Standard DM gratuity?

[garyfotodiver]

Let me expand a bit. I am very picky about the boats I dive from. This is my relaxation and I want a smooth operation. So I maintain the best possible relationship with the crews. Many DMs do not get paid except from the tips and if it costs me an extra $10 per morning, fine with me. The last trip I did, there were some serious problems, and the DM was spectacular. All I had on me was a $20 bill and I gave it to the DM. It was worth it.

TIP = To Insure Prompt service.

 

[stevetim]

Thanks for all the replies. Ya, I kinda thought about $10 per person is standard and that is what we normally tip. I just didn't want to ask the crew directly because it kinda puts them in that awkward position of telling someone how much "other people" tip out. Thanks again.

Out of curiousity, how much did you pay for the dives off the boat? What is the typical cost of a two dive day in the US?

Personally, I find tipping boat crew an alien concept - none of the boats here in New Zealand would ever dream of asking for tips! You're paying $100 or so a day for a two dive trip and that really would be enough to cover costs and pay the crew a decent salary....

Only reason I mention it, is don't get suckered in if you visit NZ or Australia. My partner (Canadian) was once asked for tips on a liveaboard trip to the GBR on the basis that "we don't get paid much and have to rely on tips to survive". I reckon they were just latching onto the accent and knowing that the US/Canada is much more of a tipping culture and were taking advantage of a visitor! I'm slowly breaking her of the habit of leaving a 20% tip for mediocre service at resturants....

The best tip for boat crew (in NZ) is to take them to a bar and buy them a beer and have a yarn at the end of the day.

See, I don't know what it costs in those countries to license a boat, gas it, insure it and so on...so maybe $100 doesn't cover the crew cost? Since I am in service industry, I normally tip 20% at restaurants and build a rapport with whomever serves me. Seems to make my service that much better at restaurants I frequent. Anyway maybe I should have given the boat captain/DM(he did both) more than $10pp since I got to see my buddy dive 45 degree down angle with a 6 foot moray eel under his chin(when I say under his chin, I mean the eel was actually touching him and closer to his body than his clipped console) swimming with him. Coolest thing is my buddy didn't even see the eel right under him. I think I broke the biggest rule in scuba when I watched this unfold, and held my breath for a few seconds. :11:

 

[AndyNZ]

See, I don't know what it costs in those countries to license a boat, gas it, insure it and so on...so maybe $100 doesn't cover the crew cost? Since I am in service industry, I normally tip 20% at restaurants and build a rapport with whomever serves me. <snip>

Hope you didn't take my post as a criticism!! There is a huge culture gap between the US and the Antipodes which is difficult to cross from either direction....

I know that all of the boats I go out on regularly pay their crew a decent wage (restuarants are much the same), normally an hourly/daily rate rather than a salary but typically something that works out around $35k a year (to put it context, average salary here is around $30k and a "professional" job will earn around $45k to $60k). The norm is just to not tip. If boats on the GBR are touting for tips from US visitors then they are taking advantage of that culture gap!

Tipping is something that is reserved for exceptional service and I really struggle on visits to Canada with my partner when there is an expectation of a 20% tip for crap food that was served with a bad attitude and generally luke warm. Saying that, the service I've had diving out of Tobermory has generally been excellent and now wondering whether I should have tipped? You do really get into a particular mindset about these things and just assume that what you do is "proper" without necessarily thinking about changes in circumstance.

 

[StSomewhere]

I figure the DM is working for tips only, so that's $10 for a two tank trip. Obviously more for exceptional service but that's a high bar when there can be as many as two dozen divers on one boat.

I figure the captain is actually getting paid, so I only tip them when they honor requests for certain dive sites or if they are actually helping the DM do DM stuff (not all do).

 

[matts1w]

I figure the DM is working for tips only, so that's $10 for a two tank trip. Obviously more for exceptional service but that's a high bar when there can be as many as two dozen divers on one boat.

I figure the captain is actually getting paid, so I only tip them when they honor requests for certain dive sites or if they are actually helping the DM do DM stuff (not all do).

1. If you tipped $10 on a $65 two tank dive you just tipped less than 15%. Does not seem so high bar to me. All tips are usually split between all the crew, including the captain. It is only necessary to leave one tip for a boat crew.

 

[Diesel298]

the boat i crew on. we devide our tips among the crew. And the(owner) Capt does not get a cut...he wants it that way. often times we have tried, but he wont..
the crew on our boat is usually 2 capts, and 2 crew. so we put it all in a cub and devide it between the rest of us unpaid crew. id say the 10-15% is standard.
i certanly dont realy on tips,, im there because i like what i do, and free training, the gas, and the experence (free diving trips)
our trips range from 80 to 350 deoending on what where doing, and some of the big trips are over 1000. so the tips vary

 

[stevetim]

1. If you tipped $10 on a $65 two tank dive you just tipped less than 15%. Does not seem so high bar to me. All tips are usually split between all the crew, including the captain. It is only necessary to leave one tip for a boat crew.

Math?

 

[stevetim]

Hope you didn't take my post as a criticism!! There is a huge culture gap between the US and the Antipodes which is difficult to cross from either direction....

Not taken as criticism at all. I just want info on what industry standards are in the US, and I am naive as to how foreign charters are compensated. I make salary myself, so I am not getting defensive about anyone's tipping habits. That is their own business, but there are "standards".

 

[Scottri]

I tip about $10 per dive. Recently in Hawaii I tipped $20 a day except one trip where I only tipped $10 because the first dive site sucked. I don't know about other places but in Hawaii the crew is paid near minimum wage and really appreciate the tips. I've become friends with a few of them over the years and they don't make a lot of money. Most of them on Maui have at least 2 jobs and I know one that has 3.

 

[StSomewhere]

I tip the DM who worked with me. Directly. Discreetly. $5/tank. More for any personal attention beyond changing tanks over, helping people in/out of the boat, etc. The "high bar" is that its difficult to provide much personal attention to any one when just one DM is looking after two dozen (or more) divers. Any waitress who has too many tables on a busy shift has had the exact same problem.

A captain who pilots the boat to two predetermined sites has life pretty easy compared to a DM. If he isn't helping out with DM duties then in my book he doesn't need to be tipped (any more than you'd tip the cook or manager at a restaurant). If the DM wants to share his tips with his captain, that's his business.