Create a New Trip in WaveRez Admin

A Trip is the core service offering in WaveRez — it represents any bookable activity a Partner sells, such as a jet ski rental, dolphin watching cruise, or fishing charter. Every Trip has its own ticket types, pricing, equipment assignments, and scheduling rules. Partners create Trips under Resources > Trips using a quick-create form that captures the essentials, then complete the full configuration across eight tabs: General, Media, Tickets, Options, Availability, Schedules, Equipment, and Marketing. A Trip is not bookable until tickets, schedules, and equipment are configured and the Use schedule checkbox on the Schedules tab is checked. This article walks through every step from the quick-create form through final Trip setup.

You must have Partner administrator access to WaveRez Admin to create or edit Trips. Before starting, gather the Trip name, your tax percentage, the ticket types and prices you plan to offer, the equipment this Trip will use, and the departure times you want to run.

The Trips page is where all existing Trips live and where new Trips are created. It is accessed from the Resources menu in the left sidebar of WaveRez Admin.

Step 1 — Click Resources in the left sidebar of WaveRez Admin. The Resources submenu expands.

Step 2 — Click Trips in the Resources submenu. WaveRez Admin loads the Trips list page, which displays all existing Trips organized under Active and Inactive tabs.

The Trips list page displays each Trip with its photo, name, Trip ID, and online bookable status. The Add new trip button sits in the top-right corner of the page.

Step 3 — Click the Add new trip button in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin opens the Add new trip modal dialog.

The Add new trip modal collects the minimum information needed to create the Trip record. Once submitted, WaveRez Admin opens the full Trip configuration page where the remaining setup is completed across the eight tabs.

The fields collected in the quick-create form are the same fields that appear on the General tab after creation — they are not duplicate fields. The quick-create form simply asks for the most critical ones up front so the Trip record can be created.

The Add new trip modal contains a Trip name field, a Taxes percentage field, two Availability settings checkboxes (Disable Trip and Disable direct online bookings), a Description field, and a Create Trip button that activates once a Trip name is entered.

Step 1 — Enter the Trip name in the Trip name field. The Trip name appears to guests on the booking portal, on confirmations, on the Daily Matrix, and throughout WaveRez Admin. Use a clear, customer-recognizable name such as "Jet Ski Rental" or "Sunset Dolphin Cruise."

Step 2 — Enter the tax percentage in the Taxes field, or leave it at 0 if no tax applies. Enter the number only — no percent symbol. WaveRez Admin applies this percentage to every ticket price on this Trip at checkout.

Step 3 — Review the two Availability settings checkboxes and check either one only if it applies. Both are unchecked by default.

Step 4 — Enter a customer-facing description in the Description field. This is the same description that appears on the General tab and on the booking portal. Describe what the activity involves, what is included, and any highlights.

Step 5 — Click Create Trip. The button activates once a Trip name is entered. WaveRez Admin creates the Trip record and opens the full Trip configuration page on the General tab, where the remaining setup is completed.

The General tab contains the Trip's core identity, taxes, crew enablement, online booking controls, address details, and customer-facing description fields. The Trip name, Taxes & Fees, Disable Trip, Disable direct online bookings, and Description fields entered in the quick-create form are the same fields that appear here — any updates made during quick-create are already populated.

The General tab displays the Trip name, Categories and Primary category dropdowns, the Taxes & Fees percentage, a Crew enabled checkbox, the two availability checkboxes, Trip Address and Trip Address Details fields, and three rich-text fields for Description, Activity Details, and Cancellation Policy.

Step 1 — Confirm or update the Trip name field. The name entered during quick-create appears here and can be edited at any time.

Step 2 — Click the Categories dropdown to assign this Trip to one or more booking portal categories. Categories control how Trips are grouped or filtered on the booking portal. Use the Primary category dropdown to set the main category for this Trip.

Step 3 — Confirm the Taxes & Fees percentage. The percentage entered during quick-create appears here. Adjust it if needed — this percentage applies to every ticket price for this Trip at checkout.

Step 4 — Check the Crew enabled checkbox to enable crew assignment for this Trip. Crew is a built-in WaveRez tool that lets administrators assign crew members (guides, captains, instructors) to scheduled Trips and notifies them by email. Enable this only if your operation uses the Crew feature.

Step 5 — Review the Disable Trip and Disable direct online bookings checkboxes. These behave identically to the same checkboxes on the quick-create form — Disable Trip marks the Trip Inactive across the entire system (booking portal and internal staff), and Disable direct online bookings removes it from the guest-facing booking portal only while keeping internal access open.

Step 6 — Enter the physical departure or activity location in the Trip Address field. This is where the Trip departs from or takes place — for example, "3999 Commons Drive, Destin, FL 32541."

