Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing or using How's the Spot (the “Service”), provided by How's the Spot (“we”, “us”, “our”), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (these “Terms”). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Service.

These Terms apply to all visitors, users, and others who access or use the Service. By creating an account or using the Service, you represent that you are at least 13 years of age and have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. If you use the Service on behalf of an organisation, you represent that you are authorised to bind that organisation to these Terms.

2. The Service

How's the Spot is a free online platform that evaluates and reports snorkeling conditions for coastal locations. For each spot, the Service combines weather, swell, visibility, tide, and water-temperature data to produce an advisory condition verdict — Go, Marginal, or No-Go — together with rolling forecasts so you can plan ahead. The Service also lets you:

• discover and explore snorkeling spots (“Explore”);
• view spot detail pages with access information and current conditions;
• read and share community condition reports;
• propose edits to spot information for community review; and
• browse wildlife guides, with species information and imagery sourced from iNaturalist.

The Service is provided free of charge. Our only monetisation is an external “Buy Me a Coffee” donation link. Any donation you choose to make is a separate transaction with that third-party provider and is governed by that provider’s own terms and policies, not by these Terms. Making a donation creates no obligation on us, confers no premium access or entitlement, and does not alter your rights under these Terms.

We may modify, restrict, or discontinue any feature of the Service at any time, with or without notice.

3. Safety Disclaimer

All condition verdicts (Go / Marginal / No-Go), forecasts, ratings, community reports, and other information on the Service are advisory only. They may be inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, and they are not a substitute for your own judgement or for official sources. You must assess the actual conditions yourself before entering the water, heed all official warnings and the directions of authorities (including lifeguards and beach patrols), and never rely solely on the Service.

You are responsible for your own safety and for the safety of anyone in your care, and you accept all risks associated with snorkeling, swimming, and other marine activities.

4. Your Account and Authentication

Some features of the Service require an account. You can create and access an account using either of the methods below.

4.1 Email and password

You may register with an email address and a password. Your password is protected using bcrypt hashing, and when you sign in we issue JSON Web Token (JWT) access and refresh tokens that are stored in secure, HttpOnly cookies.

4.2 Google sign-in

You may also sign in with Google using OAuth 2.0 / OpenID Connect. Signing in with Google creates or links a How's the Spot account to your Google profile. We only process the profile information permitted by the scopes you authorise (OpenID, email, and profile) for the sole purpose of logging you in, and we do not retain your Google access tokens. Your use of Google sign-in is also subject to Google’s own terms and policies.

4.3 Account security

Regardless of how you sign in, you agree to:

• provide accurate, current, and complete registration information and keep it up to date;
• keep your account credentials and devices secure and not share them;
• not allow anyone else to use your account; and
• notify us promptly of any unauthorised use of, or security breach affecting, your account.

You are responsible for all activity that occurs under your account. You must be at least 13 years old to create an account. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.

5. User-Generated Content

The Service allows you to submit and share content, including community condition reports (text, ratings, and images) and proposed edits to spot information (“User Content”).

5.1 Licence grant

By submitting User Content, you grant How's the Spot a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sub-licensable licence to host, store, use, reproduce, adapt, modify, publish, display, distribute, and otherwise deal with that content to operate, provide, and improve the Service. This licence continues for as long as the content is hosted on the Service and survives termination of your account.

5.2 Your responsibilities

By submitting User Content, you represent and warrant that:

• you own or hold the necessary rights to the content, or are otherwise permitted to submit it;
• the content is accurate to the best of your knowledge and is not misleading;
• the content is lawful and does not infringe the intellectual property, privacy, or other rights of any person; and
• you have obtained any consents required (for example, from people appearing in images).

6. Acceptable Use

You agree not to use the Service to:

• submit spam, unsolicited advertising, or promotional content;
• post content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable;
• harass, bully, or impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation;
• submit false, misleading, or deliberately inaccurate information, or attempt to manipulate condition verdicts, ratings, or other data;
• attempt to gain unauthorised access to other users’ accounts, our systems, or our data;
• scrape, crawl, or use automated scripts, bots, or tools to access or collect data from the Service without our prior written permission;
• interfere with or disrupt the Service, its servers, or the experience of other users; or
• violate any applicable law or regulation.

