FAQ – en

We are happy to organise a supplemental stay ashore for you. Please contact us to discuss your wishes and to compile the best offer.

The majority of our clients is from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, therefore most guests speak German. Dive guides, crews and cruise directors usually speak English.

Most of our tours are accompanied by Waterworld tour guides who usually have German as a mother tongue and speak at least one foreign language (mostly English, but also Spanish, French and Italian). We are happy to assist you in interacting with the crew and whenever you come across any language barriers.

Our “specials” are based on many years of experience with destinations and are climate-oriented i.e. we choose the ideal season to have optimum conditions concerning flora, fauna, climate and weather conditions. However, nature loves to play a trick on travellers – freak weather and anomalies in animal behaviour can never be predicted.

As has been said before, our trips are conditions-oriented – we want to offer you the optimum concerning climate, flora, fauna, weather conditions etc. Due to their popularity some of our specials are repeated every year (e.g. Lake Baikal, Bahamas, Cocos Island, Galapagos, Silverbanks, Truk Lagoon etc.) We recommend to take the repeat dates into consideration. In case you cannot plan your leave accordingly, we can try to organise another date with our business partners (subject to availability).

This highly depends on your kids, their needs and their diving experience (see diving FAQ). Many experiences in nature are unique and are most valuable, defining and awe-inspiring for children. It depends on your own need for safety and risk tolerance, whether you take your kids along to long-distance destinations with partly limited access to medical facilities in cases of emergency. Some destinations are appropriate for children others are not. In general, we recommend our trips for children aged 12 and beyond. The majority of our guests are single-travellers or couples aged 40 and beyond.

Truth be told: nobody. Travelling has always been an endeavour for the courageous. Of course, we try to limit possible threats and dangers as much as possible by selecting specific destinations, business partners, and flight routes. You can contribute much to your own safety by refraining from doing solo tours or tours to be known to be hazardous, not leaving the hotel after sunset, having your cash and your travel documents stored separately and adhering to general safety precautions. In general, we consider our liveaboard trips quite safe due to their isolated destinations far away from the masses and any big cities. We recommend to scan or have copies of your documents (travel documents, passport, credit cards, etc.) either with you in paper form or stored on your email account or cell phone as a backup. Have your emergency contacts with you as well.
Statistically speaking, it is still more likely to be hit by lightning than to become a victim in a terrorist attack.

We recommend to pack your luggage according to your destination. You may download a general diving trip packing list HERE . Please note the differing weight and item limits and the limits for hand luggage that airlines have!

Whether you are prone to sea sickness and if yes to what extend is a highly individual question. Generally, nowadays ships are equipped with stabilizers that dampen the rocking motion of the ship. During crossings and with strong winds or bad weather conditions the sea may of course be quite rough and even seasoned mariners may experience symptoms. Please visit your general practitioner before you embark on any journey; a lot of highly effective medication (travel gums, prescription medicine, natural remedies) is available to dampen symptoms. In less severe cases we recommend chewing candied ginger to combat nausea.

Some ships have a limited amount of rental gear at their disposal (advance booking required, extra charge applies). Please contact us about details! Please bear in mind that not all sizes may be available and that rental gear (especially concerning wetsuits) lacks the perfect fit of your own gear that makes diving a true pleasure. We therefore recommend to bring your own equipment.

Depending on the ship the benefits included do vary. In general, liveaboard trips include all meals and drinking water, coffee and tea. The bills for soft drinks and alcoholic beverages usually are settled separately aboard, local beer may be included (e.g. with Siren Fleet). Some ships offer a massage service or laundry service that has to be paid aboard (cash preferred, sometimes credit cards are accepted). You may also purchase small souvenirs like T-shirts with the fleet logo. All other costs are listed in detail in our itineraries.

Liveaboards have compulsory boarding times. Furthermore, you need to expect delays when travelling long-distance with stop-overs and connecting flights. We also recommend to plan some resting time for acclimatisation, to deal with jetlag and to adjust to a new time zone and a different climate. You will enjoy your first dives even more when you are well-rested! When you book your flights with Waterworld, we will take care of the perfect timetable for you and we are happy to book a stop-over night at a hotel for you if necessary.

The number of dives per day varies according to destination. We apologize for any inconveniences because of a possible reduction of dives due to bad weather conditions or during crossings. The final decision whether diving is feasible and safe is up to the cruise director on site. He will consider safety for all travellers above everything else. Route changes and restrictions to diving are possible and explicitly no cause for a refund.

Most liveaboard providers require the equivalent of the PADI Advanced Open Water Diver/CMAS Silver and a minimum of 50 logged dives. This is a safety measure – in cases of emergencies and/or diving accidents a decompression chamber is usually far away and adequate medical treatment may be out of reach. We try to limit risk factors in advance as much as possible.
Please note that current dives, open water descents and the like are part of the diving adventure, especially in destinations like the Maldives, Cocos Island and Socorro. You determine the limits of your comfort zone yourself!