Step 7 — Enter supplemental location details in the Trip Address Details field. Use this for parking instructions, specific meeting spots, landmarks, or gate codes.

Step 8 — Enter the customer-facing trip description in the Description rich-text field. The description appears on the WaveRez Booking Portal and supports bold, italic, bullet lists, numbered lists, links, and images. Cover what the experience involves, what is included, the duration, and any highlights.

Step 9 — Enter operational or supplementary details in the Activity Details rich-text field. Use this section for what is included, what guests should bring, age or weight restrictions, and any "why choose us" content. This field also displays on the booking portal.

Step 10 — Enter cancellation and refund terms in the Cancellation Policy rich-text field. Specify refund eligibility windows, cancellation deadlines, weather policy, no-show terms, and any other conditions guests should know before booking. This field also displays on the booking portal.

Step 11 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves all General tab changes and confirms the save.

The Media tab is where the Trip's images are uploaded. The primary Trip image is the thumbnail and hero photo shown in trip listings and on booking confirmations.

Step 1 — Click the Media tab on the Trip configuration page. WaveRez Admin opens the media upload panel.

Step 2 — Upload the primary Trip image using the Trip image upload control. Choose a high-quality, landscape-oriented photo that clearly represents the activity.

Step 3 — Upload any additional photos using the additional media upload controls. Additional images may appear on the booking portal depending on portal configuration.

Step 4 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves all Media tab changes.

The Tickets tab is where every bookable product within the Trip is defined — the ticket types, names, prices, durations, and per-day availability. A Trip must have at least one ticket configured before it can accept bookings.

Step 1 — Click the Tickets tab on the Trip configuration page. WaveRez Admin displays any existing tickets and a form for adding new ones.

Step 2 — Check the Require Names checkbox if guests must provide passenger names when booking this Trip. Enable this for charters, tours, or any activity that needs a name list per booking — for waivers, manifests, or regulatory compliance.

Step 3 — For each ticket type the Trip needs, complete the following fields. Click Add another ticket to add multiple ticket types.

Step 4 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves all Tickets tab changes.

The Options tab is where add-ons, custom questions, and supplementary purchases are configured for the Trip. Options are flexible — they can be used for paid add-ons (like a cooler or photo package), required questions (like a customer's height or shoe size), trip protection percentages, or boater's test verification.

Three types of options can be added: a standard option, a percentage-based option, and a boater's test option. Standard options handle most use cases, including add-ons and questions. Percentage-based options are most commonly used for trip protection. Boater's test options integrate with the Take My Boat Test integration.

The Options tab displays three buttons at the top of the page: Add new option, Add percentage based option, and Add boater's test option. Below the buttons, each configured option is shown in its own card with all its fields and values.

A standard option is the most common type — used for paid add-ons, customer questions, or any custom field that needs to attach to an Order. The price field accepts 0, which is how questions (where the value is informational only) are configured.

Step 1 — Click Add new option at the top of the Options tab. WaveRez Admin opens an empty option card.

Step 2 — Enter the option label in the Name field. This is what guests or staff see — for example, "Add a Cooler" or "Shoe Size."

Step 3 — Enter optional explanatory text in the Tool Tip on Booking Portal field. The tool tip appears as a description below the option's dropdown on the booking portal — useful for clarifying what an option includes or how to answer a question.

Step 4 — Set option visibility using the Disable and Require checkboxes and the Portal Option / Both / Internal dropdown.

Step 5 — Choose the Option type: Select or Text.

Step 6 — For Select type options, click Add value to add each value the dropdown should offer. For each value, enter:

Step 7 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves the option.

A percentage-based option calculates its price as a percentage of the Order's ticket subtotal rather than a fixed dollar amount. This is most often used for trip protection or insurance products that scale with the value of the booking, but it can be used for any percentage-based add-on.

Step 1 — Click Add percentage based option at the top of the Options tab. WaveRez Admin opens an empty percentage option card.

Step 2 — Configure the option's Name, Tool Tip on Booking Portal, Disable / Require / Portal-Internal-Both controls, and Values the same way as a standard option. The difference is that the Price field on each value is interpreted as a percentage rather than a dollar amount.

Step 3 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves the percentage-based option.

A boater's test option is a specialized option that integrates with the WaveRez Take My Boat Test integration. When a guest selects a value indicating they need a boater's test (typically the "Yes" value), WaveRez attaches the configured boater's test link to their confirmation email so they can complete the test before arrival.

Step 1 — Set up the boater's test link first under Integrations > Take My Boat Test. Enter the link to the boater's test, write the email message text, and use the [boater_test_url]your text[/boater_test_url] shortcode to insert the link into the email message. Save the integration.

