In this page, you will find the following pieces of information:
-GENERAL GUIDELINES
-CANCELLATION POLICY
-BOAT TOURS SALES POLICY
-HOTEL BOOKING POLICY
-EXCURSION AND ACTIVITIES POLICY
-CAR RENTAL POLICY

GENERAL GUIDELINES

A) Geographic scope
The website "www.saotome-paradise.com" main functions are to inform visitors of activities, excursions, hotel and car rental offers available in São Tomé and Principe. In this regard, we shall refuse any claim which is not directly or indirectly concerning services or products sold or offered in São Tomé  and Principe.

B) About reservations prepaid online
1. Bookings of services are considered as "effective" once the Third party payment entity has informed Kalotopia Lda of the effectiveness of the transaction.
2. We reserve the exclusive right to refuse to provide service to any individual or entity at our sole discretion. In such a case, full reimbursement of prepayment effectively made will be done (by any transfer mean available) or a replacement solution will be offered.

C) About Booking dates
The online reserved dates of activities for boat tours, excursions and other activities may be subject to change.

D) Types of service
 The internet platform offers two different types of services :

1. Services directly provided by KALOTOPIA Lda, under the brand name "São Tomé Paradise Tours"
and

2. Services provided by a local or foreign partner of KALOTOPIA Lda.
a) In case a) KALOTOPIA Lda reserve the right to reschedule the activity in case any unpredictable event to arise between the time of the reservation and the time of the activity. The client shall be informed as soon as the event occurs. Some activities are subject to natural, weather conditions, and the "booking date" is only used as an information about the effective schedule.

Example one : Turtle hatch release : Client may book a specific date, but it will only be confirmed after we receive the confirmation from our local partner that there are sea turles to release.

Example two : Dolphin Watching Tour, if the night before, or on the morning of the activity the weather conditions creates a tangible risk for passengers’ security, we will cancel the activity and offer another date, or replace by another activity which do not induce into any risk for safety.

b) In case b) KALOTOPIA Lda acts as an intermediary Agent. In this regard, the confirmation of reservation will be made upon confirmation is received from the third party partner. In this case, the pre-payment amount may be used as a deposit for the booking of the service with the Third Party partner. In case of cancellation from the client, the reimbursement policy will be directly submitted to the Third Party partner’s cancellation policy and KALOTOPIA Lda reserves the right to keep part of the deposit to cover its management fees.

E) Jurisdiction :  the competent jurisdiction should any matter arise are the authorities of  São Tomé and Principe.

CANCELLATION & REFUND POLICY

About
The prices as offered on our Platform are highly competitive.

All prices for your « Activities », « Excursions »,  « Hotel Booking », «  Car Rental » and « Other Services » are displayed including VAT/sales tax and all other taxes (subject to change of such taxes) and fees, unless stated differently on our Platform or the confirmation email/ticket.
Ticket prices are per person or group and subject to validity or expiration as indicated on the ticket, if applicable. Applicable fees and taxes may be charged by in the event of a no-show or cancellation.
Whenever possible, we always try to figure out a reasonable solution for our clients, in case of no show, or unexpected cancellation (in case of missing plane, force majeure etc..)

Cancellation types :
 1. Cancellation for « Activities », « Excursions », «  Car Rental » and « Other Services , prior to fourteen (14) days, the booking payment will be reimbursed, unless stated otherwise. Cancellations within 24 hours are not entitled to any kind of reimbursement. If any particular situation occurs, you are welcome to contact us and we will do our best to help you out.
2. Cancellation for for « Hotel Reservations », prior to thirty (30) days, the booking payment will be fully reimbursed. Cancellation under fourteen days (14), a rate of 75% of booking payment will be reimbursed, cancellation under eight days (8), a rate of 50% of booking payment will be reimbursed,  cancellation under three days (3), a rate of 25% of booking payment will be reimbursed ;  cancellation under twenty four hours (24), or « No Show » will not commit us to reimbursement of booking payment.

Nota : some hotels or accommodation supplier may have more strict cancellation policies, in this case, they are mentioned on the Accommodation Presentation page, and the specific Hotel cancellation policies may over rule the cancellation policies described in this document.

