1. Acceptance of Contractual Terms
By accessing, browsing, reading, or referencing any webpage, chart, article, or resource published on Sedef.tours ("the Website," "the Platform," or "we"), you ("the User" or "Visitor") acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound unconditionally by these Terms of Service ("Terms") in conjunction with our Privacy Policy.
If you do not consent to all provisions set forth within these Terms, your sole and exclusive recourse is to terminate your browsing session and cease utilization of this Website immediately. We reserve the statutory right to modify, amend, or update these Terms at any time without prior individual notice. Continued utilization of the Platform following the publication of revised terms constitutes binding acceptance thereof.
2. Editorial Scope & Maritime Advisory Disclaimer
The content provided on Sedef.tours is published strictly for informational, educational, and cultural travel planning purposes:
- Informational Character: While Captain Cihan Aksu and our editorial team make every conscientious effort to verify ferry timetables, ticket tariffs, restaurant operating windows, and anchoring depths, all maritime and logistical information is subject to change without notice due to municipal decisions, seasonal schedule revisions, or unforeseen mechanical events.
- Maritime Safety & Prudent Seamanship: Navigation at sea inherently entails risk. Geographical coordinates, anchoring soundings, and weather recommendations published on this site do not replace official navigational charts issued by the Turkish Navy Department of Navigation, Hydrography and Oceanography (SHOD), nor do they supersede the command judgment of a certified vessel master. Visiting skippers remain solely responsible for the safety, seaworthiness, berthing, and navigation of their vessels under prevailing wind, sea, and visibility conditions.
- Limitation of Liability: Under no circumstances shall the authors, editors, or operators of Sedef.tours be held liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, or punitive damages resulting from your travel decisions, missed ferry departures, vessel groundings, weather delays, or commercial interactions with third-party service providers.
3. Third-Party Affiliate Bookings & Ticketing Relationships
Sedef.tours provides hyperlinks to verified third-party travel reservation platforms, including GetYourGuide, Viator, and regional booking portals:
- Independent Merchant Status: Sedef.tours is not a licensed travel agency, tour operator, or maritime common carrier. We do not sell tickets directly, manage booking transactions, process credit cards, or operate customer support for booked tours.
- Contractual Privity: Any booking, ticket purchase, cancellation, or refund request is executed solely between you and the respective third-party vendor subject to their distinct terms of purchase. Any dispute regarding tour execution, guide quality, or weather cancellations must be directed to the customer service department of the ticketing merchant.
- Affiliate Disclosure: In compliance with international commercial transparency guidelines (including the US Federal Trade Commission - FTC), we disclose that we receive modest referral commissions from qualifying purchases initiated through our affiliate links at zero additional expense to the traveler.
4. Intellectual Property & Copyright Protection
All original textual compositions, research narratives, structural layouts, graphic styling, custom algorithms, and editorial compilations published on Sedef.tours represent the intellectual property of the Publication and its contributors, protected under the Turkish Law on Intellectual and Artistic Works (Law No. 5846) and international copyright treaties (including the Berne Convention):
- Prohibition of Scraping & Reproduction: Systematic web scraping, automated extraction, mass downloading, or verbatim reproduction of our articles for use on other commercial websites or to train machine learning models without express prior written authorization is strictly prohibited.
- Permitted Fair Use: Brief excerpts (not exceeding 100 words) may be quoted in editorial reviews, academic studies, or travel blogs provided clear, clickable attribution linking directly to the source page on Sedef.tours is included.
- Visual Media Rights: Photographic assets are documented with individual author credits and license terms on our dedicated Photo Attributions page.
5. Prohibited Conduct & Network Integrity
Users agree not to engage in any conduct that threatens the security, performance, or integrity of the Website, including but not limited to:
- Attempting to bypass edge security firewalls, probe server vulnerabilities, or launch denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.
- Injecting malicious scripts, viruses, or unsolicited commercial communications through our contact email portals.
- Misrepresenting identity or falsely claiming affiliation with Captain Cihan Aksu or Sedef.tours.
6. Governing Law & Dispute Resolution
These Terms of Service and any non-contractual obligations arising out of or in connection with your use of the Website shall be governed by, construed, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the Republic of Turkey, without regard to its conflict of law principles.
Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the breach, termination, or invalidity thereof shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Central Courts and Enforcement Directorates of Istanbul (Çağlayan), Turkey.
7. Inquiries Regarding Terms of Service
For questions, legal notices, or syndication inquiries regarding these Terms, please contact our legal desk:
- Legal Affairs Desk:
legal@sedef.tours - Editorial Address: Sedef.tours Editorial Office, Adalar, Istanbul, Turkey
- Curator: Captain Cihan Aksu (Author Profile)