1. Who you are booking with

Follow the Tide, operating in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Every enquiry, quote and booking goes through [email protected]. There is no online booking on this site and no form collects your details.

2. What you are buying

A private departure for your own group. When you book a date, that date closes to everyone else. You are not joining a group of strangers, and nobody is added to your trip without your say-so.

Because the whole departure is yours, a minimum number of places is charged whatever the size of your group: five on the cycling trips, four on the surf week. A smaller group does not reduce the price below that minimum.

3. Prices

Every price shown on this website is the South African resident price, per person, in South African rand. Visitors from abroad are quoted separately, so please contact us before assuming a price applies to you.

What a price covers, and the few things it does not, are listed in full on each trip. The short version: travel from Durban and back, every night you sleep, every meal, every drink and your guides are included. A bike or a surfboard, getting yourself as far as Durban, and your own travel insurance are not.

A quote we send you is held for the period stated in it. Prices on this site may change at any time before you book, but never after we have confirmed your booking.

4. Paying, changing and cancelling

The deposit, the balance, the dates they are due and what happens if either side cancels are set out in full under Dates and booking, and they form part of these terms.

Swapping one rider for another is free at any time, as long as you tell us before departure so we can plan food and gear.

5. Where you sleep

Every place you stay is booked with somebody else: the lodges and the campsites are not ours. We use the same places whenever they are open, and they are shown on each trip. If one is already full on your date we will book somewhere nearby of the same standard and tell you before you pay anything.

6. The tide, the weather and the route

These trips exist because the spring tide opens the beach. That is also the thing we do not control.

Your guides decide each day where you ride, when you start and how far you go, based on the tide, the swell, the wind and the condition of the group. They may shorten a day, turn a leg into an out-and-back, or move the order of the trip around. On Chase the Tide in particular, a strong headwind may mean the final leg becomes an out-and-back rather than a push through to Cape Vidal.

These decisions are about safety and they are not negotiable in the moment. They do not entitle you to a refund, because the trip still runs.

7. Fitness and honesty about ability

Riding on sand is harder than riding on a road, and the days are long. Chase the Tide in particular is for strong, experienced cyclists, and we say so plainly on its page.

When you book, you confirm that everyone in your group is fit enough for the trip they have chosen, and that you have told us about any medical condition, injury or medication that we or your guides may need to know about. We will keep anything you tell us in confidence. If somebody arrives who is clearly not able to do the trip safely, your guides may ask them to sit a leg out, and no refund is due.

8. Your own equipment

You bring your own mountain bike, or rent one of ours. You bring your own surfboard. Your equipment is your responsibility: have it serviced before you come, and insure it if its loss would matter to you. We clean bikes daily on the cycling trips, which is not the same as maintaining or repairing them.

9. The park, and how we behave in it

The whole route is inside the iSimangaliso Wetland Park, a World Heritage Site. Every trip runs on an activity permit issued by the Park Authority, and we abide by the park's rules without exception. Those rules apply to you as well as to us while you are with us. Anyone who will not follow them, or whose behaviour puts other people at risk, may be removed from the trip at their own cost and with no refund.

10. Risk

Cycling and surfing on a remote coastline carry real risk. You are a long way from a road, a long way from a hospital, and often out of phone signal. There is wildlife. The sea is unpatrolled.

We plan carefully, we guide you throughout, and we carry what is needed to deal with the ordinary things that go wrong. We cannot remove the risk, and we do not pretend to. You take part knowing that, and you are asked to sign a separate waiver before departure which sets this out in full.

11. Insurance

Your own travel and medical insurance is not included and is strongly recommended, including cover for the activity you are coming to do. Check that your policy covers cycling or surfing, and covers evacuation from a remote area.

12. Photographs

We take photographs and video on our trips, and we may use them to show people what the trips are like. Tell us at any point, before or during the trip, if you would rather not appear, and we will leave you out. You do not need to give a reason.

13. If something goes wrong

Tell your guides at the time, while something can still be done about it. If that does not resolve it, email [email protected] and we will reply. We would far rather hear it from you than read it somewhere else.

14. The law that applies

These terms are governed by the law of the Republic of South Africa. Nothing in them limits or takes away your rights under the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008 or any other law that cannot be contracted out of.