Cancellation fees
1. Bank transfer service fees and other related fees are at the charge of the Client. Client will be informed of the detailed costs during the Cancellation process.
2. Kalotopia Lda reserve the exclusive right to retain a management fee (franchise), depending on the necessary action previously taken to make the booking or the preparation of activity.

BOAT TOURS SALES POLICY

A) Boat tours includes
All services requiring a boat to organize the activities, such as : Santana Islet snorkeling, Cabras island Boat tour, Whales watching, Dolphins’s watching, and any other boating activity.

B) About Reservations 
In order to ensure availability of the boat and crew, we invite you to book your tour as early as possible. A 50% advance booking payment is requested to confirm the booking.

C) About Passengers’ number
Due to the specific nature of boating activities, a minimum number of passengers is requested to book the tours.  While not reflected in the booking system (we are working to solve this issue), it is clearly indicated in the Activity presentation and booking pages. It is possible to « buy » the missing  seats » in order to validate a tour. In this regard, please, do not forget to select the minimum number of people if you are in a lower number of people situation. In case of uncertainty, please contact us by email, contact form or whatsapp.

Cancellation due to weather conditions
In case weather conditions do not permit to organize the boat tour, we will postpone to the following available date. If not possible, then  we will reimburse 100% of your deposit or offer a replacement activity.

Safety first
During the tour, the Captain may at its sole discretion, decide any change or modification of itinerary, depending on weather and general safety conditions.

Emergency pick up car
In case of heavy sickness of the passenger, we can help you book a taxi at the nearest land spot available. The cost of the service will depend of the location of pick up and drop off (may vary from 20 to 50 euros).

 

HOTEL BOOKING POLICY

A) Tourism taxes
São Tomé authorities impose a three  euro fee per adult and per night (3). It is not required for children under 12 y.o. The tourism fee is not included in the accommodation booking fees (unless mentioned otherwise) and shall be paid directly at the reception of the hotel or eco-lodge.

B) About Booking
While you make a booking on this website, we cannot guarantee the availability of the requested rooms before we obtain full confirmation from the Accommodation itself.

Unlike many other platforms, we make direct contact with hotels and ecolodges management teams in order to guarantee the availability of service.

This enables us to have the lowest possible rate of double booking, or forced booking whch can result in unpleasant situations. In case the accommodation requested is not available, we will offer you another similar booking, giving you the choice between :

1) changing hotel room type (when available, room rates may vary)
2) changing hotel (room rates may vary)
3) full refund

4) provide you with a credit of the equal amount of the booking fee, which you can use for any other service, activity, rental or accommodation that is presented on our platform.

C) Accommodation prices
Prices are indicated as a base for reservation. For a higher potential of special discount, and best prices, we invite you to contact us by email or in the contact section and mention your exact dates and requested accommodation.

Some hotels have very flexible rates that may vary without informing us. Nevertheless, we engage in guaranteeing the best rates possible (since we have special agreements with these hotels and ecolodges). If you find better rates on another platform, please contact us and we will ensure that we meet theses pricing.

Nota :This situation may not happen frequently but only for some accommodations only.

D) Accommodation price calculation
Some hotels and ecolodges have very special pricing policies that cannot be automatized within our platform reservation system. In this case, the specific pricing policy is indicated in the « Accommodation description page »,  and the booking fee is used as a reservation asset, and its value may not be equal to 50% of the real price.

Example : When booking "Jalé Ecolodge" Bungalow Suite for 4 people, the price per night is 75 eur (as indicated in the accommodation room page). But due to the specific calculation process of the platform, we will only charge you 50% of the base price for 2 people fee, and your booking fee will be lower than the percentage of 50% of the real rate (In this case, you will prepay 27,5 eur instead of 37,5 euro). Nevertheless, once the booking is confirmed, we will issue an invoice with the real rate adjusted.
Nota :This situation may not happen frequently but only for some accommodations only.

 

EXCURSION AND ACTIVITIES POLICY

CAR RENTAL POLICY

For any question, feel free to send us an email mailto :contact@saotome-paradise.com or visit our Contact Page.

We thank you for your understanding !