Terms and Conditions
Insurance
All participants should obtain a short-term traveler’s insurance policy covering baggage, accident/life and trip cancellation. Trip cancellation insurances reimburse you for nonrefundable air and land costs should you have to cancel the trip due to personal or family illness. It also covers the cost of emergency evacuation from remote areas.
Medical
Our tours are not extreme activities but some are physically demanding. For all tours, Vallarta Natours® will have available a first aid kit and attempt to secure, but does not guarantee, the services of a doctor. Vallarta Natours® assumes no liability regarding provision of medical care. Travellers are urged to check their insurance coverage to be sure it is adequate. In general, you must be in good health to participate on one of our tours; it is vital that persons with medical problems make them known to us well before departure. The trip leader and/or a doctor have the right to disqualify any member from the group at any time if considered medically necessary or to avoid endangering the group, or if the participant in question is physically unfit for the rigors of the trip. Refunds are not given under such circumstances. Travellers should have a personal supply of any special medications which they may need. These medicines should be carried with you at all times. It is understood that Vallarta Natours® is not a medical facility and therefore has neither expertise nor responsibility regarding what medications or inoculations you and your private physician should decide necessary for your safe participation in the tour.
Limitation of Liability
The following paragraphs (together with the Release of Liability section) define our responsibility with respect to all our tours. PLEASE READ IT CAREFULLY.
Payment of your deposit represents your acceptance of the following terms and conditions:
• Vallarta Natours® gives notice that services provided in connection with its itineraries, including transportation, hotel accommodations, restaurants, and other services, are purchased from various independent suppliers who are not affiliated with Vallarta Natours® in any way.
• Although we endeavor to choose the best suppliers available, Vallarta Natours® has no right to control their operations and therefore makes these travel arrangements upon the express condition that Vallarta Natours® , and its own agents and employees, shall not be liable for any delay, mishap, inconvenience, expense, irregularity, bodily injury or death to person, or damage to property occasioned through the conduct or default of any company or individual engaged in providing these services. Each of these passenger conveyance companies, tour companies, hotels, restaurants, etc., is subject to the laws of the state or country where the service is provided.
• Vallarta Natours® shall not be liable for (a) expenses such as additional hotel nights and meals not specified in the individual trip itineraries, but which may be required to get to or from a trip start or end; (b) expenses due to the delay of a trip for any reason (e.g. bad weather, trail conditions, landslides, flooding, sickness, or other contingency for which Vallarta Natours® cannot make provision; (c) expenses incurred in recovering luggage lost by airlines, belongings left behind on a trip, or in shipping purchases or other good home from abroad; (d) bodily injury or property damage for any reason, including but not limited to acts of God, weather, quarantines, strikes, civil disturbance, theft, default, changes in government regulations, terrorism, war, or failure of conveyance to arrive or depart as scheduled, etc., over which Vallarta Natours® has no control.
• The right is reserved to substitute both trip leaders and hotels from those listed in the catalog or website, as well as, reverse the order of places to be visited and make reasonable changes in the itinerary where deemed advisable for the comfort and wellbeing of the passengers.
• Vallarta Natours® reserves the right to take photographic or film records of any of our trips, and may use any such records for promotional and/or commercial purposes.
• Vallarta Natours® reserves the right to decline to accept or to restrain from further participation- any person it judges to be incapable of meeting the rigors and requirements of participating in the tour activities, or any person whose actions or deportment it judges unsuitable for group travel. A refund based on the cost of any unused land services already paid for is the limit Vallarta Natours® responsibility in such a case.
Tour Participants’ Responsibility
Tour participants have the responsibility to select a tour appropriate to their abilities and interests. Tour participants are held responsible for being in sufficient good health to undertake the trip. Tour participants are responsible for preparing for the trip by studying the itinerary and pre-departure information packets sent by Vallarta Natours® and for bringing the appropriate clothing and equipment as advised before the tour.
Reservations
Early reservations are recommended, since group size is limited.
For immediate confirmation on a tour, you may call our office and deposit the initial 50% on our Paypal account. Each participant must submit a separate signed application prior to departure. Upon receiving your deposit we will send you a confirmation coupon, and general information needed to prepare for your tour, as well as meeting instructions.
