Terms & Conditions | Protect you and protect me

Please provide all information requested to help us manage your reservation and booking as quickly as possible. Please book as early as possible to avoid disappointment. Late bookings, less than thirty (30) days from your arrival date, will be accepted subject to availability. All late booking requests must be accompanied by full payment.

All of our prices are quoted in RM (Ringgit Malaysia). Our quotes are valid for 30 days from the date of issue subject to our suppliers maintaining theirs pricing. Our prices include current taxes where applicable. It is worth noting that we work on extremely tight margins to deliver you the best enjoyment for your buck. Thus on very rare occasions, our suppliers will alter pricing at the last minute. If our supplier decides to alter their pricing and we are unable to absorb the extra cost/s you will be asked to cover the diference.

• Full payment is required to secure your booking. On bookings where you/we have requested a Booking Availability Check. Then once confirmed payment must be made in full within 48 hours of confirmation notification. Otherwise, our suppliers will release the reservation.
• There are a few ways to send us a payment – send a SWIFT Payment (Electronic International Bank Transfer), pay via Stripe.com (via credit card on our online shop) or we can process your credit card locally (VISA or Mastercard):
  • SWIFT Payments can only be sent in MYR, GBP or USD.
  • All bank charges and credit card charges for payments to Borneo Dream are to be borne by the customer.
• Please note that some of the trips we arrange with Suppliers work to different payment terms. Were this is the case we will advise you at the reservation and booking stage.

SNORKELLING, SCUBA DIVING AND RAID DIVE COURSES

For courses, trips and packages provided by Borneo Dream (Borneo Dream scuba diving and snorkelling trips and courses only), the following cancellation policy will apply:

• If you cancel more than 36 days from the date of your booked activities, we will refund your booking less Stripe.com Fees if you paid by card.
• If you cancel between 35 to 20 days from the date of your booked activities, we will charge a 50% cancellation fee.
• If you cancel within 19 to 10 days from the date of your booked activities, we will charge a 75% cancellation fee.
• If you cancel within 9 days or less from the date of your booked activities, we will charge a 100% cancellation fee.
• If you fail to turn up for a trip (“no show”), you will be charged the full package cost.
• We will not refund in respect of any unused services (or parts) included in a package.

RAID Online Learning – If you have booked a RAID Course that includes online learning, and the Code has already been sent to you. This element is not refundable and will be taken off any refund that may be applicable to you.

Our chosen Suppliers for land trips, Sabah diving packages, transport and room bookings will charge late cancellation fees in line with their own cancellation policy and depending on the circumstances. The cancellation fees charged by them will be charged to you by Borneo Dream.

MOUNT KINABALU

For Mount Kinabalu trip bookings (climbing Mount Kinabalu), the suppliers we deal with have very specific cancellation policies, and they are not flexible at all. Please read the following. This is just the key points and not restricted to:

• If there is a cancellation by a client more than 60 days from the trip start date, the Mount Kinabalu tour provider will refund 70% of the full trip price for that particular cancellation.
• If a cancellation is made 46-59 days prior to the start date, the Mount Kinabalu tour provider will refund 50% of the full trip price for that particular cancellation.
• If a cancellation is made 31-45 days prior to the start date, the Mount Kinabalu tour provider will refund 25% of the full trip price for that particular cancellation.
• If a cancellation is made 30 days or shorter from the start date, the Mount Kinabalu tour provider will refund 0% of the full trip price for that particular cancellation.
• The Mount Kinabalu tour provider has every right to cancel a trip or part of it if it is deemed that the condition is severe or unsafe. The Mount Kinabalu tour provider may cancel on advice of relevant authorities, for instance, the Sabah Parks for the Mt Kinabalu climb, or local rangers or guides who are the experts in the area, etc.. In which case, wherever possible, an alternative activity with approximately the same value will be run.
• Based on prevailing local and best practices, no partial or full refunds will be made to clients who decide to pull out of an activity for non-medical reasons before it is completed.

KINABATANGAN RIVER

If you need to cancel your Kinabatangan River trip, the refund is solely at the discretion of our supplier. As a minimum, they will retain 25% plus the Stripe Fees at around 4% (Credit Card Merchant), which will not be refunded.

