🏪 Operator & Shop User Guide

🚀 1. Getting Started

Create your free ScubaDiverLink business listing in under 10 minutes. Your profile is permanently free — subscribe when you are ready to accept bookings and payments.

1.1 Creating Your Account

1. Go to scubadiverlink.com and click Get Started.
2. Enter your name, email address, and a strong password, then click Create Account.
3. Check your inbox for the verification email from noreply@scubadiverlink.com and click Verify Email.
4. Log in. You will be prompted to set up MFA and choose your business type on first login.

1.2 Choosing Your Business Type

After verifying your email, you are asked to select your account type. Choose one of the following:

If you operate both a shop and a charter fleet, choose Dive Operator — you can add shop features (courses, rentals) under the same account.

1.3 Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA)

MFA is mandatory for all ScubaDiverLink accounts. Choose your preferred method in Settings → Security:

📊 2. Your Dashboard

The Dashboard gives you a live snapshot of your business activity. Access it from the top navigation in your account.

• Upcoming departures — trips departing in the next 7 days with passenger counts and seat availability.
• Pending bookings — requests awaiting your review or confirmation.
• Unsigned waivers — booked divers who have not yet signed their liability waiver.
• Revenue this month — total confirmed booking value for the current calendar month.
• Quick actions — buttons to create a new trip, open the QR scanner, and view today's manifests.

🏪 3. Business Profile

Your business profile is your public-facing page on ScubaDiverLink. Divers discover you here, read your reviews, and book your trips. A complete profile significantly increases enquiries and bookings.

3.1 Basic Info & Photos

Go to Business Profile in your account to edit:

3.2 Specialties & Certifications Accepted

List the dive types your operation specialises in (reef, wreck, cave, liveaboard, technical, freediving, etc.) and the certification agencies whose cards you accept (PADI, SSI, NAUI, TDI, CMAS, etc.). Divers filter search results by these criteria — the more accurately you fill them in, the better qualified your enquiries will be.

3.3 Opening Hours & Amenities

Set your business hours for each day of the week. Mark which amenities your site offers — parking, freshwater showers, gear wash station, equipment hire, compressor on site, photo processing, VHF radio, first-aid oxygen, etc. These appear as icon badges on your profile card in search results.

🗓️ 4. Trip Management

Create, schedule, and manage all your trip listings from Manage Trips in your account. Standard accounts can have up to 5 active listings (plus 10 drafts); Premium accounts have unlimited active and draft listings.

4.1 Creating a Trip

1. Go to Manage Trips → + New Trip.
2. Enter the trip name, description, and select the trip type (day trip, liveaboard, reef, wreck, course, technical, snorkel, etc.).
3. Set the departure date and time, meeting point, and expected return time.
4. Set the total seat capacity and the minimum certification level required.
5. Set the price per seat. Choose whether a deposit or full payment is required at booking (see Section 8.2).
6. Add any gear requirements, briefing notes, or what's included in the price.
7. Click Publish to make the trip live instantly, or Save Draft to review later.

4.2 Seat Map

Operator Each trip can have a visual seat map based on your vessel layout. To set up or edit the seat map:

1. Open a trip and click Edit Seat Map.
2. Select the vessel from your fleet (see Section 5). The map pre-fills with that vessel's layout.
3. Drag and reposition seats if needed. Mark any seats as disabled (out of service).
4. Save the map. Booked divers will be shown the seat map when they view their booking — the operator assigns specific seats from the manifest view.

4.3 Publishing, Editing & Cancelling

A published trip is visible immediately in search results. You can edit most fields (description, price, notes) at any time without affecting existing bookings. Changing the date or departure time on a trip with existing bookings will trigger an automatic notification to all affected divers.

⛵ 5. Fleet & Boats Operator

Manage your vessel inventory under Fleet in your account. Standard accounts support up to 2 vessels; Premium supports up to 20.

1. Go to Fleet → + Add Vessel.
2. Enter the vessel name, type (rigid inflatable, catamaran, motor yacht, liveaboard, etc.), and year.
3. Set the total passenger capacity and crew count.
4. Upload up to 8 photos of the vessel.
5. Build the seat/berth layout — drag-and-drop grid editor, choose rows and columns to match your actual deck plan.
6. Save. The vessel is now available to assign to trip listings.

📋 6. Booking Management

All booking activity is managed from Bookings in your account.

