General Terms and Conditions
These Terms and Conditions apply to dives, courses, introductory dives and other activities booked with Punkfish Diving La Palma. We want the rules to be easy to understand and both sides to know what they can rely on.
1. Booking and participation
Your booking becomes binding once we confirm it. When you register, we need the information required to organise and safely carry out the booked activity. Please complete our registration form in good time before your scheduled activity.
A valid diving certification is required for dives as a certified diver. Your training and experience must be suitable for the planned dives. You do not need a diving certification for an introductory dive; you must be able to swim and meet the requirements of the relevant programme.
Minors may participate only within the applicable age limits and training standards. The required consent of a parent or legal guardian must be provided before the activity begins.
If you are unsure whether an activity is suitable for you, please contact us in advance.
2. Health and personal responsibility
Diving places particular demands on the body. You are responsible for ensuring that your current state of health is suitable for the planned diving activity and that the information you provide is complete and truthful.
Before participating, you must complete a medical declaration or provide confirmation from a doctor. This can be done digitally through SSI or using our own form. Alternatively, you can provide a valid medical certificate of fitness to dive. This is not required for snorkelling.
If the medical declaration indicates an illness or another circumstance that could affect diving safety, a medical certificate of fitness to dive is required before diving. This also applies if your current physical condition raises reasonable doubts about your ability to participate safely. The certificate must comply with the applicable legal requirements and, where required by law, must be no more than one year old.
If you have any doubts about your fitness to dive, your health has changed or you take medication, please consult a doctor familiar with diving medicine in good time. Our team cannot provide medical assessment or advice.
Receiving the medical declaration or a medical certificate does not mean that Punkfish Diving La Palma medically assesses your state of health or accepts responsibility for it. We check whether the declaration or certificate required for participation has been provided. You remain responsible for providing accurate and complete information and for seeking medical advice if you have any doubts.
You may not participate if you have acute symptoms, are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or are taking medication that may impair the abilities required for diving. Please also inform us at short notice if your state of health changes before or during the booked activities.
Punkfish Diving La Palma may refuse or end your participation for safety reasons if the health requirements, a required declaration or a required medical certificate are missing. Our statutory duties of safety and care remain unaffected.
3. Insurance
Insurance cover is provided by Punkfish Diving La Palma for introductory dives and diving courses. It is included in the price of the booked activity.
For all other diving activities, you need your own valid insurance covering diving accidents, the necessary medical treatment, including treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, and the legally required third-party liability cover.
When registering, you upload proof of your own insurance or indicate the period for which you would like us to arrange suitable insurance for you. We will inform you of the cost of this additional insurance before it is taken out, and it will be charged separately.
4. Payment and deposit
Punkfish Diving La Palma may require a deposit when you book. We will tell you in the booking confirmation whether a deposit is due and by what date. If we do not require a deposit, the booking remains binding.
The deposit will be credited towards the total price. Unless otherwise agreed, the remaining amount is payable after the booked activity.
If cancellation charges arise under these Terms and Conditions, any deposit already paid will be credited towards them. If Punkfish Diving La Palma cancels the activity in full, you can choose between an alternative date and a refund of the deposit.
5. Dates, dive sites and organisation
We agree a date and time when you book. If we meet directly at the beach, we may occasionally need to change the location at short notice. Please keep an eye on your messages.
Please be at the dive centre or the agreed meeting point at the agreed time.
Weather, water conditions, official requirements or other safety considerations may make it necessary to change the dive site, schedule or time at short notice. Punkfish Diving La Palma makes this decision with the safety of the group in mind. If we have to cancel an activity in full, we will offer an alternative date where possible or refund any amounts already paid for the cancelled service.
6. Cancellation by participants
You can cancel a booked activity free of charge and without giving a reason until 18:00 on the evening before. Some booking platforms have different cancellation deadlines; in that case, the deadline stated in the relevant booking applies.