Step 2 — Return to the Trip's Options tab and click Add boater's test option. WaveRez Admin opens an empty boater's test option card.

Step 3 — Configure the option's Name, Tool Tip on Booking Portal, and Values the same way as a standard option. Each value typically represents an answer to "Do you have a boater's test?" — for example, "Yes" and "No."

Step 4 — On the value that corresponds to "needs a boater's test" (typically "Yes"), check the Apply link here checkbox. This tells WaveRez to attach the boater's test link to the confirmation email when this value is selected.

Step 5 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves the boater's test option.

The Availability tab sets the Trip's default operating dates, days of the week, default close-out time, and cut-off rules. The settings on this tab are the Trip's defaults — Calendar Controls applied later override these defaults within their date ranges, with two important exceptions noted below.

[Screenshot: Availability tab showing the Seasonality section with Valid From, Valid To, Booking Portal Pricing Start Date, Default Close Out Time, Start of Next Day, Cut Off, and Duration fields, and the Calendar section with day-of-week checkboxes.] Alt text: WaveRez Admin Trip Availability tab with Seasonality and Calendar sections.

Step 1 — Click the Availability tab on the Trip configuration page. WaveRez Admin opens the Availability configuration view, which is divided into a Seasonality section and a Calendar section.

Step 2 — In the Seasonality section, set the Trip's seasonal range using the Not a Seasonal Trip toggle and the Valid From and Valid To date fields.

Step 3 — Enter a date in the Booking Portal Pricing Start Date field if needed. This forces the booking portal's "from" price to pull from a specific date rather than the next available date. Most Trips leave this alone — it is occasionally used to resolve specific booking portal pricing display issues.

Step 4 — Enter the Trip's default close-out time in the Default Close Out Time field. This is the latest time of day that this Trip's equipment must be back / wrapped up by default. Calendar Controls (specifically Business Hours) can override this for specific date ranges.

Step 5 — Skip the Start of Next Day field. This is a legacy field that is rarely used — schedule times handle the start of the next day in current WaveRez setups.

Step 6 — Use the Cut Off dropdown only for cut-off rules of one day or more in advance. For shorter cut-offs (hours before departure), use the per-time-slot Cut Off Hour on the Schedules tab instead.

Step 7 — Skip the Duration field. Trip-level duration is no longer used — duration is set per ticket on the Tickets tab.

Step 8 — In the Calendar section, uncheck any day of the week the Trip should not run. By default, all seven days are checked. For example, uncheck Sun if the Trip never runs on Sundays.

Step 9 — Check the Allow Ticket Sales Without Arrival Date And Schedule checkbox only if this Trip should accept ticket sales without a specific arrival date and time. Most Trips leave this unchecked.

Step 10 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves all Availability tab changes.

The Schedules tab is where the Trip's specific departure times and per-time capacity are defined. This is the most important tab for getting a Trip onto the Daily Matrix — without at least one configured schedule time and the Use schedule checkbox checked, the Trip will not display.

Step 1 — Click the Schedules tab on the Trip configuration page. WaveRez Admin opens the Schedules configuration view.

Step 2 — Check the Use schedule checkbox at the top of the page. This activates the configured schedule times for this Trip. If this is unchecked, none of the schedule configuration takes effect and the Trip will not appear on the Daily Matrix.

Step 3 — Check the Remove cutoff when tickets booked checkbox if you want the cut-off rule to be ignored once any tickets have been sold for that time slot. This is useful for Trips where guests should still be able to add to an existing departure even after the cut-off has passed.

Step 4 — Click Add schedule in the top-right of the page to add a new departure time. A new schedule row appears.

Step 5 — For each scheduled departure time, complete the following fields:

Step 6 — Repeat Step 4 and Step 5 for every departure time the Trip offers (for example, 9:00am, 12:30pm, 6:30pm, 9:00pm).

Step 7 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves all Schedules tab changes.

The Equipment tab is where physical resources — boats, jet skis, bikes, paddleboards, or any other inventory — are assigned to the Trip. Equipment availability does not display on the Daily Matrix until the Schedules tab is configured first.

The Equipment tab displays a yellow attention banner reminding partners that schedules must be created first, a Try to keep all tickets on one equipment checkbox at the top, a Choose equipment dropdown and Add equipment button to assign equipment, and a card for each piece of equipment that is already assigned with Max Places, Priority, Description, and Close Equipment fields.

Step 1 — Click the Equipment tab on the Trip configuration page. WaveRez Admin opens the Equipment configuration view.

