Last updated: November 2026

Terms and Conditions

By accessing and using theoceanguide.com ("the Website"), you accept these Terms and Conditions and agree to comply with them. If you do not agree with any of them, you must not use the Website.

1. Legal Information and Ownership

In accordance with Spanish Law 34/2002 of 11 July on Information Society Services and Electronic Commerce (LSSI-CE), we inform you that theoceanguide.com is an independent project owned by Francisco Hernández Vich and Bruno Pardo Subira, with an address for notices at Sa Rectoria, 15, 07100 Sóller (Balearic Islands, Spain). Contact email: support@theoceanguide.com. Full identification details, such as tax ID numbers (NIF), are available to users and the competent authorities upon formal request to that email address.

2. Purpose of the Website

The Ocean Guide is an outreach platform about marine life and marine areas that also lets its members keep their own dive logbook. Its content is provided solely for informational, educational and entertainment purposes.

We reserve the right to change, suspend or discontinue the Website, or any part of it, at any time and without notice, and we do not guarantee that it will run without interruptions or errors. We may also update these Terms: the date at the top shows the current version, and by continuing to use the Website after a change you accept the new version. For paid services, section 7 also applies.

3. No Warranty and Limitation of Liability

  • Accuracy of Information: The marine environment is dynamic and ever-changing. Although we strive to provide up-to-date data, we do not guarantee that information on sightings, frequencies or conditions at destinations is accurate, complete or current.
  • Artificial Intelligence Identification: Automatic identifications from Ask AI are indicative only and may contain errors. They must never be used as a safety criterion for approaching, touching or handling a marine animal.
  • Assumption of Risk in Water Activities: If you plan a dive, a boat trip or a swim based on the content of the Website, you do so at your own risk. Visibility, temperature, current and season data are indicative averages, not live conditions. This content does not replace formal training, diving certification, official warnings or the guidance of local dive centres. Always check conditions on site, dive within your limits, and follow the rules for protected areas and wildlife.
  • Limitation of Liability: To the extent permitted by applicable law, we will not be liable for any damage, loss, accident or injury arising from the use or interpretation of the Website's content. Nothing in these Terms limits any liability that cannot be limited by law.

4. Intellectual and Industrial Property

All original content on the Website (text, data structures, logos and design) is our property unless stated otherwise. Photographs belong to their respective authors.

Reproducing, distributing or transforming this content without prior written permission is prohibited. You may quote short extracts and link to our pages, provided you clearly credit the source with a direct link.

The Website's data on species, destinations and sightings forms a database whose collection, verification and presentation required a substantial investment on our part, and which is protected by the sui generis database right (Articles 133 et seq. of the consolidated text of the Spanish Intellectual Property Law).

Unless we have given prior written permission, you may not:

  • Extract or re-use all or a substantial part of the Website's content, or repeatedly or systematically extract insubstantial parts of it, whether manually or by automated means.
  • Access the Website or its API, or copy its content, using robots, spiders, scrapers or other automated tools, or circumvent rate limits, bot protection or any other technical measure that controls access.
  • Collect personal data about other members, such as their profiles, their dives or their dive buddies.
  • Use the Website's content to train, fine-tune or improve artificial intelligence models, or to build datasets, products or services that compete with the Website.

In accordance with Article 4(3) of Directive (EU) 2019/790 and Article 67 of Spanish Royal Decree-law 24/2021, we expressly reserve the use of the Website's content for text and data mining, including the training of artificial intelligence models. This reservation does not affect uses that the law always permits, such as quotation or text and data mining for scientific research by research organisations.

We do allow search engines to crawl and index the Website in line with our robots.txt file, solely to display links and short snippets that point to our pages. If you would like to re-use our data for an educational, scientific or conservation project, or need another kind of access, write to us at support@theoceanguide.com and we will consider it. Please note that we cannot authorise the use of photographs, which belong to their authors.

5. Third-Party Links

The Website may contain links to third-party sites, such as photographers' pages, map providers or social networks. We have no control over them and accept no responsibility for their content, privacy policies or availability. If you find a link to unlawful content, you can report it to support@theoceanguide.com so that we can review it and remove it if appropriate.

