Temporary policy changes for COVID-19

Updated April 9, 2020

SKBM sincerely thanks you for your understanding and support in what are difficult times for all. The outpouring of encouragement we’ve received is inspiring and affirms our belief that we are providing a service that holds an important place in peoples hearts and lives.

C-19-friendly trips
We’ve increased our lineup of customizable Getaway trips. They are affordable and ideal for family or small groups who want to keep it private.

Applying Your Credit
For those who couldn’t make their trips this season and took the credit option, here are 2 things to keep in mind:
1. We will honor 2020 prices for you in the new season (for trips whose prices increase).
2. We will also honor for you our 10% repeat client discount in the coming season and on all your future trips.

We are starting to put trips on our calendar. If you’d like to reserve your spot on one, please register on the Waitlist. We will contact you within a few days to proceed. Your credit will be your deposit. We have a list of credits given, but hang onto your copy as well.

New Reservations – Temporary Payment Policy through 15 May, 2021
Because of the uncertain situation in the world this spring, we will not be requiring deposits until August 1, 2020. We will accept them, but not ask you for them unless the trip fills and others want to register. We will also accept deposits of less than half of the trip value. As little as $250USD will reserve your spot until 30 days before your trip. Sign up on the Waitlist and us know you’d like to make a reduced deposit.
For cancellations before 30 days advance of trip: full refund minus $250, or full credit for other trip within 12 months.
See our full policy on our Booking page.
Upcoming trips are listed on our Calendar

No More Hotel Reservations
We regret to inform you that we will no longer be reserving hotels. Their websites are on our Lodging page. It may take us a few weeks to dismantle the option in our registration flow, but please bypass it in the meantime.

COVID-19 Policy
We will leave our COVID-19 policy up for reference in case helps with any insurance claims. In response to the dynamic situation around COVID-19, we have replaced our standard booking and cancellation policy of “no refunds within 30 days of your trip” with some temporary measures aimed to be genuinely fair in support of everybody involved, and still being around next season to run your next trip.

Cancellations have a 25% refund or a 50% credit on a future trip through May 2021. (See Insurance Bonus below if you insured your trip.)

Why 50%? Because 50% is about what it takes to keep the business operational, and the other 50% goes to immediate expenses and modest margin of that specific trip. It is that second 50% that we can shift forward to your future trip. In order to have the prices that we do for the services we offer, we have kept our margins very small. (See “Why are your trips the best” on our FAQ page for details) This has contributed to the situation we’re in now.

Cancellations within the 30-day window who have not paid their balance receive no refund. The unpaid balance is your “refund”. If you had paid your trip remainder, we’d be happy to give you a 50% transferrable deposit voucher. If you’d like to pay that remainder now, we will issue you that credit.

Trips more than 30 days away
Registrants who choose to cancel, or whose circumstances force their cancelling, a trip more than 30 days away for which they’ve paid only a deposit may apply half of their deposit to a future trip.

Multi-day Rentals
will be decided on a case by case basis based on the number of people left in the group. Refunds will be made upon return of the rental.

Insurance Bonus
We have strongly urged people to cover their trip with travel insurance. It is to protect us all in unforeseen situations such as this. However, we recognize that some travel insurance policies fail to cover certain risks. We would like to honor you who tried to protect your trip. We sincerely appreciate your efforts. If you have travel insurance, and make a claim, and your claim is denied, we will credit or refund an additional 25%.

Put another way, this means that if you did have trip insurance, you will see 75% to 100% of the value of what you’d paid. If your insurer reimburses you for the 50% that we do not credit, you are full up at 100%. If they do not, and you are willing to go through the process of making a claim–which does make a statement–show us the denied claim. No matter how long it takes, we will credit you another 25% in appreciation for having made a good faith effort to insure your trip.

If you did not insure your trip, we are very sorry, but our business is not designed with the margins to cover trip cancellation. We make investments and commitments to be able to provide trips, and many of these costs do not go away if a person cancels or even if the whole trip cancels. We are a small, homegrown company and simply do not have the financial reserves to act as an insurance company ourselves.

Extras and Hotels
All rental extras are completely refundable.
Hotel cancellations depend on the hotel policy.
Balance and vision
In lean times, priorities conflict and decisions become tough. You, our loyal and enthusiastic clientele, are of paramount importance to us, and we deeply honor the faith you have expressed in us. We assure you we are trimming everything we can from our expenses, while being as fair and generous as we can in the balance, not only to you, but also to the dedicated staff behind the scenes in Loreto without whom there would be no SKBM. We are all tightening our belts and securing our sandals for the journey ahead.
We look forward not just to survive the present, but with the vision to thrive into the future.

Thank you for your understanding.
As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions or comments. info@seakayakbajamexico.com