Tipping Etiquette in Western Canada

[sphillips3]

I'm not sure of the protocol up north, but whenever I dive off a boat I always tip the mate/DM. Five bucks a tank seems fair. I'm pretty self-sufficient but I appreciate someone that gets up early to put the tanks on the boat, helps me up off the bench, takes my fins, helps me back to the bench, put water and fruit on board for the surface interval, etc etc. Getting a dive boat ready for a good day of diving is a lot of work.

Nearly all the mates/DM I have worked with work really hard to provide an enjoyable dive experience. They know where the sea horses, frog fish and other cool fauna hang out. If I'm spending a couple of thousand bucks on a dive vacation an extra hundred for the crew is not a problem.

I don't show my DM or Instructor card when I'm on vacation - I'm on vacation.

 

[Shawn95]

For some boat crews here, what you've described / expect to see, actually requires more attention and work than what the "normal" diver would require... and if they actually let you do all of that, probably deserve a bigger tip, especially if you didn't show them your Instructor card when they asked for your c-card.

Dont get me wrong, I do tip 5$ a dive, I just dont consider that alot. I guess it does add up with 8-10 divers in my DM`s group. I have shown my instructor card, it usually lets me get a little longer in the water or to be left alone more.

 

[KrisB]

Dont get me wrong, I do tip 5$ a dive, I just dont consider that alot. I guess it does add up with 8-10 divers in my DM`s group. I have shown my instructor card, it usually lets me get a little longer in the water or to be left alone more.

Oh, $5 per dive is just fine! On every boat I've been on, the crew pool tips and split them evenly, but walking away with an extra $40-50 is a nice end to the day.

The only time I'd be thinking more than $5 per dive is appropriate is if, say, in addition to the two scheduled dives, the boat found a whale shark and everybody got to snorkel with it for 2 hours between the dives... or the crew saved your life (or at least your dive)... or something like that.