6.1 Viewing & Managing Bookings

The Bookings table lists every reservation across all your trips. Filter by trip, date, or booking status:

Click any booking row to view the diver's profile (name, certification, dive experience, emergency contact, DAN number), payment status, waiver status, and QR code.

6.2 Trip Manifest

The manifest is your pre-departure briefing view. Open it from Bookings → Trip Manifest or from the trip card on your Dashboard.

• Shows every diver confirmed for a specific departure with their name, certification level, dives logged, and emergency contact.
• Colour-coded check-in status — grey (not arrived), green (checked in).
• Shows how many seats are confirmed, how many remain available, and total revenue for the departure.
• Print the manifest before departure as a physical backup.

6.3 Waivers Tab

The Waivers tab in Bookings shows every signed waiver across all your trips — pulled directly from the database in real time. For each signed waiver you can see the diver's name, email, booking reference, the date and time they signed, and whether they signed digitally (draw-pad signature) or via a paper record.

• Use the search bar at the top to find a specific diver by name or booking reference.
• Waivers are grouped by trip, ordered by departure date (soonest first).
• Each booking row in the main Bookings table also shows a waiver status badge — Signed, Unsigned, or Not Required.

Click any booking row to view the complete signed waiver record — including the diver's drawn signature image, their full name, and the exact timestamp. Waiver records are stored permanently and cannot be altered after signing.

📱 7. QR Check-In Scanner

The ScubaDiverLink QR scanner lets you check divers in at the dock in seconds — no paper, no lists, no internet required.

7.1 Opening the Scanner

1. Open a browser on any phone or tablet and go to scubadiverlink.com/app/scan.html, or navigate to Check-In Scanner from your account dashboard.
2. Tap Open Camera to Scan. Allow camera access when prompted (one-time permission).
3. Point the camera at the diver's QR boarding pass on their phone or a printed copy.
4. The booking details appear on screen instantly — name, trip, number of guests, certification, and waiver status.
5. Tap Confirm Check-In to mark the diver as boarded. The manifest updates in real time.

💳 8. Payments & Payouts

8.1 Stripe Connect Setup

ScubaDiverLink uses Stripe to process all payments. Funds flow directly to your bank account — we do not hold them. To enable payouts:

1. Go to Business Settings → Payments → Connect with Stripe.
2. You will be redirected to Stripe's onboarding. Enter your business details, bank account, and verify your identity.
3. Once Stripe approves your account (usually within minutes), payouts are enabled automatically.
4. Stripe sends payouts to your bank within 2 business days of each confirmed booking.

8.2 Deposit Policy

You control whether divers pay a deposit or the full amount at booking. Go to Business Settings → Booking Policy:

• Full payment at booking — diver pays 100% at the time of booking. Simplest option.
• Deposit + balance — set the deposit percentage (e.g. 30%) and the number of days before departure that the balance is due. The platform enforces the balance deadline automatically, sending reminders and a payment link to the diver.

8.3 Refund Policy

Set your cancellation and refund rules under Business Settings → Refund Policy. Choose a preset or build a custom policy:

Refunds are processed automatically by Stripe to the diver's original payment method. You receive a notification for every cancellation and refund event.

📝 9. Waivers & Liability

Digital liability waivers are built into every booking. Manage all waiver settings under Business Settings → Waivers.

9.1 Enabling & Customising Your Waiver

Go to Business Settings → Waivers to configure your liability waiver:

• Require waiver toggle — enable or disable the waiver requirement for all bookings. On by default for Standard and Premium accounts.
• Liability Waiver Text — edit the full text of your waiver directly in the text editor. The platform provides a comprehensive 5-point default template covering: release of liability, medical fitness declaration, certification confirmation, equipment responsibility, and emergency contact confirmation. Edit it to match your specific operation — add your business name, your local jurisdiction, any specific hazard disclosures (e.g. shark dives, strong currents, cave diving).
• Use Default Template button — resets the waiver text to the ScubaDiverLink standard template if you want to start fresh.
• Save Waiver Text — saves your customised waiver. All future bookings will display your updated text.

9.2 How Divers Sign Waivers

After a booking is confirmed, the diver is shown a Sign Waiver prompt on their trip detail page (My Trips → [booking]). They must:

1. Read through the full waiver text in the scrollable panel.
2. Draw their signature on the digital draw-pad using their mouse or finger on a touchscreen.
3. Enter their full legal name in the name field.
4. Tick the acknowledgement checkbox to confirm they have read and understood the waiver.
5. Click Sign Waiver.

