How much to tip dive masters and boat crew in Cozumel?

[Lorenzoid]

@JamesBon92007 , it sounds like you're conflating charity with rewarding someone for service of a quality beyond what he's being paid for. Charity, taxes, etc., can be ways to improve an economy, not by visitors feeling they should add 10% to everything they are charged. As one who leans left of center, I'm okay with redistribution of wealth to help those less fortunate than I, but the concept of tipping is an awkward and inefficient way to go about that goal.

 

[kixy1]

I don't tip Uber drivers....... You rate the driver, too, so one would think that good drivers ARE rewarded in a way. When Uber was first introduced, there wasn't even a provision for tipping electronically, and no one I knew pulled out cash and tipped the driver. Then, Uber added a tipping feature to the app. Hmmph......

I TOTALLY agree with you!! This service was designed without the option to tip and now there it is... Pissed me off, but us Americans can't get away from the tip culture. WE ruined it. Everywhere. I guess it's only fair we get the pay back at home.
FYI: Did you know the drivers get to rate YOU too? I've wondered about that... will drivers ignore a request from a user that doesn't tip?

 

[Efka76]

I see that most of this forum members are from US and they do not understand why Europeans usually do not tip or give small tips. In US there is i no set minimum wage and many waitresses, DM (maybe) get very small salary and it is expected that they will get their salary from tips. This is unwritten rule. Accordingly, waitress feels robbed if she / he does not get tip from customer. In Europe usually there are set minimum salaries which does not depend on person's performance. If customer feels that waitress, DM performance was excellent he / she usually leaves tips as appreciation of services received. People from US should not assume that the whole world is the same and the same rules apply everywhere. For example, if go for diving and i receive normal quality of services (for which i paid full price), why should i pay tips? I work in finance industry and if my customers feel that i performed excellent service they say "big thanks" to me or inform my boss. I never ever received extra payment from customer because i performed excellent service. Maybe bottle of wine during Christmas time

Also, i think that people from US spoil other markets if they generously tip for normal quality services. Then they set people expectations that they should get tips even for ordinary services. I always tip if i like service, however, I never tip if I am not satisfied with quality of service.

My suggestion to fellow US divers: when you go to another country, make a research about culture and habits (you will be really surprised that systems and wages) are different from US and act accordingly. Also, i like when you buy service and you know what is expected. E.g. I was in liveaboard in Egypt and it was clearly written that tips (even suggested amount was included) were included in itinerary. Then i was able to properly assess cost of my trip. Also, there were 3 guides and i liked 1 guide with whom i always dived. At the end of trip i personally tipped that guide (in addition to general tip for the whole crew) because he took care of me and my wife and i he did much more than i expected from him.

Also, people should not assume that DMs are poor. When i was talking to Egyptian DM he mentioned that he is very happy to work in liveaboards as his salary is way above average salary in Egypt. People richness depend not on how much they earn (in absolute numbers) but on many factors such as taxation system, average salary in that country, living costs and etc. For example, Egyptian with 10 times less salary then New Yorker might have better life style than his colleague in NY Always remember that.

 

[Lorenzoid]

@Efka76 , the "problem" with Cozumel is that it is very oriented toward US visitors because of its proximity to the US. The American tipping culture has very much spilled over into Cozumel as it has everywhere in the world frequented by Americans. I would imagine that if you were to visit the US, you would research how to tip and act accordingly, just as you so correctly point out that we Americans should research how the systems work in countries that we may visit. I regret to say that the relatively few (compared with the number of Americans) Europeans, Australians, etc., who visit Cozumel may need to consider tipping more like an American than like a European or, for that matter, like most Mexicans in less-touristed parts of the country. Egypt is an interesting example, because I suspect the vast majority of divers who visit Egypt are Europeans and they do not tip very much. Now that more Americans are visiting Egypt, we face the same cultural conundrum that you Europeans face when visiting Cozumel. I agree with your sentiment that all of us, no matter what part of the world we are from, should research our dive destination and adjust how we tip accordingly.

 

[Efka76]

@Efka76 , the "problem" with Cozumel is that it is very oriented toward US visitors because of its proximity to the US. The American tipping culture has very much spilled over into Cozumel as it has everywhere in the world frequented by Americans. I would imagine that if you were to visit the US, you would research how to tip and act accordingly, just as you so correctly point out that we Americans should research how the systems work in countries that we may visit. I regret to say that the relatively few (compared with the number of Americans) Europeans, Australians, etc., who visit Cozumel may need to consider tipping more like an American than like a European--or, for that matter, like most Mexicans in less-touristed parts of the country. Egypt is an interesting example, because I suspect the vast majority of divers who visit Egypt are Europeans and they do not tip very much. Now that more Americans are visiting Egypt, we face the same cultural conundrum that you Europeans face when visiting Cozumel. I agree with your sentiment that all of us, no matter what part of the world we are from, should research our dive destination and adjust how we tip accordingly.

