Your whale watching reservation with Oceanic Society (OS) is subject to the following Terms and Conditions. Please read these carefully and email whales@oceanicsociety.org with any questions or concerns.

General

  • Whale sightings are not guaranteed due to the unpredictability of nature.
  • Tickets are transferrable to another party; you must inform the ticketing office to update the manifest.
  • If a trip turns around due to weather conditions after leaving the dock, passengers will receive a 50% refund of their ticketed price.
  • The age requirement is 10 years or older on all trips.
  • Passengers under the age of 16 must wear a life jacket on the boat.
  • Passengers under the age of 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
  • If pregnant, the unpredictable movements of the boat can result in a loss of balance, therefore we strongly suggest scheduling your trip for another time.
  • By purchasing whale watch tickets you are opting into receiving trip update messages via text and email from Oceanic Society.

Cancellations

  • Oceanic Society may cancel trips due to undersubscription, hazardous weather conditions, boat breakdowns, or other acts of nature beyond our control.
  • If Oceanic Society cancels a trip for any reason, advance notice will be given whenever possible and you can either reschedule, or request a full refund.
  • Rescheduling for any reason must be in the current season. Tickets become invalid at the end of the season for which they were purchased.

Refunds

  • Whale watching tickets are non-refundable unless Oceanic Society cancels a trip as outlined above.
  • No-shows or latecomers who miss the boat, forfeit their entire fee.
  • If Oceanic Society waives the non-refundable policy for a specific ticket buyer, which is within their rights to do so for any reason and does not behold them to extend the same offer to any subsequent ticket buyer, OS will retain the E-Commerce Fee to account for credit card processing fees as well as administrative time spent processing the original reservation, refund and the subsequent work to fill the vacancy caused by the cancellation.
  • In no event will Oceanic Society’s responsibility to refund exceed the amount paid to OS.

Private Charters

  • A 50% deposit is due in order to reserve dates for private charters.
  • $500 of these deposits are non-refundable coordination & transaction fees.
  • The remaining balance of the booking must be paid at least 14 days in advance of the charters departure date. Failure to pay this balance on time will lead to the release of the reserved date and the entire deposit amount will be forfeited.
  • Rescheduling a charter for any reason must be in the current season and cannot occur after the entire trip balance has been paid.

Photographic Release

Oceanic Society may take photographs or videos during your whale watching tour for the purposes of sharing information about our whale watching programs with the public. By participating in an Oceanic Society whale watching tour, you understand that you may be photographed, filmed, or videotaped and you hereby give Oceanic Society the right use your likeness, image, photo (collectively, “image”), without compensation, for any legitimate use without limitation or reservation.

California Seller of Travel Registration No.: 2129744-40

Registration as a Seller of Travel does not constitute approval by the State of California. Oceanic Society Expeditions is not a participant in the California Travel Consumer Restitution Fund. California law requires certain Sellers of Travel to have a trust account or bond. Oceanic Society Expeditions has such a trust account.