An outdoor activity website where people can actually book online.
No more taking bookings by phone the night before, and no commission handed to an outside platform. The calendar is yours, the booking too.
I opened 77 outdoor activity websites, one by one.
Kayak schools, adventure centres and outdoor activity providers across the UK and Ireland. Not a survey: 77 websites I opened myself, phone in hand, trying to book a session the way any customer would on a Friday night.
Footer stuck years in the past
A copyright notice from 2019, prices from a season that no longer applies, a phone number nobody answers anymore. Nobody checks the footer on purpose, but it's the first thing that makes a booking feel risky before anyone gets to the price.
Actually broken
An expired SSL certificate throwing a warning before the homepage even loads, a booking button pointing at a page that doesn't exist. Not slow, not ugly: broken, in a way that stops a booking dead.
Slow and heavy on a phone
Long enough to load on mobile data that half the people trying to book on the way to the activity give up before the calendar even appears. On a site that lives or dies by weekend bookings, that's money walking away.
I count all 77, including the ones that were fine. Without them the numbers would lie. 8 had no online booking at all, and I've seen the same story elsewhere: a centre paying commission on every booking to an outside platform instead of taking it on its own site. This sample comes from the same audit of small-business websites, opened one by one.
What an outdoor activity website should have
None of this is exotic. It's what someone expects before booking an activity with some risk attached, and almost nobody has it.
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01
Booking on your own site, not a platform taking a cut
The customer picks a session, pays or leaves a deposit, right there. No handing a percentage of every booking to an outside platform. If a listing elsewhere brings you people, keep it, but stop being the centre where booking means calling.
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02
Instant confirmation and a reminder before the activity
The customer gets confirmation the moment they book, and a reminder the day before with what to bring. It's what cuts down the empty slot nobody notices until the group doesn't show up.
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03
Ability to close a session for weather or water levels without confusing anyone
If conditions turn, you close that session from your own panel and everyone who had a spot gets the message at once, instead of you calling round one by one.
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04
Real prices on the site, not a contact-us button
A clear price per activity and per group, or the fixed price if you have one. Someone comparing five centres on their phone rules out first the one that won't say what it costs.
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05
Actual text about what people ask before booking
Minimum age, fitness level needed, what to bring, whether the price includes gear. Written as real text, readable on a phone, not locked inside a photo that neither Google nor a screen reader can read.
What it costs
The same prices published on the main page. No monthly fee and no commission per booking.
Simple website
With whatever system your business needs: bookings, appointments, or whatever it takes.
A website you can edit yourself
Your own panel: change text, prices and photos without calling anyone.
Changes whenever you need them
First hour 50 €. Each one after that, 35 €.
Seasonal check-up
Before summer, before Christmas. You decide when.
Always a one-time payment. No monthly fee, no contract, no commission.
How this works
- 01
You message me
Your website address and a couple of lines.
- 02
I'll tell you what's wrong
I open your site, look at it the way someone booking an outdoor activity would, and tell you what I'd do. No obligation.
- 03
Fixed price
In writing. If it doesn't work for you, you owe nothing.
What people usually ask me
Can I take a deposit or full payment when someone books?
Yes. The customer pays in full or leaves a deposit at the moment of booking, whichever you decide. The money lands straight in your account, with no middleman taking a cut of every session.
What if I need to cancel a session because of weather or water levels?
You close that session from your own panel and everyone who had a spot is notified at once, with the option to move to another date or get a refund depending on how you've set it up. No calling round one by one.
Can I limit how many people book each session?
Yes. You set the maximum per session and the site stops offering spots once it's full. No fitting more people in than a guide can safely take.
What happens to customers' data?
Only the minimum gets collected: name, contact details, and whatever the activity needs, such as weight or age where a limit applies. The data goes to your site and your inbox, not to a middleman platform, and the legal side is agreed in writing before we start.
Send me the address and I'll take a look.
I'll get back to you within 24 hours. If you'd rather call: 617 575 495.
Same thing, other trades
- Climbing gyms
- Outdoor activity booking (you are here)
En español: webs para negocios pequeños.