Greatadventures.com.au

I have been back for two weeks from our Great Adventures Green Island trip but am still feeling so disappointed in the company's behaviour. We only went on the Green Island tour to do the Seawalker Helmet activity. We booked a month out so as not to miss out. We were not interested in Green Island itself after reading reviews elsewhere which I found to be accurate. When we booked there was no clear information on what medical conditions may stop you participating in the Seawalker Helmet activity nor any recommendation to seek a doctors advice or even have them sign off on participation. The website describes the Seawalker Helmet activity as "Easy
It's fun and easy! Ideal for non-swimmers and no experience is necessary."

On the day we checked in, were not asked any medical questions and told someone would come and see us on the boat to book a time and fill in paperwork.

On the boat we filled out the paperwork including medical questions. We were told that my partners diabetes immediately excluded her from participating in the activity. I was then told that my Fibromyalgia would need to be approved by a doctor and that could not happen now. As I mentioned before there is nothing on the website which states what is automatically excluded or when a medical clearance should be sought. Given you are already on the boat travelling to the island when you are told this for the first time you are now locked into the Green Island trip whether you want it or not. In our case our day had been put aside for the Seawalker activity and we had been looking forward to it for sometime. If we had of been asked questions after booking or prior to boarding we could have made an informed decision about whether to even get on the boat. Once again though there was no clear information on the website to read prior to booking to ensure you were suitable to participate which I think given the description of an easy activity should be readily highlighted.

Things then got however worse. The supervisor on the boat came and told us he had spoken to the person who gave us our tickets and they said we had told them we had no medical conditions. This was absolutely untrue. We were never asked anything like that. This just ruined the day even more by being called liars. After several days after making a complaint we got an email stating they could have made a mistake and we may not have lied as we were told we had. The first email complaint was ignored. In the company response it still did not say people were advised of exclusions prior to boarding. We were referred to terms on the website which still did not say conditions such as diabetes are automatically excluded.

Another issue is that when you are discussing medical issues on board it is not in a private manner as the boats are at capacity and strangers are sitting with you and able to hear the conversation. All of this could be solved with information being provided at the time of booking. We asked the supervisor on board why automatic exclusions such as diabetes are not listed and he advised there were hundreds which made it too hard to list them all.

Great Adventures did refund the Seawalker cost but despite an offer on board to discuss contacting the office about refunding the full amount this never occurred. To be deemed liars and stuck on a trip we did not want ruined what was supposed to be an amazing day.

We did do the glass bottom boat tour while on the island which was very well run.

I don't want anyone else to be in the same situation as us if they have any type of medical condition.