6. Permitted Use and Security

You agree to use the Website appropriately and, in particular, not to:

  • Access private areas, other members' accounts or the admin panel without authorisation.
  • Disable, overload or interfere with the operation or security of the Website.
  • Use the Website for unlawful purposes or in bad faith.

We reserve the right to restrict or block access for anyone who breaches these terms.

Content You Share

You are responsible for what you post: your profile, dives, photos and comments. We have zero tolerance for objectionable content or abusive members. You must not post content that:

  • Harasses, bullies, threatens or impersonates anyone.
  • Is hateful, sexually explicit, violent or encourages self-harm or dangerous behaviour.
  • Is spam, a scam, or infringes someone else's rights, such as a photo you don't own.
  • Is unlawful, or reveals someone else's personal information without their consent.

Anyone can report a profile, dive or comment from its menu, and block a member so that neither of you sees the other. We review reports within 24 hours and may remove content and suspend or close the account of anyone who breaks these rules, without notice.

7. PRO Subscription and Week Pass

PRO is a paid digital service that extends the Website's features. You can buy it as a monthly or yearly subscription, or as a 7-day week pass. What each plan includes, its usage limits and its current price are shown on the Subscription page. Prices include applicable taxes.

  • Payment: You pay on the secure payment page of a third-party provider, which handles the charge, taxes and receipt. That page may ask you to accept its own terms, and that provider's name may appear on your receipt and bank statement.
  • Purchases in the Apps: If you buy PRO in the iPhone or Android app, Apple or Google charges you and their terms apply to the payment. Renewal, cancellation and refunds are handled in your Apple Account or Google Play settings and follow their policies. Deleting your account does not cancel an App Store subscription: cancel it there first.
  • Automatic Renewal: Your subscription renews and is charged automatically at the start of each period until you cancel it. The week pass is paid once and does not renew.
  • Cancellation: You can cancel your subscription at any time under "Manage billing" on the Subscription page. You keep PRO until the end of the period you've paid for and won't be charged again. Cancelling does not entitle you to a refund of the current period, without prejudice to your right of withdrawal.
  • Right of Withdrawal: If you are a consumer, you have 14 calendar days from purchase to withdraw without giving a reason. To do so, write to support@theoceanguide.com from your account's email address before that period ends. We will refund what you paid to the same payment method within 14 days, deducting, where the law allows, a proportionate amount for the service you have already received. Once the service has been fully provided, you lose this right in the cases set out by law.
  • Failed Payments: If a charge fails, it will be retried and you keep PRO in the meantime. If the retries run out, your subscription ends.
  • Price Changes: A price change never affects a period you've already paid for. If it will affect your subscription, we will email you in advance so that you can cancel before it applies.
  • Changes to the Paid Service: If we are going to remove or significantly reduce a PRO feature, change these Terms to subscribers' detriment or close the service, we will email you with reasonable notice, unless an urgent security or legal reason prevents it. You can cancel before the change applies, and we will refund the proportionate part of the period you've paid for and won't get to use.
  • Free Month for Invites: If 3 people create an account through your invite link and log a dive, you earn one month of PRO, once per account. It's free, doesn't renew, has no cash value and can't be transferred. You can't start it while you have a subscription, and nothing is paid back for what's left of it if you subscribe or delete your account. Accounts created only to earn it don't count, and we may withhold or end the free month if that happens.
  • End of PRO and Account Deletion: When PRO ends, your dives, photos and wallet cards are kept, but the free plan's limits apply. If you delete your account, your subscription is cancelled immediately and, except as provided for withdrawal, the remaining time is not refunded.

8. Data Protection

Personal data collected through the Website is processed as set out in our Privacy Policy, which also explains how we use cookies.

9. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by Spanish law. Any dispute will be submitted to the competent courts of Spain, without prejudice to any rights you have as a consumer under the law of your country of residence that cannot be excluded by contract. If any clause is found to be invalid, the rest will remain in effect. These Terms are available in Spanish and English; if the two versions differ, the Spanish version prevails.