Terms & booking policy

The short version

• Asking for a time costs nothing. Your booking is confirmed when you pay the Square invoice Mim sends you.
• If you cancel 24 hours or more before your session, you get a credit for the full amount. It lasts 12 months and you can give it to someone else.
• If you cancel with less than 24 hours’ notice, or don’t turn up, you lose that session. Clause 7.4 explains how we keep this fair, including sending someone in your place.
• If we cancel for weather, sea conditions, illness or any other reason, you choose: a new date, a credit or a full refund.
• Diving and snorkelling have real risks. Please read our Risk warning before you book. You’ll also sign forms before your session: SSI’s forms, including a liability release, for scuba sessions, or our snorkel waiver for snorkel trips.
• Your rights under the Australian Consumer Law that can’t be taken away always apply. Clause 12 explains the one limit the law allows for recreational activities like diving.

1. Who we are

1.1 M&M Jervis Bay is a registered business name, ABN 99 768 149 271.

1.2 Our instructors are Mim and Mark. Both are SSI instructors and SSI Classified Diving Instructors. M&M Jervis Bay is an SSI Official Partner (Dive School and Classified Diving Center). SSI licenses us to use its trademarks and run its programs, but we’re an independent business, not SSI’s agent, employee or franchisee.

1.3 “We”, “us” and “our” mean the sole trader who owns the registered business name M&M Jervis Bay (ABN 99 768 149 271). “You” means the person who books and pays. “Participant” means each person who takes part, including you if you do.

1.4 To reach us, call or WhatsApp 0481 759 272, or email mmjervisbay@gmail.com.

2. What these terms cover

2.1 These terms apply to our Try Dives, Basic Diver and Scuba Diver courses, Skills Updates, snorkel trips, Scuba Wellness sessions and gift cards.

2.2 Our contract with you is made up of these terms and the description and price of the experience you booked, as shown on our website and your Square invoice when you paid. Our Risk warning and Privacy policy are important notices, but they aren’t part of the contract. SSI’s forms and our snorkel waiver (see clause 5.3) are separate documents.

2.3 Your booking runs on the version of these terms that was live when you paid. If we change the terms later, the change only applies to your booking if you agree to it.

3. How booking works

3.1 Ask for a time. Use our Square booking page, the “Ask about a date” form on our Book page, or WhatsApp. Nothing is charged at this step.

3.2 Mim calls you. You talk it through together. If the experience suits you and the time works, she accepts your request and sends you a Square invoice for the full price by text or email.

3.3 Paying confirms your booking. Our agreement with you starts once the invoice is paid. When Mim accepts your request, Square may send you an automatic message about the appointment. Your booking is still only confirmed once you’ve paid the invoice.

3.4 Unpaid invoices. If the invoice isn’t paid within 48 hours, or by 24 hours before your session if that’s sooner, we may release the time to someone else. If you pay after we’ve released it, we’ll offer you another time or a full refund.

3.5 If we can’t take your booking, you pay nothing.

3.6 No same-day bookings. We need at least 24 hours’ notice.

3.7 Booking for other people. You can book for more than one person. If you do, you confirm that:

• you’re allowed to book for them;
• you’ll show them these terms, the Risk warning and the Privacy policy before the session;
• you’re the parent or legal guardian of any child under 18 you book for. If you aren’t, the child’s parent or guardian needs to make the booking.

3.8 When Mim sends your invoice, she’ll also send a link to our details page. There you give each participant’s date of birth, shirt size and shoe size. We use them to check age limits and have the right gear ready.

4. Prices and payment

4.1 Prices are on each experience’s page. They are in Australian dollars and they are the total you pay.

4.2 We’re not registered for GST. That means no GST is included or charged, and our invoices aren’t tax invoices.

4.3 There are no surcharges or booking fees, so paying by card costs you nothing extra.

4.4 Square processes our payments and gift cards. We never see or store your full card details.

4.5 Refunds go back through Square to the way you paid: your card, or your gift card if you paid with one.

5. Who can take part

5.1 Minimum ages

• Try Dive: 8 in the pool, 10 at the beach
• Basic Diver: 10
• Scuba Diver: 10. Divers under 15 earn SSI’s Junior Scuba Diver certification
• Skills Update: 12
• Snorkel trip: 10
• Scuba Wellness: 8

5.2 Skills Update is for certified divers only. Please show us your SSI app, or bring your certification card or a photo of it. Cards from any training agency are fine.