To help protect the Service and its community, we use automated spam detection and proof-of-work verification (CAPTCHA), and we may require verification before accepting submissions.

7. Community Guidelines

How's the Spot is built on community contributions, and we ask everyone to help keep it accurate, safe, and welcoming. Please:

• share honest condition reports based on your own observations;
• be respectful and constructive in your interactions with other members;
• report content that you believe violates these Terms or our Community Guidelines; and
• respect the natural environment, local communities, and regulations when visiting snorkeling spots.

The community includes different roles and reputation tiers — for example, general users, recognised local experts, and moderators — who help review and curate contributions. Moderation and curation decisions are made at our discretion.

8. Content Moderation and Enforcement

We may review, edit, remove, hide, or restrict any User Content, and we may suspend or restrict accounts, at our sole discretion and without notice — including content or conduct that violates these Terms, our Community Guidelines, or applicable law. We are not obliged to monitor User Content but may do so to protect the Service and its community.

Where appropriate, our approach to enforcement may progress through a warning, a temporary suspension, and, for serious or repeated violations, permanent account termination. We reserve the right to act immediately and without prior warning where we consider it necessary to protect the Service, our users, or third parties.

9. Third-Party Content and Links

The Service displays and relies on content and data from third parties, including weather and ocean data providers, mapping data from OpenStreetMap, and wildlife species information and images from iNaturalist. Content from iNaturalist and OpenStreetMap is provided under their respective licences and remains the property of their contributors. The Service may also contain links to third-party websites and services.

We do not control and are not responsible for the accuracy, availability, completeness, or content of any third-party data, service, or website. Your use of any third-party content or service is subject to that party’s own terms, licences, and policies.

10. Disclaimer of Warranties

The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all warranties, whether express or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title, and non-infringement, and any warranty that the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free.

We do not warrant that any condition verdict, forecast, rating, or other information on the Service is accurate, complete, or reliable. You use the Service entirely at your own risk.

11. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, How's the Spot, ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, OR GOODWILL, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

In no event shall our total liability to you for all claims arising out of or relating to the Service exceed one hundred Australian dollars (AUD $100), or the total amount you have paid us in the twelve (12) months preceding the claim, whichever is greater. Because the Service is provided free of charge, the AUD $100 figure will generally be the applicable cap.

Nothing in these Terms excludes, restricts, or modifies any non-excludable consumer rights or guarantees under the Australian Consumer Law or any other law that cannot be excluded, restricted, or modified by agreement. Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence, for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation, or for any other liability that cannot be excluded or limited by applicable law.

12. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless How's the Spot, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable legal fees) arising out of or in connection with:

• your access to or use of the Service;
• your User Content or any other content you submit to the Service;
• your breach of these Terms; or
• your violation of any applicable law or the rights of any third party.

13. Suspension and Termination

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service, in whole or in part, at any time — for breach of these Terms, for conduct we consider harmful to the Service or its community, or for any other reason — with or without notice. Upon termination:

• your right to use the Service will end immediately;
• your account and User Content will be handled in accordance with our Privacy Policy; and
• provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination — including those covering User Content licences, the safety and warranty disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnification, and governing law — will remain in effect.

You may close your account at any time. See our Privacy Policy for details on the account deletion process.

14. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Australia and, where relevant, the laws of the state of Western Australia, where the Service is operated, without regard to conflict-of-law principles.

Before commencing any formal proceedings, you agree to first contact us and attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute through negotiation. Any claim or dispute that cannot be resolved in this way will be brought exclusively in the competent courts of the relevant Australian jurisdiction, and you consent to the jurisdiction of those courts.

15. Changes to These Terms

We may update or replace these Terms at any time. When we do, we will revise the “Last updated” date at the top of this page and, where practicable, notify users of material changes (for example, through the Service or by email). What constitutes a material change will be determined at our sole discretion.

Your continued use of the Service after the effective date of any revised Terms constitutes your acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you should stop using the Service.

16. General Provisions

• Severability. If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.
• Entire agreement. These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and How's the Spot relating to the Service.
• No waiver. Our failure or delay in enforcing any right or provision of these Terms is not a waiver of that right or provision.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your account without our prior written consent. We may assign or transfer these Terms freely.
• Notices. Any notice to us should be sent by email to [email protected] (or [email protected] for privacy matters).

17. Contact Us

If you have any questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at: