Booking software for surf, sailing and dive schools compared

No single system is best for every watersports school. BookingLayer fits a surf camp with accommodation, Checkfront fits renting boards and boats by the hour, and Regiondo, bookingkit and FareHarbor fit businesses that sell a lot through GetYourGuide and Viator. If your main job is scheduling a team of instructors, look at Superota or Recras. A staff app with schedule and time off we only found at Superota. Below they stand side by side, with a source for each fact.

How did we compare?

On 5 November 2026 we read each provider’s own pages: pricing, features and help articles. Review sites did not count. What we could not find on their pages is marked “not found”. It may still be possible, so ask the provider.

Superota is in the list too. This is our own site, so we also say what Superota cannot do yet.

What does booking software for a surf school cost?

System	Price on own site	Per booking
Bookeo	10.95 to 89.95 euros a month	no commission
SimplyBook.me	free to 59.90 euros a month	no transaction fees
Recras	5 euros per active user a month, at least 25 euros	0.5 percent of the booking value
bookingkit	49 or 99 euros a month, annual plan	2 to 3 percent booking fee, 3 percent online payment fee and 0.60 euros per ticket
Regiondo	59 or 99 euros a month, annual contract	small fee per online booking (amount not stated)
Checkfront	99 euros a month	3 percent per online booking
Superota	119 euros a month with two staff members, 19 euros per extra active staff member	none
BookingLayer	custom, examples of 260 and 410 euros a month	no commission
FareHarbor	no monthly fee	the guest pays a booking fee (percentage not published)

With every system you also pay your payment provider, such as Stripe or Mollie. Superota’s amounts exclude VAT. Not every provider says whether its amounts include VAT.

Which systems have a schedule for instructors?

This is where they differ most. A surf school with ten instructors in summer needs more than a name next to a lesson.

System	Team and schedule
Superota	weekly plan with staffing suggestions based on language, skills and earlier lessons; own app with the schedule, readable without signal; time off reported in the app; hours per assignment with a monthly export
Recras	schedule with shifts linked to bookings; staff pass on their availability; qualifications; monthly hours overview
Bookeo	schedule guides and vehicles without double booking
Checkfront	assign staff in the daily manifest (since May 2026); roles per user
FareHarbor	assign staff to a trip or tour, with roles such as captain and crew
Regiondo	link staff to an offer in advance with the Resource Manager
BookingLayer	assign instructors per session with the Session Planner add-on
bookingkit	not found
SimplyBook.me	not found on the pages we read

An app where staff see their own schedule and report time off themselves we found on the providers’ own pages only at Superota. The same goes for exporting hours for payroll; Recras has a monthly hours overview.

Can guests sign a waiver online?

For surf, sailing and dive schools this is often a must.

• Yes: Superota (per activity, a parent signs for a child), FareHarbor (in the booking flow), Checkfront, BookingLayer (paid add-on) and Bookeo (add-on from 7 to 215 euros a month).
• Not found: Recras, Regiondo, bookingkit and SimplyBook.me.

Can you take a deposit and offer iDEAL or Bancontact?

Deposits or instalments are possible with BookingLayer, Bookeo, Checkfront, Regiondo, Recras and Superota. A FareHarbor customer story mentions deposits; for bookingkit and SimplyBook.me we did not find it.

bookingkit, FareHarbor and Recras (through Mollie) name iDEAL and Bancontact on their own pages. Bookeo and Regiondo show them as logos on their integrations page. With Superota, payments run through your own Stripe account, where you switch on iDEAL and Bancontact. BookingLayer’s payments page did not list them; Checkfront only mentions iDEAL, on its pricing page.

Which system fits which watersports business?

• Surf camp with accommodation: BookingLayer. It sells bed and lesson in one booking and connects to Booking.com and Airbnb through an add-on.
• Renting boards, canoes or boats by the hour: Checkfront, which names hourly, daily and multi-day rental.
• A lot of sales through GetYourGuide and Viator: Regiondo, bookingkit, FareHarbor or Checkfront. Superota does not connect to these platforms.
• Starting small with a low monthly fee: Bookeo or SimplyBook.me.
• Dutch business with group outings and Mollie: Recras.
• A team of instructors with a different line-up every week: Superota. Schedule, time off, hours and the staff app belong to the same booking.

Language models also mention Bókun and Viking Bookings. We have not read their own pages yet, so they are not in the tables.

What can Superota not do yet?

Fair is fair. Superota has no connection with GetYourGuide, Viator or Booking.com and does not sell accommodation. The link with your web shop (a booking button in WooCommerce or Shopify) and selling gift cards online are in development. Gift cards you issue yourself can already be redeemed by guests when booking. Superota is new: there are no customers we can name yet.