5.3 Forms and health check before you get wet. Everyone doing a scuba session (a Try Dive, a course, a Skills Update, or Scuba Wellness, see clause 11.3) completes SSI’s forms before the session: a medical questionnaire or fit-to-dive screening, and a liability release. The release is a legal document about who is responsible if something goes wrong. Please read it before you sign. You can ask us for a copy before you pay. Adults complete the forms in the free MySSI app, unless we tell you to use paper forms. For anyone under 18, a parent or guardian signs SSI’s paper forms. If the form says you need a doctor’s sign-off, you’ll need it before you can take part. Bring the signed doctor’s form to the session, or upload it in MySSI if the app lets you. Please don’t send it to us by WhatsApp or email. For snorkel trips, each participant signs our snorkel waiver before the session. A parent or guardian signs it for anyone under 18. Please read it before you sign too. You can ask us for a copy before you pay.

5.4 If you decide not to sign SSI’s forms or our snorkel waiver, tell us 24 hours or more before the session and clause 7.1 applies.

5.5 Please make sure every participant answers honestly. Tell us before the session if anything changes, such as a cold, ear or sinus trouble, new medication, an injury or pregnancy.

5.6 Participants mustn’t drink alcohol or take recreational drugs before a session. We can’t take anyone who seems affected.

5.7 If a participant can’t get a doctor’s sign-off in time, tell us as soon as you know. If you tell us 24 hours or more before the session, clause 7.1 applies and you get a full credit, which you can give to someone else. If you tell us later than that, you still get a credit for that session under clause 5.8.

5.8 If someone can’t take part on the day. Sometimes we have to say no on the day for safety. For example, a medical answer hasn’t been cleared, a doctor’s sign-off isn’t back in time, or ears won’t equalise. A participant may also choose to stop, which is always okay (clause 9.3). When the reason is on the participant’s side like this, you get a credit for the session they couldn’t do, whatever notice you gave:

• for a Try Dive, Skills Update, snorkel trip or Scuba Wellness session, the full price you paid for that participant’s session;
• for a course, that session’s share of the course price: $147.50 for Basic Diver or $139 for Scuba Diver.

Apart from its amount, this credit works like any other credit (clause 7.3). It lasts 12 months and you can give it to someone else. There’s no credit if the participant didn’t complete the forms before the session (clause 5.3), or turned up affected by alcohol (clause 5.6). If the reason is on our side, such as conditions or our equipment, clause 8 applies instead.

6. Children under 18

6.1 A parent or guardian must make the booking for anyone under 18. Anyone can pay, including with a gift card.

6.2 The parent or guardian signs SSI’s paper forms, because SSI doesn’t allow minors to sign digitally.

6.3 The parent or guardian receives our Risk warning on the child’s behalf. Please go through it with your child.

6.4 A parent or guardian doesn’t need to stay at the pool or beach during the session.

6.5 Both of us hold NSW Working with Children Checks: Mim WWC2244602E and Mark WWC3049104V. When you book for a child, we’ll send you our surnames and dates of birth so you can verify our checks online with the Office of the Children’s Guardian or in the Service NSW app.

6.6 If you’re worried about a child’s safety, please tell us. You can also call the NSW Child Protection Helpline on 13 21 11 (24/7). If a child is in immediate danger, call 000.

7. If you cancel or change

7.1 24 hours or more before the start time. You can move to another date or take a credit for the full amount you paid. Tell us by phone, WhatsApp or email. We count your notice from the time you send your message.

7.2 Booked at short notice? If you pay less than 24 hours before your session, you can still move it or take a full credit if you tell us within 2 hours of paying.

