Whats typical tipping in Roatan?

[CODMAN]

Hi all again,
I wanted your oppinions on what are typical tipping practices in Roatan? I'll be staying at Fantassy island. What should I expect to give at the end of a typical good 3 dive day? And who do I give it to? The DM, the captain? A bit to each crew member?

I don't want to be cheap, but I don't want to be giving way too much either and making other people (who are tipping normaly) look bad.

What is your general practice?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Dave Zimmerly]

You will be assigned a boat, DM and Captain for the entire week. Usually, tipping is done at the end of the week. For us, $50 per person for the DM and $20 per to the Captain. There is no crew. Just the Captain and DM. Make sure you have money for the Exist Tax at the airport. They only accept cash.

Dave (aka "Squirt")

 

[Doc]

Ahhh- and don't forget about the tip jar for the staff you don't see- the maids, the servers, etc. They probably have a way to handle that as well.

 

[NAIBdiver1]

I really like to drink Fresca - but the resort didn't have any. When our evening waitress discovered this, every night after that, she brought bottles of Fresca for me from her home. Now that's outstanding service and deserved a very good tip as well as reimbursement for the Fresca itself.

Our DM (Darren) and boat Captain (Moses) were so good and really made our trip extra good. I got some of the best video footage I've ever gotten because of them. A spotted moray on a night dive out hunting successfully. Thrilling time and wonderful video footage. I tipped them each $60 and my girlfriend did as well.

Mel - the "shore dive" boat driver was there for us whenever we wanted to go - no matter how late and he got $30 from each of us.

They really depend tips to make a living. While we were there gas to get to work for them was a little over $4.00 (US) a litre. and they drive from the other side of the island.

These tips only work out to a fraction of what I make here in the US per day and they really deserved it - they worked hard and made a memorable vacation for us.

NAIBDiver1

 

[CODMAN]

Thanks all for your input! You've all pretty much confirmed what I was initially thinking. The tipping is important if you get good service since most of these employes aren't getting paid all that much.

Up here in Canada, I'm tipping less and less these days because more and more service people expect (sometimes almost demand) it, when it is really an extra appreciation for good service (at least in my mind). Even when they give crappy service, people up here are so polite that they still give them 15% tip!:shakehead I used to be like that, but more and more I reserve my tipping for people giving a minimum of what I consider "good" service" or better. After all, people here usually make at least decent wages.

But because of that, on my last dive trip (which was my first to the Caribean), I kinda overlooked tipping the boat crew who really did a great job!:shakehead And I've felt bad about it ever since and more so now I've been reading up on the low wages dive crew generally make...

So I didn't want to repeat this time around and will definetly keep all this in mind!

Hey, while I'm at it, do any of you know if there is an automatic bank teller at the Roatan airport (preferably Cirrus) where I'll be able to get some Lempire, for small purchases and tipping? Or am I going to have to hunt around French harbour to find one? And do they accept Lempire for the departure tax? Or only US$?

Thanks again!

 

[aboalreem]

an easy way for tipping is: $5 per tank. or 20% of the cost.
it is sometimes sad that mostly only Americans do tipping....!!

 

[CODMAN]

Doh! 5$ a tank is going to run me up big time since I'll be doing 3-4 dives a day for 6 days! But I catch your drift on the general order of importance the tip should be. And any deviation from it will be according to getting really incredible (tipe will be more) or really lousy service (tipe will be less)!

As far as the tipping practices go... You have to remember that it is very much influenced by local culture of the person tipping. Remember that in France, the tip (or service) is automatically included in the bill! 15%, you have nothing to say about it! So even at really good restaurants, with really good service, you don't leave anything! Only, if everything was incredible do you leave an extra little something, and then again, it's not much (like 5%). It's also like this in a lot of European countries, so it's understandable that they do not know how it works away from their homeland... Then again, it never hurts to read up on local practices/customs before traveling! Like I'm kinda doing!

Here in Montreal, in more "touristy" restaurants, waiters will even go to the point of mentioning to the client that the tip isn't included in the bill if they suspect you are a tourist, which I find very ill mannered...:shakehead It's almost like demanding the tip for good service from the person and not leaving them the luxury of deciding wether you deserve it or not...:shakehead In other restaurants, they discretely mention it on the menu, which I find much more polite... But that's just me...

Later!

 

[calhockey]

I actually like it when the server help me identify if the tip is included or not. Each place has different policies (party of 6+, party of 8+, alway add on, never add). That's why those receipts that say "tip not include" are helpfull.

So, let me get this straight. If I pretend to be European and don't tip, then the boat crew will think that I'm just a European and not a cheap asse? Hmm?

If you're diving with an operator for a week, do you tip after each trip or at the end of the week. Not sure if it's the same captain/DM each time, so I would want someone to get screwed over. Plus, if I wait to the last day to tip, they might think that after not tipping for 2 days that I'm European or something. :lol:

 

[CODMAN]

Thanks for the chuckle Hockey...

Yeah, I agree that a bill indicating that service is not included, or at the end of a menu can be a handy and discrete way to inform people on local ways... Personally, I just don't like it when the waiter takes it upon himself to inform you that you need to leave him extra money at the end... I find it kinda impolite... But that just me!!!

I think I'll find out at the begining of the week if I am indeed going to have the same crew for the week, and if not when the change will be. That way, I can make sure I get the proper tip to the proper crew members at the end of their service...

Being Europen doesn't justify them leaving no tip... But it can help explain why some of them don't... No matter, it's not very hard to get info on local customs and practices... Some people just seem to expect things to be the same as home..:shakehead