If payment installments are not paid when due, Vallarta Natours® reserves the right to treat the reservation as cancelled. Additionally, no one will be allowed to depart on a tour unless all payments and necessary documents have been received.
Payment Schedule Day tours
At time of reservation: 50%
Balance: On the day of the tour, upon meeting with the guide
Prices are quoted in US dollars and all payments can be made in US dollars whether by Pay pal or cash, or in pesos by Credit card or cash.
Payment Schedule Overnight tours
At time of reservation: 50%
Balance: 60 day previous to the date of departure.
Prices are quoted in US dollars and all payments can be made in US dollars whether by Pay pal or cash, or in pesos by Credit card or cash.
Pricing
Prices listed in brochures and on the website are subject to change since the trip dates and prices having often been published more than a year in advance. Between that time and the time of the trip’s actual departure, we are occasionally faced with exceptional cost increases or currency fluctuations that we cannot absorb. We do everything we can to keep our prices the same as published.
Cancellations and Refunds
If it becomes necessary for you to cancel your trip, the following fees will apply computed as of the date of receipt of written cancellation notice.
Cancellation policy for day tours:
Reservations for shared tours:
48 hours or more prior to excursion date: 80% refundable
24 – 47 hours prior to excursion date-we will accept date changes upon availability but no refunds
23 hours or less to excursion- no refunds and no changes are accepted
No Show or Late Arrival-NO REFUNDS
Reservations for private day tours
15 days or more prior to excursion date 80% refundable
02-14 days prior to excursion date-we will accept date changes upon availability but no refunds
48 hours or less prior to excursion date-no refunds and no changes are accepted
No shows or late arrivals- NO REFUNDS
Cancellation policies for overnight tours
Minimum Fee: $100 per person nonrefundable cancellation charge
61- 90 days prior to departure: 50% of tour cost per person cancellation charge
45-60 days prior to departure: 75% of tour cost per person cancellation charge
45 days or less: no refund
After departure date: no refund
Since rates are based on group participation, no partial refunds will be given for unused elements from the tour for any reason whatsoever. Once you have been confirmed on a trip that requires a medical certificate signed by a doctor, normal cancellation penalties apply if your doctor does not sign the certificate. We highly recommend that all clients purchase trip cancellation insurance.
Other important information:
Cruise Ship Arrivals: We handle a NO PORT NO PAY GUARANTEE
Rain or shine all tours will take place unless the local authorities indicate differently.
*FOR ALL SHARED TOURS WE NEED A MINIMUM NUMBER OF PEOPLE AS INDICATED ON OUR WEBSITE. If this minimum is not reached 24 hours before the tour, the tour will be canceled and you will be noticed. In this case a 100% refund will be given.
Cancellations may be made by email or phone.
Cancelled Trips
Vallarta Natours® reserves the right to cancel any trip prior to departure for any reason whatsoever, including insufficient sign up or logistical problems that may impede trip operations. The refund of all land payments received shall release Vallarta Natours® from any further liability. A trip canceled due to insufficient sign up would normally occur a minimum of 3 weeks prior to departure. Vallarta Natours® must normally make substantial payments to its suppliers (hotels, transportation companies, etc.) far in advance of the scheduled embarkation date. If a trip is canceled due to force major (acts of God, war, labor strikes, earthquake, flooding, etc.), Vallarta Natours® will promptly refund the portion of the trip cost not already advanced to suppliers and use its best efforts to recover and refund the balance as promptly as possible. However, Vallarta Natours® does not guarantee recovery of any or all of the advance payments made, and our use of best efforts to recover these payments will not include the institution of any legal proceedings in foreign jurisdictions. Vallarta Natours® is not responsible for expenses incurred by trip members in preparing for a cancelled trip (e.g., nonrefundable advance purchase air tickets, visa fees, inoculations, equipment, etc.) or for any additional arrangements should the trip member have embarked prior to the scheduled departure date. Once you have been confirmed on a trip that requires a medical certificate signed by a doctor, normal cancellation penalties apply if your doctor does not sign the certificate.