7.3 How credits work

• A credit is worth the full amount you paid.
• It lasts 12 months from the day we issue it. We’ll send you a written note of the amount and the expiry date.
• You can use it for any M&M Jervis Bay experience. If the experience you choose costs more, you pay the difference. If it costs less, the rest stays on your credit until it expires.
• You can give it to someone else, as long as they meet the age and health requirements.
• It can’t be swapped for cash, except where the law requires.

7.4 Less than 24 hours’ notice, or not turning up. You lose that session. For a one-to-one or small-group session, we’ve already set aside instructor time and prepared your gear. For a session at a pool we hire, we’ve also paid for the pool time. We can rarely fill the spot at such short notice. To keep this fair:

• Send someone in your place, at no cost. This works for Try Dives, Skills Updates, snorkel trips and the first session of a course. They need to meet the age and health requirements and finish the forms in clause 5.3 before the session.
• If we fill your spot, we’ll tell you and you get a credit under clause 7.3.
• Courses: you lose only the missed session’s share of the course price ($147.50 per session for Basic Diver, $139 per session for Scuba Diver). The rest of your course stays booked.
• Emergencies: if you can’t come because of a serious illness, an accident or a family emergency, tell us as soon as you can and we’ll give you a credit under clause 7.3. We may ask for reasonable proof.

7.5 We don’t refund you if you change your mind. You get the credit or date change set out above instead.

7.6 This clause doesn’t limit your rights under the Australian Consumer Law.

8. If we cancel or change

8.1 Weather and conditions. Jervis Bay changes quickly. We may cancel or move a session because of weather, sea or water conditions, poor visibility, a pool closure, illness or injury, or any other reason. For beach sessions, we make the weather call by 6 pm the day before (we may re-check that morning). Whenever we cancel or move a session, we tell you by phone, text or WhatsApp as early as we can.

8.2 Whenever we cancel, for any reason, you choose one of these:

• a new date;
• a credit for the full amount (clause 7.3);
• a full refund, the same way you paid (clause 4.5).

8.3 If we suggest a change, you can accept it or choose an option from clause 8.2 instead. A change could be a pool instead of the beach, a different time or the other instructor.

8.4 If we cancel because of weather or conditions, we don’t cover other costs such as travel or accommodation. This doesn’t limit any rights you have under the Australian Consumer Law.

9. Safety calls on the day

9.1 Safety comes first. At any point, your instructor may pause, shorten, change or stop a session because of conditions, equipment, how someone is coping, or SSI standards. We’ll always tell you why. Participants must follow the instructor’s instructions and stay within the limits of their program. For example, a Try Dive goes no deeper than 5 m.

9.2 If we stop or don’t start a session because of conditions, equipment or anything else on our side, clause 8.2 applies to that session. If we change a session on the day, for example from the beach to the pool, and you’d rather not go ahead, clause 8.2 applies.

9.3 If a session stops for a reason to do with the participant, clause 5.8 applies. That includes a participant choosing to stop, which is always okay.

10. What’s included

10.1 The page for each experience lists what’s included and what to bring. We provide the dive gear unless that page says otherwise.

10.2 SSI cards. SSI issues its certifications and recognition cards once you’ve met all of SSI’s standards. That means the skills, the knowledge and the paperwork. We can’t guarantee you’ll get a card, because some people need more time. If you need extra sessions to meet SSI’s standards, they cost $130 each. We’ll agree any extra session with you before we book it.

10.3 A Basic Diver recognition card isn’t a full certification. A Snorkel trip is a guided experience with no card.

10.4 We’re in the water with you, so we can’t look after your belongings during a session.

11. Scuba Wellness

11.1 Scuba Wellness is our own experience. It is always one-to-one and designed around you, so you can discover the feeling of breathing underwater at your own pace. It is not an SSI program and doesn’t lead to an SSI card.

11.2 Scuba Wellness isn’t therapy or treatment, and we don’t promise any health outcome. People living with anxiety, PTSD, autism or ADHD are very welcome, but a session doesn’t replace medical or psychological care, so please keep seeing your own practitioners.