TURTLE ISLAND

Please note that for Turtle Island bookings, Turtle Island Resort charges an extra fixed cancellation fee. This fee is over and above what has been paid for the trip. This means if you cancel a booking at Turtle Island, they will charge an extra amount, which you will need to pay. Therefore, your refund will be less than 100% as we will need to deduct the charges applied to the booking by Turtle Island – this is the same for both cancelled and postponed bookings. We recommend you only book Turtle Island Resort if you are 100% certain you will go on the trip (including after checking your country’s FCO Travel Advice for Islands off the east coast of Sabah).

No partial or full refunds will be given for an uncompleted PADI course, diving or snorkelling trip with Borneo Dream for whatever reason. If you decide during your course/trip that you do not want to continue. We will offer you our ‘Unguided Snorkelling Trip’ as an alternative for the remaining part of your course/trip.

What happens if we need to change your booking:

• Although every effort will be made to operate the trips as advertised, Borneo Dream reserves the right (at our sole discretion and without penalty) to make alternative arrangements as it sees fit if caused by poor weather conditions, technical problems with vehicles, flight delays or other circumstances beyond their control necessitate.
• Where it is in the interest of tour/trip/course members that an itinerary be altered, such alterations may be made without penalty to the company.
• If a Borneo Dream Tour (snorkelling and/or scuba diving tour run by Borneo Dream) is cancelled prior to the date of departure due to circumstances beyond our control, we will refund all money paid by our booked customers.
• In the event of one of our suppliers cancelling a tour, we will make every endeavour to ensure full reimbursement, but where a supplier has a policy of retaining any fees or charges, we will have to defer to their policy.
• If you are ill on or before the start date of your trip, tour both land and water-based activities (scuba diving and snorkelling). If you need to cancel or can not continue, no refund will be issued for unused parts, as Borneo Dream has had to set aside resources that can not be filled with new business. This is to be read in conjunction with the first part of this FAQ.

This is why it is highly recommended that all travellers take out holiday insurance and cover to protect themselves from unexpected illnesses, missed flights, lost luggage and generally I screwed up 🙂 situations.

If  you wish to re-schedule/move your adventure we will need your new dates ASAP. The dates must be in the same calendar year as the original trip. Subject to availability you will be charged RM 250.00 as a ‘Change of Booking Fee’ plus any other costs due to price increases, supplier cancellation charges or seasonal variations. This can only be done once.

We act as an agent for airline, hotel, ‘Explore Tours’ and in some cases, transport companies assume no liability in connection with their services. Borneo Dream will not be responsible for any act, omission, error or any injury, delay, irregularity, government regulations, theft or strikes over which it has no control.

Like with all great Natural Marine Parks around the globe, such as the Ras Mohammed Marine Park in Egypt, the Cayman Islands, the Maldives, etc., the Local Governments and Authorities impose local Permit charges to all guests and visitors alike. Here in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, we have several marine parks of this type, such as Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park (TARP) just outside Kota Kinabalu (KK), one near Pulau Tiga, Turtle Islands Park and Pulau Sipadan, to name but a few.

The following charges will apply to all our guests and will either be collected in advance or on the day of the activity (Correct September 2021):-

• Island Hopping or Snorkelling Tour Non-Malaysian RM 25.00/Person/Day and Malaysian RM 8.00/Person/Day
• Leisure Diving or Fun Dives Non-Malaysian RM 125.00/Person/Day and Malaysian RM 58.00/Person/Day
• RAID Diving Courses – 1-Day courses are the same as Leisure Diving. 2-Day Courses for Non-Malaysian RM 150.00/Person and for Malaysian RM 66.00/Person. 3-Day Courses are Non-Malaysian RM 175.00/Person and for Malaysians RM 74.00/Person

If another operator says that he has included the Marine Park fees, I would ask you to request a valid “Sabah Parks” receipt on the official Sabah Parks paper.

Force Majeure or Act of God protects both parties from obligations when events happen beyond their control. The most common reason for using Act of God is during bad weather or mechanical breakdown.

