Guides › Safety
Age limits, and the rules you only enforce at the dock
Ask an operator what their rules are and you get a clear answer. Ask where those rules are written down and you usually get the tour description. A rule in a paragraph is a rule enforced by whoever is standing at the gangway.
The common ones are not exotic:
- Minimum age for the activity — six for a quad passenger, twelve for a two-tank dive.
- A minor cannot come without an adult on the same booking.
- A driver must hold a licence and be eighteen.
- At most two infants on a boat, because there are two infant vests.
- A minimum number of people or the departure does not run at all.
Each one is easy to state and awkward to enforce after the guest has paid, driven an hour and brought their children.
The two numbers that are not the same number
An infant on a lap is a person and not a seat. They belong on the passenger list — the harbour master counts people, not tickets — and they do not reduce the number of places you can sell. Any system with a single “how many guests” field has to be wrong about one of those two.
The quad version is the same shape in reverse: a driver and a passenger are two people, two prices and two waivers, but one machine. Count people and you oversell your fleet; count machines and you undercharge.
Where the rule should live
Three places, and all three matter: on the tour page before the guest chooses, at checkout where it is enforced, and in the confirmation where it is repeated. The first prevents the disappointment, the second prevents the sale, the third prevents the argument.
The minimum that stops the boat
A tour that needs two people to run and has one booked is a decision you have to make the evening before. Knowing the number is the easy half; the hard half is that the one guest booked has to be told, moved or refunded — which is the same job as a weather cancellation, and worth handling the same way.
What this means for your website
Age ranges, minimum party size, "a child cannot come alone" and per-ticket limits are set on the tour and checked at checkout, before payment. The passenger list counts people, including the infant who took no seat, because that is the list the harbour master wants.
Not legal advice. Minimum ages, supervision requirements and licence rules for activities are set locally and by your insurer; confirm yours with your insurer and, where it matters, an attorney.