11.3 Before you book, Mim talks with you about what you need. You’ll complete the forms and health check described in clause 5.3. For Scuba Wellness, these are SSI’s Try Scuba forms: the participant registration, the Introductory Fit To Dive screening and the Introductory Scuba liability release, plus the Youth Addendum for anyone under 18. If needed, for example if the screening flags something, we’ll also ask you to complete SSI’s full Diver Medical questionnaire. If SSI’s form says you need a doctor’s sign-off, you’ll need it before the session.

11.4 For anyone under 18, a parent or guardian books the session, signs SSI’s paper forms and receives our Risk warning (clauses 6.1 to 6.3).

12. Risk and responsibility

12.1 Please read the Risk warning. Scuba diving and snorkelling carry real risks, including serious injury and death. We give that warning under section 5M of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW). When you pay, you confirm that you’ve read it and that you’ll show it to everyone you booked for before the session (clause 3.7). For a child, you receive it as their parent or guardian. At the briefing we go through the main risks with each participant before they get in the water.

12.2 Support person. Some adults may not be able to understand the Risk warning because of a disability. For them, a carer or other adult who has received the warning must come to the briefing with them and stay at the pool or beach for the session. The carer doesn’t have to watch and can wait out of sight. This applies to Scuba Wellness too. For children, the parent or guardian receives the warning (clause 6.3). Clause 6.4 says whether an adult needs to stay at the venue.

12.3 You take part at your own risk. Scuba diving, snorkelling and Scuba Wellness are recreational activities. Everyone we provide them to takes part at their own risk. Section 5N of the Civil Liability Act 2002 (NSW) allows this term. What it means: as far as the law allows, if someone is hurt, you can’t claim against us for breaking our promise, in our contract or under the Australian Consumer Law guarantee, that our services are provided with due care and skill, even if we weren’t careful enough. It doesn’t affect other claims the law allows. It doesn’t apply if the harm came from us breaking a written law that sets safety practices.

12.4 [[S139A CLAUSE]]

12.5 Your part. Answer the health questions honestly, follow your instructor’s instructions, and tell us straight away if you feel unwell or uncomfortable.

12.6 Your rights. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or changes any right you have under the Australian Consumer Law, or any other law, that can’t lawfully be excluded, restricted or changed.

13. Gift cards

13.1 Our gift cards are Square eGift cards. You buy them on our Gift vouchers page and they arrive by email.

13.2 Square eGift cards have no expiry date. Any voucher we arrange by hand is valid for at least 3 years and shows its expiry date.

13.3 You can use a gift card for any M&M Jervis Bay experience. If you don’t use the full value, the balance stays on the card.

13.4 There are no fees after you buy a gift card.

13.5 Gift cards can’t be swapped for cash and aren’t refunded if you change your mind, except where the law requires.

13.6 The person using the card still needs to meet the age and health requirements. If they can’t, they can pass the card on to someone else.

14. Photos and video

14.1 We love sharing moments from our sessions on Instagram and Facebook, but only with consent. You give it by ticking a separate box that’s unticked to start with. Saying no doesn’t affect your booking. For adults, we’ll also check with each person before we post.

14.2 We only post images of children with specific consent from their parent or guardian. We only post images from a Scuba Wellness session with that person’s specific consent.

14.3 Consent can be withdrawn at any time by messaging us. We’ll take down the posts we control within 7 days. We can’t recall copies other people have already shared.

15. Your privacy

15.1 Our Privacy policy explains what we collect and why. This website never asks for health information, so please don’t put health details in the booking form. Health answers go on SSI’s forms. Adults complete them in MySSI: SSI holds these forms, and we see what SSI’s system shows us to run your session safely. For under-18s, the forms are on paper and come to us. Our snorkel waiver comes to us too. We handle those forms, and anything health-related you tell us by phone or message, as our Privacy policy explains.

16. Questions and complaints

16.1 If something isn’t right, please tell Mim first by phone, WhatsApp or email. We’ll reply within 5 business days.

16.2 If we can’t sort it out together, you can contact NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20 or at nsw.gov.au/fair-trading.

17. Changes to these terms

17.1 We may update this page from time to time and will change the “last updated” date when we do. Your booking runs on the version that was live when you paid (clause 2.3).

18. Governing law

18.1 The law of New South Wales governs these terms, and the courts of New South Wales can hear any dispute about them.