Borneo Dream Travel & Tours SB shall not be liable for travel affected by Force Majeure or Act of God. In the context of these terms and conditions, ‘Force Majeure is any event that is beyond the reasonable control of the Company or which is unavoidable by the exercise of due diligence on the Company’s part, including but not limited to war, the threat of war, riot, civil commotion or strife, hostilities, industrial dispute, natural disaster including earthquakes, fire, acts of God, terrorist activity, nuclear disaster, adverse weather, pandemics, strikes, any government action including travel restrictions or technical problems with transportation.

Refunds for such events will not be offered, and we strongly advise all clients to seek travel insurance to cover such events in the case of cancellations.

Typical Example – Should you have booked a diving trip, course and/or snorkelling tour and on the day, either at the start or during the day, there are adverse weather conditions. Either Borneo Dream or another party have decided to cancel the trip, then no refund or rescheduling will be offered as this will be classed as force majeure or an act of god. This is why travel/holiday insurance is a must.

If you are staying at the lovely Gaya Island Resort by YTL Hotels and wish to book snorkelling, diving or a diving course, you must contact us directly rather than purchase any product from this site, as the price structures on this site are for guests staying in Kota Kinabalu with DBKK Jetty collections. If you purchase by mistake, we often can not offer a refund both partial or full. Many thanks for your understanding.

Buying tours, trips, dive equipment or clothing via our online store has never been easier. Once you have decided on your purchase and added it to your cart you can proceed to view your cart or head straight to checkout. Our checkout allows you to register to receive future special offers or you can use the guest checkout function. Once you have filled out all the necessary information and checked any dates or availability with our sales office it is time to pay.

You can pay by credit or debit card using our Stripe.com Payment Gateway. Unfortunately, there is a charge for this that is levied by Stripe.com on to us. The charge is 3% on the transaction + RM 1.00. As we are in Malaysia 6% SST is also applied to this charge as well.

What does this mean for you? We will not be passing on the charge to you but should we have to refund you or you request a refund and you paid by Stripe.com Then we will refund the amount paid less the Stripe.com charges as we do not get them back even if we refund a payment. Example – If you had paid RM 100.00 by Stripe.com we would refund you only RM 95.76 (Original amount less 3% + RM 1.00 x 6% SST).

You can send a SWIFT payment/transfer to our business account based in Sabah, Malaysia.

Please note all bank charges for payments to Borneo Dream must be borne by the customer. You will need to send an equivalent amount that, when it is credited to our account, is the same as the invoiced amount or the amount we requested. Our account can only accept Malaysian Ringgit. If you send another currency such as US Dollar then this can delay the process and cause more bank and currency charges which will need to be borne by you.

Our bank account details are:

• Account name: Borneo Dream Travel & Tours Sdn Bhd (please use our company name in full for the “Beneficiary account name” when sending payment)
• Company registration number (if requested by your Bank): 788821K
• Bank Name: Malayan Banking Berhad (commonly known as ‘Maybank‘)
• Branch Address: Menara Maybank, Floor 8, 100 Jalan Tun Perak, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 50050
• Account number: 510 143 111 363
• SWIFT BIC: MBBEMYKL
• Email for a payment notification: joanne@borneodream.com

When you send a bank transfer to us, we need you to do the following:-

• Put your surname and/or invoice number in the reference field in order for us to process the payment.
• Please confirm by email when you have sent a payment (deposit or full payment) to us. Email the Dream Team with your surname, invoice number and total amount paid. If you get a payment completion reference number then please include it.

On rare occasions we find that online orders have been paid for multiple times. This due to caching or browser issues of the device you are using. More often than not it is a mobile device causing it due to poor or slow network connection. As a result we end up with multiple transactions for the same order. If you feel your payment was successful please do not pay again, please contact us and let us check your payment status.

Overpayment and multiple payments will be refunded but we can not refund the Stripe.com/Bank Charges as we do not receive these back on refund requests. The charges are approximately 3% + RM 1.00 + 6% SST – So on RM 100.00 this is approximately RM 4.24 of Stripe.com charges.