If you cancel later or do not appear at the agreed time, the full price of the booked activity is payable. This also applies if an activity cannot be started or completed for personal or health reasons, for example because you are unable to equalise.
This rule does not apply if Punkfish Diving La Palma cancels or ends the activity. Mandatory statutory rights remain unaffected.
7. Rental equipment and equipment stored with us
Please treat rental equipment carefully and use it in accordance with the instructions provided. If equipment is lost or damaged beyond normal wear and tear and you are responsible for the loss or damage, we may charge the necessary repair or replacement costs. You are not responsible for normal wear and tear.
Your own equipment stored at the dive centre during your stay remains your responsibility. Our liability under the applicable law remains unaffected.
8. Diving without a guide
If you dive without a guide, you are responsible for planning and carrying out the dive. You must observe the legal requirements, the limits of your training and experience, the local conditions and your team’s dive plan.
The statutory liability rules apply to damage resulting from planning or carrying out a dive for which you are responsible.
9. Rules for our dives
You dive within the limits of your training, experience and personal condition on the day. Recreational dives with us have a maximum depth of 40 metres; the lower limits resulting from your certification, age, experience and the particular activity also apply. Planned decompression stops are not part of our regular recreational dives.
You must follow the safety-related instructions of our guides and instructors. We expect controlled buoyancy and respectful interaction with the underwater environment. Please avoid touching animals, plants and the seabed.
10. Exclusion or termination for safety reasons
Punkfish Diving La Palma may refuse participation or end an activity if safety rules or instructions are not followed, the required conditions are not met, or continuing would present a risk to the person concerned, the group, staff or the environment.
Whether and to what extent costs are charged in this case depends on the reason for the exclusion or termination and the applicable legal requirements.
11. Liability
The statutory liability rules apply. The information regarding participants’ personal responsibility does not limit the liability of Punkfish Diving La Palma for its own breaches of duty and does not affect mandatory statutory rights.
12. Governing law and consumer protection
Spanish law applies. Mandatory consumer protection provisions and statutory places of jurisdiction remain unaffected.
1. Booking and participation
Your booking becomes binding once we confirm it. When you register, we need the information required to organise and safely carry out the booked activity. Please complete our registration form in good time before your scheduled activity.
A valid diving certification is required for dives as a certified diver. Your training and experience must be suitable for the planned dives. You do not need a diving certification for an introductory dive; you must be able to swim and meet the requirements of the relevant programme.
Minors may participate only within the applicable age limits and training standards. The required consent of a parent or legal guardian must be provided before the activity begins.
If you are unsure whether an activity is suitable for you, please contact us in advance.
2. Health and personal responsibility
Diving places particular demands on the body. You are responsible for ensuring that your current state of health is suitable for the planned diving activity and that the information you provide is complete and truthful.
Before participating, you must complete a medical declaration or provide confirmation from a doctor. This can be done digitally through SSI or using our own form. Alternatively, you can provide a valid medical certificate of fitness to dive. This is not required for snorkelling.
If the medical declaration indicates an illness or another circumstance that could affect diving safety, a medical certificate of fitness to dive is required before diving. This also applies if your current physical condition raises reasonable doubts about your ability to participate safely. The certificate must comply with the applicable legal requirements and, where required by law, must be no more than one year old.
If you have any doubts about your fitness to dive, your health has changed or you take medication, please consult a doctor familiar with diving medicine in good time. Our team cannot provide medical assessment or advice.
Receiving the medical declaration or a medical certificate does not mean that Punkfish Diving La Palma medically assesses your state of health or accepts responsibility for it. We check whether the declaration or certificate required for participation has been provided. You remain responsible for providing accurate and complete information and for seeking medical advice if you have any doubts.
You may not participate if you have acute symptoms, are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, or are taking medication that may impair the abilities required for diving. Please also inform us at short notice if your state of health changes before or during the booked activities.