Step 2 — Note the yellow attention banner at the top of the tab, which reads: "ATTENTION! You should create this trip using calendar and schedules in order use this equipment." This banner is a reminder that the Schedules tab must be configured before equipment availability appears correctly on the Daily Matrix. If the Schedules tab is not configured, return there first.

Step 3 — Check the Try to keep all tickets on one equipment checkbox if all tickets within a single Order should be assigned to the same piece of equipment when possible. This setting is useful when group bookings should stay together on one resource — for example, a family booking three jet skis but wanting them on the same dock release. This is a per-Trip setting that works automatically by default once checked.

Step 4 — For each piece of equipment to assign, click the Choose equipment dropdown to select an existing equipment record, or click Add equipment to create a new equipment record. The equipment then appears as its own card on the tab.

Step 5 — For each assigned equipment card, complete the following fields:

Step 6 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves all Equipment tab changes.

The Marketing tab is where Booking Portal cart settings, the confirmation SMS message, Google Things to Do (TTD) fields, and Booking Portal trip messages are configured. These settings affect how the Trip displays and behaves on the booking portal and what supplementary information is sent to guests.

Step 1 — Click the Marketing tab on the Trip configuration page. WaveRez Admin opens the Marketing configuration view.

Step 2 — In the Booking Portal Settings section, configure the cart and comments behavior:

Step 3 — Enter an SMS message in the Confirmation Text Message field if you want to send a custom SMS to guests in addition to the standard confirmation email. Leave blank if no SMS confirmation is needed for this Trip.

Step 4 — Configure the TTD Fields section if this Trip is listed on Google Things to Do (TTD). These fields populate Google's listing and influence how the Trip appears in Google search results.

Step 5 — Configure up to three booking portal trip messages. Each message has an Add message button that opens a rich-text editor:

Step 6 — Click Save Changes in the top-right corner of the page. WaveRez Admin saves all Marketing tab changes.

After all eight tabs are configured and saved, take these steps before the Trip goes live:

Existing Trips are managed from the three-dot menu next to each Trip on the Resources > Trips page. The menu offers three options: Edit, Duplicate, and Disable.

Edit opens the full Trip configuration page with all eight tabs available. Make changes on any tab and click Save Changes in the top-right of the page. Changes take effect immediately for all future Orders.

Duplicate creates a complete copy of the Trip including all eight tabs of configuration. The duplicate is a separate Trip record that can be edited independently — useful for creating similar Trips quickly, such as creating a "2-Hour Rental" from an existing "1-Hour Rental." After duplicating, edit the new Trip to update the name, pricing, and any other details that should differ from the original.

Disable marks the Trip as Inactive across the entire system. The Trip moves to the Inactive tab on the Trips page, no longer appears on the booking portal, and is no longer available to internal staff. All historical Orders and data are preserved. To re-enable a disabled Trip, edit it and uncheck the Disable Trip checkbox on the General tab, then save.

Symptom: The Trip is created and tickets, schedules, and equipment are configured, but the Trip does not display on the Daily Matrix or on the booking portal.

Cause and resolution: Check the following in order:

Symptom: A ticket's price on the booking portal or in WaveRez Admin does not match the price entered on the Tickets tab.

Cause and resolution: Verify the Price field on the Tickets tab is set to the intended base price, and confirm the Taxes & Fees percentage on the General tab matches the intended tax rate. Tax is added to the base ticket price at checkout, so a $100 ticket with 7% tax displays as $107.

If a Ticket Control has been applied for the date in question, the Ticket Control price overrides the default price on the Tickets tab. Open Calendar Controls and check for an active Ticket Control on the affected date. There is no way to wipe Ticket Control pricing — the control must be edited or its date range cleared to restore the default price.

Symptom: Equipment is assigned to the Trip on the Equipment tab, but no equipment cards appear for the Trip on the Daily Matrix.

Cause and resolution: Open the Schedules tab and confirm at least one departure time is configured and that Use schedule is checked at the top of the tab. The Equipment tab's yellow attention banner exists for this exact reason — equipment availability does not render on the Daily Matrix until the Schedules tab is fully configured.

Symptom: The Trip needs to offer multiple durations — for example, 1-hour and 2-hour rentals on the same equipment.

Cause and resolution: Add each duration as a separate ticket on the Tickets tab — for example, "1-Hour Rental" and "2-Hour Rental" — each with its own price and Ticket duration value. Guests choose the duration they want at booking. WaveRez uses the duration on each ticket to calculate equipment return times and the next available booking window for that equipment.

Symptom: A Trip is already created and has bookings against it, and the Trip name needs to change.

Cause and resolution: Open the Trip, edit the Trip name field on the General tab, and click Save Changes. All future confirmations and Order forms use the updated name. Historical Orders display the name that was in effect at the time of booking.