FareHarbor's commission: what it really costs a dive centre

How the FareHarbor model works

FareHarbor (owned by Booking Holdings since 2018) charges the operator no monthly fee: it charges a percentage of every online booking processed through its system. That percentage is billed as a "booking fee" to the end customer on top of the price you set, and in practice it works like a commission: either you absorb it by cutting your margin, or you price your product above the centre next door.

The exact percentage depends on the agreement, the country and the volume; the usual industry reference is around 6%, with cases above that. On top of that comes the payment gateway (separate) and, if you join its affiliate and distribution network, additional commissions per channel.

The maths nobody shows you in the demo

The mental trap of "no fixed fee" is that the cost grows with your success. With a flat fee you pay the same whether you turn over €80,000 or €400,000; with commission, every good season costs you more. Numbers for a typical dive centre in Spain, depending on how many bookings come in online:

Estimate based on the 6% reference. The actual percentage depends on your agreement with FareHarbor; ask for it in writing and build this same table with your figure.

A mid-sized coastal centre with €200,000 in turnover and 40% online pays about €4,800 a year in commission alone — and still has no optimised website of its own, no bot answering enquiries and no records of its divers. A large tourist centre with half a million online can exceed €30,000/year: one person's salary.

What FareHarbor does give you (let's be fair)

The booking software is solid, the support has a good reputation and its real strength is the distribution network: integrations with OTAs and affiliates that can bring you demand you don't have today. If your centre is starting from scratch in a very touristy area and has no brand of its own, that initial flow has value.

The question is how long you want to pay 6% for customers who, from the second dive on, are already yours: they know you, follow you on Instagram and message you on WhatsApp. With the commission model, you pay for that second booking too.

When it pays off, and when not

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  It can pay off if you depend on passing trade (very touristy area, small customer base of your own) and the affiliate channel brings you volume you couldn't get alone.
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  It doesn't pay off if most of your bookings come from members, repeat divers or people who already search for you by name: you're paying commission on customers who were already yours.
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  It never pays off as a substitute for your digital presence: FareHarbor doesn't give you a well-ranked website of your own, a CRM with your divers' records or 24/7 service. And your data and your SEO stay on its platform, not yours.

The alternative: a flat fee and 0% commission

The opposite model is to pay for software as what it is — a tool — and keep 100% of every booking. That's how DEKKO works: €199/month all included (optimised website, 24/7 booking, WhatsApp bot, diver record and centre app), 0% commission for the centre and the diver, with no setup fee and first month free, no lock-in and your system live in 48 hours. With the table above in front of you, the maths is simple: a fixed €2,388/year versus a 6% that grows with your turnover.

You'll find the full analysis, platform by platform, in the commission-free FareHarbor alternative and the 2026 dive centre software comparison. And if you want to see what a booking engine of your own looks like on your website, here is DEKKO's online booking system.