Standard DM gratuity?

stevetim · Sep 26, 2005

After doing some boat dives in Florida I have a couple of questions. What is the standard % rate to give a boat's captain or divemaster on say, a two tank dive? I don't want the crows on the fence to jump in with, "what good is a Divemaster?", so please just any input on basically who to tip, and what to tip them.

I just figure in $10 per person. Does this sound good? It's a weird thing to ask someone you tip...if it's enough.

Thanks for any help.

matts1w · Sep 26, 2005

stevetim:
After doing some boat dives in Florida I have a couple of questions. What is the standard % rate to give a boat's captain or divemaster on say, a two tank dive? I don't want the crows on the fence to jump in with, "what good is a Divemaster?", so please just any input on basically who to tip, and what to tip them.

I just figure in $10 per person. Does this sound good? It's a weird thing to ask someone you tip...if it's enough.

Thanks for any help.

At least five bucks per tank per person is pretty standard in Florida. Two tanks = at least $10.00. If the divemaster does something special like then tip more.

scooby_diver · Sep 26, 2005

The group that I dive with usually does $10/boat ride per diver.

garyfotodiver · Sep 26, 2005

I usually give $10 per person per trip. There were some issues on my last trip and the DM was really great; $20.

Now, when my daughter took her first check-out dives and puk** on the DM, $30.

Such is life.

Paco · Sep 26, 2005

stevetim:
After doing some boat dives in Florida I have a couple of questions. What is the standard % rate to give a boat's captain or divemaster on say, a two tank dive? I don't want the crows on the fence to jump in with, "what good is a Divemaster?", so please just any input on basically who to tip, and what to tip them.

I just figure in $10 per person. Does this sound good? It's a weird thing to ask someone you tip...if it's enough.

Thanks for any help.

This from Clay Coleman's The Certified Diver's Handbook, copywrite 2004:
On pg 211:

"It is considered good manners to tip the crew once the boat has returned to the dock. Tipping should be 10 to 15 percent of the cost of the charter and is typically about $10 per diver for a day of diving. If you've developed a rapport with a helpful crew member or divemaster, go ahead and give the money to that person. However, tips are often distributed evenly among the crew. Many divemasters or crew members are not paid by the boat operator and rely solely on tips for their pay".

This help?

baitedstorm · Sep 26, 2005

As a Divemaster for several local charters, I would say $5 per tank is fair. If we went out of our way to make your day the best it could be, consider more, if we weren't up to par, consider less but make sure you inform the Captain.

I have gotten as muh as $75 from one person, and as little as $2 from others (my youngster that were being certified tipped me from their own pockets $2 each, it meant the world to me, so much that I saved that $4 in my scrapebook)..

roakey · Sep 26, 2005

search->advanced search, type in the keyword "tipping" (minus quotes), restrict the search to titles only, select the basic sucba discussion forum and ta da! 5 topics with almost 400 replies.

I bet your answer is already here on the board.

The search function is your friend.

Roak

Trwmodela · Sep 26, 2005

I normally tip $10.00 for a 2-tank dive to the DM. But, I recently paid $50.00 for the DM to make a deep wreck dive with me and I still tipped her $10.00. The dive boat operation was Bluewaters in Key Largo, FL.

Tim

AndyNZ · Sep 26, 2005

stevetim:
After doing some boat dives in Florida I have a couple of questions. What is the standard % rate to give a boat's captain or divemaster on say, a two tank dive?

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.

Aquanaut4ata · Sep 26, 2005

10-20% is pretty standard, depending on the level of service......more if you require rescuing.:05:

Standard DM gratuity?

Please register or login

stevetim

Guest

matts1w

Contributor

scooby_diver

Guest

garyfotodiver

Contributor

Paco

ScubaBoard Supporter

baitedstorm

Contributor

roakey

Old, not bold diver

Trwmodela

Contributor

AndyNZ

Contributor

Aquanaut4ata

Contributor

Similar threads