Yes. We recommend an insurance company operating worldwide like DAN or AQUAMED. You are also required to bring your diving license(s) and proof of your insurance aboard. Some cruise directors do not allow any diving without sufficient proof of expertise and insurance coverage.

No. Waterworld is a company offering exclusive destinations for well-advanced and ambitious divers. Of course, we are happy to offer you destinations according to your level of training. On some trips you may acquire additional qualification and training (e.g. Nitrox certificate etc.). Please contact us about more information.

If you have not dived recently (preferably within the last six to twelve months), we recommend having your diving fitness assessed by a general practitioner or internist. We also suggest you do your own private “check dive” either at home or in a brief vacation. You will enjoy your diving experience with Waterworld most when you feel comfortable and safe and can utterly rely on your diving skills.

Waterworld is famous for its “specials.” These are hand-selected premium destinations with emphasis on liveaboard trips. Over the course of almost two decades we have specialised in destinations off the beaten track and beyond mass diving tourism. We offer exotic dive sites and exceptional destinations like Antarctica, Spitzbergen, Lake Baikal, and Lake Malawi but also popular tropical destinations like Indonesia, French-Polynesia, Socorro – Cocos Island, Malpelo, Bahamas, and the Philippines. We constantly improve and expand our range and keep exploring new, unique, and unusual locations. Register for our newsletter HERE to be up to date and be the first to learn about upcoming attractions!

Our focus clearly is on liveaboards but we also offer a range of high-end resorts to help you have your perfect, land-based (dive) holiday.

In this case you may want to refrain from high-intensity diving expeditions like Cocos Island, Socorro and others. However, we do offer trips with a reduced number of dives that can be combined with snorkelling and/or wellness treatments and other activities. A trip around the inner islands of the Seychelles with Galatea for instance, a stay in Wakatobi or a snorkelling trip in Sri Lanka or on the Silverbanks are recommendable alternatives.

Many of our repeat customers are single travellers – among divers you will always make friends quickly. On the majority of safari boats there are no single cabins available, simply because space is rare on liveaboards. Therefore you may book a space in a shared room to avoid the extra costs of single occupancy. We usually make sure to make our shared cabins either men or women only rooms.

We accept VISA and Mastercard. According to your credit card contract you thus may even enjoy a travel insurance – please contact your credit card provider for details. Please note that usually the insurance coverage provided by credit cards cannot replace a true diving insurance. For bookings in US Dollars we charge a fee of 2.5 percent, for bookings in Euro we charge a fee of 2 percent.

We are happy to assist you in covering insurance for you. Our partner LTA offers a great insurance coverage at an excellent value-for-money rate, valid for one year. We are happy to inform you about your options.

Your passport needs to be valid for a minimum of six months after return. Please note: There is no tolerance range because of the computerised data entry. Even a deviation of one (!) day from the expiry date may result in you being denied entry on arrival or even transportation by the airline.

Many forms (e.g. ship registration, flights etc.) require the name EXACTLY as written in the passport. Any deviations (e.g. first name versus nickname, wrong word order) may lead to cancellation of service providers – unfortunately we cannot assume responsibility in this case.

We are happy to help you with organising your visa. For Russia you need an “invitation” that we will organise for you in course of your booking. Several possibilities are at your disposal e.g. the visa service of CIBT . Please note that you need to send your passport to the Russian embassy. Schedule a minimum of four weeks for visa processing.

You will receive your travel documents on time before the start of your journey by postal service. Our business partners (liveaboard, resort, transfer etc.) have your data as well – therefore you do not actually need vouchers. Still we are happy to supply them for you.

ATTENTION: This only applies to trips that have been booked by us in its entirety (including flights etc.). If you have booked any services via third-party suppliers, you are entirely responsible for providing your data to the agents as well as communicating with your supplier concerning any cancellations, receiving your travel documents etc.

Airlines only demand ETIX nowadays; print-out versions of flight tickets have become rather obsolete. Usually only your passport is requested at the check-in counter. Still, we recommend to bring a print of your ETIX with you in case of emergency. Many non-European airports still demand a printed ticket upon entering the airport.

As you can see in our terms of business, cancellation fees apply from booking henceforth and at several intervals in case you have to cancel. We have put a considerable effort into the development and marketing of our trips and specials. The administrative workload for such exclusive and individually planned high-end trips is substantial, beginning with the optimum flight connections, the organisation of transfers, and cabin assignment and including dietary needs and restrictions, rental gear, credit card payments and the like. We do not want to burden you with the nuts and bolts of organising your vacation. Yet, when you are already dreaming of your perfect holiday and enjoying a thrill of anticipation, our accounting department, management and maintenance are operating at full stretch. We apologise for any inconvenience concerning the necessity of cancellation fees and would like to remind you once again of the importance of insurance coverage. A travel insurance will cover at least some cancellation causes like severe illness, accidents and events of death.