Tipping In Bali

[JonnieB]

What are appropriate amounts to tip dive guides in Bali. I want to tip an appropriate amount but don't want to tip out of proportion to the local salary structure. As a point of reference, for 2023, the minimum daily wage is about IDR 80,000 or about USD 5.50. Now I consider the work of the dive masters and guides to be skilled work requiring special training and knowledge so I wish to tip appropriately, which also demonstrates to locals there is a way to make a living in the industry.

So per dive or let's say for a 2 or 3 dive day, what's an appropriate tip or how much do board members tip in Bali?

 

[runsongas]

I tipped around 50000 IDR per dive iirc (split between DM and boat crew) which was roughly 12.5% or so, but this was a few years back so probably should be higher now. I was originally planning to tip a slightly higher % but it ended up lower because I couldn't deal with not having AC during my stay so had to pay for an upgrade to a room with AC and they wouldn't take VISA for the difference so I had less cash than I planned for tipping.

 

[Luko]

100kIDR per day is fine for your private guide IMO.

 

[JonnieB]

100kIDR per day is fine for your private guide IMO.

Yes I'm thinking 50k per dive or 100k for a 2-3 dive day.

 

[Centrals]

LOL.
Only people who is NOT familiar with the tipping culture in SE Asia would had asked about such a trivial question.
Tipping is appreciated but never expected.
Who are you going to tip? The driver who picked you up/off, the cooks who prepared for the packed lunch or dinner, dm, deck hand, skipper of the boat, the front desk staff who is dealing with all kinds of enquiry and paper work, the compressor guy who filled the tank, the technician who takes care of rental equipment, the boys who loaded the tank into the boat etc etc. Are you sure your tip is going to be distributed equally?
Without their combined contributions, you won't be diving at all.

 

[matts1w]

If you search "tipping Indonesia" here on Scubaboard, you will find this has been discussed in detail here lately.

In Tulamben I do 100K a day to my private guide. In Padang Bai I do 100K a day in the tip jar.

 

[JonnieB]

If you search "tipping Indonesia" here on Scubaboard, you will find this has been discussed in detail here lately.

In Tulamben I do 100K a day to my private guide. In Padang Bai I do 100K a day in the tip jar.

Thx...yes I did find a long thread but it was from a few years ago (at least the one I saw) and a lot of the discussion focused on liveaboards. I've settled on the 100k per day figure too.

 

[Indah]

What are appropriate amounts to tip dive guides in Bali. I want to tip an appropriate amount but don't want to tip out of proportion to the local salary structure. As a point of reference, for 2023, the minimum daily wage is about IDR 80,000 or about USD 5.50. Now I consider the work of the dive masters and guides to be skilled work requiring special training and knowledge so I wish to tip appropriately, which also demonstrates to locals there is a way to make a living in the industry.

So per dive or let's say for a 2 or 3 dive day, what's an appropriate tip or how much do board members tip in Bali?

The official minimum wages at Bali start at 2.7 M per month. For 23 days. So, per day at least IDR 120.000 per day. People with any sort of qualification usually get more. Nobody could support a family and live independent of others with minimum wages. At North Sulawesi the salaries are a bit higher. This is the information we give our guests. Note these are amount per guest, not per employee:
We used to respond with "don't know" when guests asked about the appropriate amount for tipping our staff. However, we realize that it's not the most helpful answer. So, we've come up with a procedure: we add the tip you leave to the bill. With around 20 employees working here, tips are divided equally among them, ensuring each person receives the same amount. We suggest tipping between IDR 50.000 and IDR 125.000 per day, based on your level of satisfaction with our staff. It's crucial to note that you should never tip any of our staff members individually, even if they managed to find the elusive pygmy mimic-whale shark for you.

 

[JonnieB]

Thank you for the correction, I knew the minimum monthly salary in Bali province was 2.7M but maybe I divided by a 6 day work week or something. Yes I agree 100-150k per day for 2-3 dives sounds about right for the shore/boat dives I'm doing in the Tulamben area. If me and the other diver I'm diving with tipped this amount, the tips alone would be double the minimum wage amount.

The official minimum wages at Bali start at 2.7 M per month. For 23 days. So, per day at least IDR 120.000 per day. People with any sort of qualification usually get more. Nobody could support a family and live independent of others with minimum wages. At North Sulawesi the salaries are a bit higher. This is the information we give our guests. Note these are amount per guest, not per employee:
We used to respond with "don't know" when guests asked about the appropriate amount for tipping our staff. However, we realize that it's not the most helpful answer. So, we've come up with a procedure: we add the tip you leave to the bill. With around 20 employees working here, tips are divided equally among them, ensuring each person receives the same amount. We suggest tipping between IDR 50.000 and IDR 125.000 per day, based on your level of satisfaction with our staff. It's crucial to note that you should never tip any of our staff members individually, even if they managed to find the elusive pygmy mimic-whale shark for you.

 

[boletus1973]

The official minimum wages at Bali start at 2.7 M per month. For 23 days. So, per day at least IDR 120.000 per day. People with any sort of qualification usually get more. Nobody could support a family and live independent of others with minimum wages. At North Sulawesi the salaries are a bit higher. This is the information we give our guests. Note these are amount per guest, not per employee:
We used to respond with "don't know" when guests asked about the appropriate amount for tipping our staff. However, we realize that it's not the most helpful answer. So, we've come up with a procedure: we add the tip you leave to the bill. With around 20 employees working here, tips are divided equally among them, ensuring each person receives the same amount. We suggest tipping between IDR 50.000 and IDR 125.000 per day, based on your level of satisfaction with our staff. It's crucial to note that you should never tip any of our staff members individually, even if they managed to find the elusive pygmy mimic-whale shark for you.

Ehhh.. we Know your rules but when we stayed one week at your resort in lembeh we generously tipped our dive guide + the boat guys and also the main staff at the checkout..
sorry!