Punkfish Diving La Palma may refuse or end your participation for safety reasons if the health requirements, a required declaration or a required medical certificate are missing. Our statutory duties of safety and care remain unaffected.
3. Insurance
Insurance cover is provided by Punkfish Diving La Palma for introductory dives and diving courses. It is included in the price of the booked activity.
For all other diving activities, you need your own valid insurance covering diving accidents, the necessary medical treatment, including treatment in a hyperbaric chamber, and the legally required third-party liability cover.
When registering, you upload proof of your own insurance or indicate the period for which you would like us to arrange suitable insurance for you. We will inform you of the cost of this additional insurance before it is taken out, and it will be charged separately.
4. Payment and deposit
Punkfish Diving La Palma may require a deposit when you book. We will tell you in the booking confirmation whether a deposit is due and by what date. If we do not require a deposit, the booking remains binding.
The deposit will be credited towards the total price. Unless otherwise agreed, the remaining amount is payable after the booked activity.
If cancellation charges arise under these Terms and Conditions, any deposit already paid will be credited towards them. If Punkfish Diving La Palma cancels the activity in full, you can choose between an alternative date and a refund of the deposit.
5. Dates, dive sites and organisation
We agree a date and time when you book. If we meet directly at the beach, we may occasionally need to change the location at short notice. Please keep an eye on your messages.
Please be at the dive centre or the agreed meeting point at the agreed time.
Weather, water conditions, official requirements or other safety considerations may make it necessary to change the dive site, schedule or time at short notice. Punkfish Diving La Palma makes this decision with the safety of the group in mind. If we have to cancel an activity in full, we will offer an alternative date where possible or refund any amounts already paid for the cancelled service.
6. Cancellation by participants
You can cancel a booked activity free of charge and without giving a reason until 18:00 on the evening before. Some booking platforms have different cancellation deadlines; in that case, the deadline stated in the relevant booking applies.
If you cancel later or do not appear at the agreed time, the full price of the booked activity is payable. This also applies if an activity cannot be started or completed for personal or health reasons, for example because you are unable to equalise.
This rule does not apply if Punkfish Diving La Palma cancels or ends the activity. Mandatory statutory rights remain unaffected.
7. Rental equipment and equipment stored with us
Please treat rental equipment carefully and use it in accordance with the instructions provided. If equipment is lost or damaged beyond normal wear and tear and you are responsible for the loss or damage, we may charge the necessary repair or replacement costs. You are not responsible for normal wear and tear.
Your own equipment stored at the dive centre during your stay remains your responsibility. Our liability under the applicable law remains unaffected.
8. Diving without a guide
If you dive without a guide, you are responsible for planning and carrying out the dive. You must observe the legal requirements, the limits of your training and experience, the local conditions and your team’s dive plan.
The statutory liability rules apply to damage resulting from planning or carrying out a dive for which you are responsible.
9. Rules for our dives
You dive within the limits of your training, experience and personal condition on the day. Recreational dives with us have a maximum depth of 40 metres; the lower limits resulting from your certification, age, experience and the particular activity also apply. Planned decompression stops are not part of our regular recreational dives.
You must follow the safety-related instructions of our guides and instructors. We expect controlled buoyancy and respectful interaction with the underwater environment. Please avoid touching animals, plants and the seabed.
10. Exclusion or termination for safety reasons
Punkfish Diving La Palma may refuse participation or end an activity if safety rules or instructions are not followed, the required conditions are not met, or continuing would present a risk to the person concerned, the group, staff or the environment.
Whether and to what extent costs are charged in this case depends on the reason for the exclusion or termination and the applicable legal requirements.
11. Liability
The statutory liability rules apply. The information regarding participants’ personal responsibility does not limit the liability of Punkfish Diving La Palma for its own breaches of duty and does not affect mandatory statutory rights.
12. Governing law and consumer protection
Spanish law applies. Mandatory consumer protection provisions and statutory places of jurisdiction remain unaffected.