Very well said! yes, if i go to US, i will tip accordingly as this is a part of a deal.

 

[oly5050user]

I see that most of this forum members are from US and they do not understand why Europeans usually do not tip or give small tips. In US there is i no set minimum wage and many waitresses, DM (maybe) get very small salary and it is expected that they will get their salary from tips. This is unwritten rule. Accordingly, waitress feels robbed if she / he does not get tip from customer. In Europe usually there are set minimum salaries which does not depend on person's performance. If customer feels that waitress, DM performance was excellent he / she usually leaves tips as appreciation of services received. People from US should not assume that the whole world is the same and the same rules apply everywhere. For example, if go for diving and i receive normal quality of services (for which i paid full price), why should i pay tips? I work in finance industry and if my customers feel that i performed excellent service they say "big thanks" to me or inform my boss. I never ever received extra payment from customer because i performed excellent service. Maybe bottle of wine during Christmas time

You are so wrong. There is a set minimum wage for wait staff here in the USA. It is below standard minimum wage as it is expected that tips are part of their pay. Wait staff is absolutely robbed if you do not leave a tip as the house receipts are used as a basis by the IRS and wait staff are required to pay tax on a tip that you did not leave. So you can now see how they are right in feeling you robbed them.

 

[Lorenzoid]

You are so wrong. There is a set minimum wage for wait staff here in the USA. It is below standard minimum wage as it is expected that tips are part of their pay. Wait staff is absolutely robbed if you do not leave a tip as the house receipts are used as a basis by the IRS and wait staff are required to pay tax on a tip that you did not leave. So you can now see how they are right in feeling you robbed them.

Maybe it's that English isn't Efka's native language, but I got the impression that's exactly what he meant.

 

[Efka76]

You are so wrong. There is a set minimum wage for wait staff here in the USA. It is below standard minimum wage as it is expected that tips are part of their pay. Wait staff is absolutely robbed if you do not leave a tip as the house receipts are used as a basis by the IRS and wait staff are required to pay tax on a tip that you did not leave. So you can now see how they are right in feeling you robbed them.

English is my not native language. However, i told you the same fact. In US waitress and other personnel wages are very very small and are significantly below wage average. Accordingly, tips comprise such people salary. In this case restaurants, dive centers do not need to pay higher salaries to personnel, IRS is cheated (waitresses, DMs, etc.) do not pay taxes on received tips. Everybody knows that and does not do anything. In Europe there is a minimal wage which guarantees that person can survive on that salary). Next time please read posts more carefully before replying and saying that somebody is totally wrong.

 

[Christi]

In US there is i no set minimum wage and many waitresses, DM (maybe) get very small salary and it is expected that they will get their salary from tips.

Not actually accurate. There are set minimum wages in the US also in Mexico.

Also, i think that people from US spoil other markets if they generously tip for normal quality services. Then they set people expectations that they should get tips even for ordinary services.

Agree 100%. And before anyone tells me that I "must not have worked in the service industry" - I have - I put myself through College and continued for several years after working in bars and restaurants. I tip generously when earned. I tip minimally when service bad - and I have with held tip when service was exceptionally RUDE

My suggestion to fellow US divers: when you go to another country, make a research about culture and habits (you will be really surprised that systems and wages) are different from US and act accordingly.

YES!!!

Also, people should not assume that DMs are poor. When i was talking to Egyptian DM he mentioned that he is very happy to work in liveaboards as his salary is way above average salary in Egypt. People richness depend not on how much they earn (in absolute numbers) but on many factors such as taxation system, average salary in that country, living costs and etc. For example, Egyptian with 10 times less salary then New Yorker might have better life style than his colleague in NY Always remember that.

YES!!! And also, don't assume because a culture doesn't have all of the material things you may consider as "luxury" that they are poor or even value those material possessions. It's actually insulting at times when people take pity on the culture yet have zero understanding of the things that are actually important in a culture.

Also, i think that people from US spoil other markets if they generously tip for normal quality services. Then they set people expectations that they should get tips even for ordinary services. I always tip if i like service, however, I never tip if I am not satisfied with quality of service.

Again, YES!

Thank you for your very astute observations and sharing here.

 

[DandyDon]

Which brings the discussion back to the original question? How to tip?