Booking ORCA dive trips: destinations, service fees, cancellation and cashback
ORCA Tauchreisen, run by Explorer Travel GmbH, books dive holidays: dive hotels, liveaboard safaris, dive bases, land programmes and group trips, since 2011. It acts as an agent, so there is no parcel and no fixed price list. You send an enquiry, receive a tailored offer and book through the team. What matters instead of shipping is where you can go, which service fees apply, how cancellation and insurance work, and how to reach the advisers. The website and the advice are in German.
Destinations and trip types
The search on orca.de offers these destinations: Egypt, Australia, the Azores, the Bahamas, Cocos, the Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Galapagos, Indonesia, Jordan, Cape Verde, Kenya, Madeira, Malaysia, the Maldives, Malta and Gozo, Mauritius, Mexico, Micronesia, Mozambique, the Dutch Antilles, Oman, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sardinia, the Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Tobago and Cyprus. Trip types are dive hotels, dive bases, liveaboard safaris, land programmes and events or special trips. If a hotel or ship you want is not in the programme, ask, because the team says it can check and make an individual offer.
Booking and service fees
There is no online basket for the whole trip: you use the travel enquiry form or contact the team, and the offer is built from modules such as a flight, a hotel, a safari boat or a land tour. Explorer Travel lists service fees on a separate page. For flights these are minimum fees per ticket: a European flight carries at least €45, an intercontinental flight at least €60, and rebooking an issued ticket costs at least €75. Cancelling an issued flight ticket is listed at a minimum of €150, and arranging a visa starts at €39 per person. Because the page calls these minimum fees, ask for the exact total in your offer.
| Topic | What the site says |
|---|---|
| Flight service fee, Europe | Minimum €45 per ticket |
| Flight service fee, intercontinental | Minimum €60 per ticket |
| Rebooking an issued ticket | Minimum €75 per ticket |
| Cancellation costs | According to the AGB and your invoice |
| Contact | +49 8031 18850, also WhatsApp |
Cancellation, insurance and payments
Cancellation costs depend on the terms (AGB) and above all on when you cancel. Hotels, airlines and safari boats can have high cancellation costs, particularly on special prices or in high season, and the invoice lists any special fees. Travel protection is not included automatically; ORCA strongly recommends it and offers a package from ERV. Before paying, the terms say that payments on a package holiday may only be requested once a customer money protection contract exists and you have received the insurance certificate (Sicherungsschein).
Practical points before you book
The names of all travellers must match their passports, as flight tickets booked with a wrong name can lead to very high costs. Depending on destination and nationality you may need a visa, which some countries issue on arrival, and the team tells you what applies to your trip. Dive luggage often counts as part of the free allowance on scheduled flights, extra luggage can usually be added for a fee, and most charter airlines accept dive gear as special luggage. Rail and Fly is often available free or cheaply, but it usually has to be booked together with the flight.
Cashback at ORCA
Open the ORCA Tauchreisen page at daily cashback, where the current rate (up to $2.8) is listed with the offers we check every day. Press the shop button and then send your enquiry or book as usual. In your free account the cashback shows as open first and becomes confirmed once the booking has been reported. A cancelled trip reduces it again.
Tips
- Start from our page, then send the enquiry in the same visit.
- Ask for the all-in price including service fees before you accept an offer.
- Check the cancellation rules of the hotel or ship, not only of the flight.
- A code from another site can replace the cashback click.
As of October 2026.