Once signed, the following are stored permanently against the booking: the waiver text at the time of signing (a snapshot — so changes you make later don't affect prior records), the diver's drawn signature as an image, their full name, the exact timestamp, and their IP address and device details. You can view all of this from Bookings → Waivers tab or by clicking into any individual booking.

9.3 Unsigned Waiver Reminders

The platform automatically sends reminder emails to any diver who has a confirmed booking but hasn't signed a waiver. You can see unsigned waiver counts on your Dashboard (live count for upcoming trips) and in the Waivers tab of Bookings. Unsigned divers appear in the main Bookings table with a red Unsigned badge so you can follow up directly before departure.

🎓 10. Courses & Gear Rentals Shop

10.1 Course Listings

Go to Manage Trips → + New Course. Fill in the course details:

10.2 Gear Rental Catalogue & Booking Flow

List your rental inventory under Equipment in your account. For each item (BCDs, regulators, wetsuits, fins, masks, computers, tanks, torches, etc.) enter the daily rate, available sizes, condition rating, and any deposit required.

Rental Booking Flow

When a diver requests gear, here is the full flow:

1. Diver submits a rental request (gear items, dates, linked trip). You receive a notification.
2. Review the request under Bookings → Rental Bookings. Check availability for those dates.
3. Click Confirm to accept — this generates a Stripe checkout link and sends it to the diver by email and notification.
4. The diver completes payment via the link. Their rental status updates to Paid and appears in their My Rentals view.
5. Or click Decline to reject the request (e.g. gear not available).

Gear can be linked by the diver to a specific trip booking. In your rental management view, equipment is grouped by trip date so you can see everything needed for each departure at a glance.

👥 11. Staff Management

Add team members to your account so they can manage trips, check in divers, and view bookings on your behalf. Go to Business Settings → Staff.

1. Click Invite Staff Member.
2. Enter their name, email address, and any certifications they hold (e.g. PADI Instructor, Rescue Diver).
3. Click Send Invite. An email is sent to the staff member.
4. They must create (or log in to) a ScubaDiverLink account, then accept the invitation from their notification panel.
5. Once accepted, they can switch into your business context from their account menu.

🛒 12. Store

List products for sale directly on your profile page. Customers see your products and are linked to complete purchase through your own website or booking process. Go to Store in your account.

• Standard accounts: up to 5 product listings.
• Premium accounts: up to 100 product listings.

For each product, enter a name, description, photo, price, and an optional external link (e.g. to your Shopify or WooCommerce store). Products appear on your public profile page as a browsable catalogue.

📣 13. Broadcasts Standard+

Send announcements, last-minute offers, and updates directly to your diver audience. Go to Broadcasts in your account. Email and SMS campaigns are available on Standard and Premium plans. WhatsApp campaigns require a Premium subscription.

1. Click + New Broadcast.
2. Choose the channel: Email or SMS (Standard+), or WhatsApp (Premium only).
3. Select the audience: all past divers, divers who booked a specific trip type, or specific individuals.
4. Write your message. Email broadcasts support basic HTML formatting.
5. Send immediately or schedule for a future date and time.

🌊 14. Weather Alerts

Set automatic alerts for unsafe conditions at your dive locations. When conditions breach your thresholds, you receive a notification and your booked divers are automatically warned.

1. Go to Business Settings → Weather Alerts.
2. Enter your primary dive location (coordinates or address).
3. Set your wave height threshold (metres) and wind speed threshold (knots).
4. Toggle Auto-notify divers to send automatic warnings to booked divers when conditions are forecast to breach your limits.
5. Optionally enter your own OpenWeather and Windy API keys for real-time localised data beyond the free tier.

The live Windy weather map is also embedded in your Dashboard and Manifest pages for at-a-glance forecasting.

⚙️ 15. Subscription & Plans

Your profile is free forever. Subscribe to unlock bookings, payments, and operational features.

Operator Plans

Shop Plans

Managing Your Subscription

Go to Settings → Subscription to upgrade, downgrade, or cancel. Your plan is billed annually. A 14-day free trial is included on Standard and Premium — no credit card required to start the trial.

🛠️ 16. Tips & Troubleshooting

16.1 Common Issues

16.2 Getting Help

Visit the Support Centre or contact us directly.