acceptable for men to wear t-shirts and shorts or swim shorts; females should avoid causing offense by maintaining a more conservative approach to clothes by wearing t-shirts, shorts, or sarongs and avoid wearing bikinis and swimwear unless on a designated tourist beach, an uninhabited island, picnic island, sandbank, dive boat or resort island. Alcohol and pork are also restricted on local islands. If a client commits an illegal act (including, for example, causing any damage, bringing alcohol onto a local island from a resort island) the client may be excluded from the tour and the Company shall cease to have the responsibility to/for them as above. No refund will be given for any unused services.

19: DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY STATEMENT

In order to process your booking, and trip information requests, provide your tour, and to help us give you a more personal service, we need to collect certain personal details from you. These details will include, where applicable, the names and contact details of party members, special requirements such as those relating to any disability or medical condition which may affect the chosen tour arrangements and any dietary restrictions which may disclose your religious beliefs. If we need any other personal details, we will tell you before we obtain them from you. We may need to pass on your personal details to the companies and organizations who need to know them so that your tour can be provided (for example your hotel, airline, another supplier).

We would also like to store and use your personal details for future marketing purposes (for example, sending you a monthly newsletter or details of new features, tours, or special offers which we think may be of interest to you, including by email). All details you give us in connection with your booking (including those relating to any disability or medical condition or your religious beliefs) will be kept for 12 months. We will use only names and contact email details for marketing purposes (unless you have indicated that you do not wish us to do so.)

We respect your privacy and do not sell, rent, trade, or give away any of your personal information for any purpose. Occasionally we hire other companies to provide services on our behalf, for example, to email information to you. We only provide those companies with the personal details relating to you which they require in order to deliver the service we ask them to deliver. They are prohibited from using that information for any other purpose. We will ensure that anyone to whom we pass your details, for this reason, agrees to treat it with the same level of protection we are obliged to provide. If you do not want us to do any or all of these things, please let us know as soon as possible. You are entitled to ask us (by letter or e-mail) what details of yours are being held or processed, for what purpose, and to whom they may be or have been disclosed. We will not charge a fee to respond to such a request. We promise to respond to your request within 30 days of receiving your written request. In certain limited circumstances, we are entitled to refuse your request. If you believe that any of your personal details which we are processing are inaccurate or incorrect please contact us immediately.

As our privacy statement may change due to developments in the law, we would encourage you to reread our privacy statement from time to time so that you are aware of any changes in how we gather and use personal information.

20: PHOTOGRAPHY, VIDEO & MARKETING

You agree that, while participating in any Secret Paradise Tour, images, photos or videos may be taken by other participants, or our representative Tour Leader, or Tour Guide which may contain or feature you. You consent to any such pictures being taken and grant a perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, irrevocable license to the Tour Operator, its contractors, sub-contractors and assigns, to reproduce for any purpose whatsoever (including marketing, promotions and the creation of promotional materials by or with sub-licensees), in any medium whatsoever, whether currently known or hereinafter devised, without any further obligation or compensation payable to you.

ADDENDUM: COVID-19 SAFETY INFORMATION:

1. While participating in tours & activities provided by Secret Paradise Maldives social distancing must be practiced and face coverings worn at all times to reduce the risks of exposure to COVID-19. Secret Paradise has put in place preventative measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, however, Secret Paradise cannot guarantee that its guest’s, partners, or others will not become infected.
2. By joining the tour you knowingly and freely acknowledge all such risks related to illness and infectious diseases, such as COVID-19.
3. Guests agree to self-monitor for signs and symptoms of COVID-19  and contact Secret Paradise by email if he/she experiences symptoms of COVID-19 within 14 days after participating in a Secret Paradise tour or activity.