Tipping protocol

[kjack_1]

I've lived in a few different countries where you went out to eat - they included the 'tip' on the bill. Worked okay for me, until the day I got some really crappy service and there was no way in Hades I was going to tip. I had to go all the way up the food chain to get the tip removed. At each stop I had to explain why I was so dissatisfied. I've also left tips on the table, even though the tip was already included, because I thought the service was above and beyond the norm.

Now - for dive ops, I would have no problem having them tack on the culturally acceptable tip. Hey, it makes it easier for me cuz then I don't have to worry about carrying cash with me....it gets wet and soggy.

Recent trip to Coz, I watched the other divers throw a couple bucks into the conch. Maybe one or two USD. I have no idea what they pay their DM's, boat crew, whatever. Don't care really. The end of the two tank dive my wife and I decided we had a pretty good time and were pretty well taken care of - not that we need help - but it was a nice gesture on their part and it's how they operate their business. Anyhow, we had a good time. After they realized we could dive all by our wlittle selves, they left us alone for the most part so we could dive and didn't have to fart around with us. We threw in $15USD per person...$7.50 per tank. I think we tipped just because they left us alone - not so much the service level. LOL

 

[vladimir]

I think we tipped just because they left us alone - not so much the service level. LOL

This is how a dive boat gets the maximum tip from me, too, and generally they seem to figure that out pretty quickly.

 

[moodbeast]

I think tipping the boat crew $5-$10 a day goes along way for them considering the exchange rate (i'm not wealthy). What I've liked about my experiences there were the diving crew always emphasized that they have already been paid and basically the tip goes to the locals who do the more strenuous parts of the job. I wish this practice was more prevalent. Have a great time wherever you go!

 

[azchipka]

- As a recreational diver, I resent being told how much I have to tip AND in other cases, being expected to tip - including being hijacked by a guy walking around with a jar at the end of a dive on many occasions.

I tip nothing when they do this and I specifically tell them that is why i'm not tipping. Its completely rude.

- So now we have our own dive operation, where soliciting for tips is expressly forbidden, every tip we receive makes us feel good - that we've earned it, that we've made someone's day or vacation or dive experience something special.

This should be the standard everywhere. The people who are going to tip will do it with out being reminded about it.

we always say 'whatever you feel is right'. (Hmmm, perhaps we should put some guidelines on our website if you guys ever manage to resolve this complex subject between you all!).

This is my answer all of the time, there is no other right answer. I have had a couple of students who where with me for a week or more who pressed and I just said its easiest to look at it like any other service industry such as a restaurant.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I...
I have had a couple of students who where with me for a week or more who pressed and I just said its easiest to look at it like any other service industry such as a restaurant.

See, this may be useful for people diving in the US but it doesn't answer the more general tipping question, because in some countries you customarily leave no tip at all for restaurant servers, cab drivers or other service industry peple, in others it's customary to round up your change to the nearest whatever so as to leave a few coins .... In US restaurants we tip mainly because, whether we understand it or not, restaurant servers are deliberately underpaid (with the government's blessing--yes, you can legally pay them less than minimum wage) on the basis that a major part of their compensation is expected to come from tips. Is that really analogous to the dive industry?

 

[Scubagolf]

For "Hawaii-style" dive boat service I usually tip $20 for a $125 two tank dive, unless things are pretty screwed up service-wise, which rarely happens. For non-escorted dives on dive boats in California I tip $5/tank.

 

[vladimir]

In US restaurants we tip mainly because, whether we understand it or not, restaurant servers are deliberately underpaid (with the government's blessing--yes, you can legally pay them less than minimum wage) on the basis that a major part of their compensation is expected to come from tips. Is that really analogous to the dive industry?

I think in the United States it's perfectly analogous to the dive industry, except waiters won't work for zero salary, while divemasters apparently will in many cases.

 

[Deefstes]

waiters won't work for zero salary, while divemasters apparently will in many cases.

And now the diving public should stand in for someone being unable to make sound life choices. I would like to understand what kind of person chooses to do a job without remuneration. Apart from the situation he puts himself in, he also propagates an attitude that it is OK for dive operators not to pay their DM's.

 

[DennisS]

And now the diving public should stand in for someone being unable to make sound life choices. I would like to understand what kind of person chooses to do a job without remuneration. Apart from the situation he puts himself in, he also propagates an attitude that it is OK for dive operators not to pay their DM's.

The volunteers definitely lower the salary bar for those that are trying to make a living at it. It's supply and demand. The supply, unfortunately for those that are trying to make a career out of it, far exceeds the demands. Salaries are based on supply and demand and operators know they can get people for next to nothing. Unfortunately the customers are being asked to subsidize the salary.

 

[MauiScubaSteve]

The volunteers definitely lower the salary bar for those that are trying to make a living at it. It's supply and demand. The supply, unfortunately for those that are trying to make a career out of it, far exceeds the demands. Salaries are based on supply and demand and operators know they can get people for next to nothing. Unfortunately the customers are being asked to subsidize the salary.

I only have boat diving experience in Florida and Hawaii, both as an employee and as a customer. Admittedly the Florida experience was only operators out of the same Key Largo canal as Ocean Divers is in. I have seen very, very few dive boat crew that were not at least new instructors, and none that were volunteers. The OP I worked for in Florida was a 6-pac (Sundowners?) and they did guided diving! The tips were pretty good when I worked and the Captain (also a Course Director) made a serious pitch for me not to go back to Hawaii.

Ocean Divers has a couple cattle boats and the DM on most of those trips was an instructor (I made 200 dives with them). They had one part time Divemaster, but he was paid nearly the same lousy rate as the instructors who did the same job. The average tip on a boat like the Santana is less than $5/tank, 'cause there are almost always people who don't tip. You must request and pay extra for a guide with OD.

Here in Hawaii nearly every charter trip is a guided dive. In the last 8 years of working and diving in the Hawaiian Islands I have heard of less than 10 non instructor guides. They get a little less than the instructor guides, but the tips are an equal split. As far as the wages paid to the crew, the customers are really the reason the wages are so low. If the owner paid a reasonable rate he would have to raise the price of the charter, and then very few people would go diving with them. It is the same story with cheap 3-day certifications. Most customers are only interested in the lowest priced trip or instruction.

The only way to stay in business is to keep your prices low, and that means paying the help low wages. ScubaBoard is part of that machine, as many of the posts here are about finding the most for the least. I first came here looking for gear to do my Instructor Factory, then a year later to chose a P&S camera. Each time I was trying to spend wisely; it is the nature of the world now. It is also a reason tipping is part of the culture and it is also a reason dive shops are going under.