Terms of Service

The BukNau platform (buknau.com and related services, “BukNau”, “we”, “us”) is operated by BukNau Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong. These terms are an agreement between you and BukNau Holdings Limited. By creating an account, making a booking request, or otherwise using BukNau, you accept these terms.

BukNau is an online marketplace that promotes independent tourism businesses (“operators”) in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands and facilitates booking requests, messaging, and payment instructions between you and them.

BukNau is not a travel agent, tour operator, accommodation provider, or transport company. When you book through BukNau, your contract for the service — the stay, hire, tour, charter, or transfer — is formed directly between you and the operator. We are not a party to that contract, we do not act as agent for either side, and we do not provide, own, manage, inspect, or control any listed service.

Listings, photos, prices, and descriptions are supplied by operators. We run basic onboarding checks (such as business details, bank details, and taxpayer identification) but a listing on BukNau — including any “verified” indicator — is not an endorsement, inspection, or guarantee of any operator or service.

You are responsible for satisfying yourself before booking and before travelling: research the operator, read what other travellers say, confirm anything important directly with the operator, and check current travel, safety, health, weather, and security conditions for your destination. Travel in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands can involve remote areas, limited infrastructure, and changing conditions — we strongly recommend appropriate travel insurance.

You must be at least 18 to hold an account and book. Keep your details accurate and your sign-in method secure — bookings and messages sent from your account are treated as yours. Some services require documents before an operator can confirm (for example a driver’s licence for self-drive hire); providing false documents is grounds for cancellation and account suspension.

A booking request or instant booking becomes a confirmed booking only when the operator confirms it (for prepay bookings, by recording your payment). Until then, no contract for the service exists. Details of your booking — dates, price, what’s included, the payment window, and the operator’s cancellation policy — are shown on your booking page, and it is your responsibility to review them before you pay.

Payments are made by bank transfer directly to the operator’s account shown on your booking page. BukNau never receives or holds your money and is not a payment processor. Only ever pay to the bank details shown on your BukNau booking page — never to details sent by email or chat — and keep your transfer receipt. If an operator does not confirm your payment, our support team can help you follow up, but recovery of money paid to an operator is a matter between you and that operator.

Cancellation terms are set by each operator. Where an operator has published a cancellation policy, you’ll find it on their BukNau page. Refunds you are owed are paid by the operator directly to your bank account. Unpaid bookings can be cancelled from your booking page at any time before payment. BukNau does not pay refunds on operators’ behalf.

We work hard to keep BukNau accurate, secure, and available, but the platform is provided “as is”. To the fullest extent permitted by law, BukNau Holdings Limited is not liable for: the acts, omissions, quality, safety, legality, or availability of any operator or service booked through the platform; injury, loss, damage, delay, or expense arising from a service or from travel generally; operator cancellations or failures to honour bookings; or errors in listing content supplied by operators.

Where liability cannot lawfully be excluded, our total liability to you in connection with the platform is limited to the greater of the fees you have paid to BukNau Holdings Limited (not amounts paid to operators) in the 12 months before the claim, or PGK 250.

Nothing in these terms excludes or limits rights you may have under the consumer protection laws of Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, or your home country to the extent those rights cannot lawfully be excluded.

Reviews and messages must be honest, lawful, and based on your own experience. By posting content you give us a non-exclusive licence to display it on the platform. We may remove content that is false, unlawful, or abusive.

Details you provide for a booking (including identity documents where a service requires them) are shared only with the operator for that booking, and used by us to run the platform. Operators may only use your details to deliver the booked service.

Keep information accurate, pay what you commit to, and treat operators and their teams with respect. We may suspend or close accounts used fraudulently, abusively, or in breach of these terms.

We may update these terms as the platform evolves. The date above shows the current version; material changes will be flagged on the platform. Continuing to use BukNau after a change takes effect means you accept the updated terms.

These terms are governed by the laws of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, and the courts of Hong Kong have non-exclusive jurisdiction — without limiting any mandatory consumer protections that apply to you in Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, or your home country.

BukNau Holdings Limited · support@buknau.com. Questions about these terms, a booking, or an operator — write to us and we’ll help where we can.