Tipping

[MikeJacobs]

raviepoo once bubbled...
snip...
Trust me, if you are tipping out $10 per day to the staff of a first class liveaboard they WILL remember you - as a cheap-skate. They might not be so eager to mop up your diarreah the next time you come aboard.

Honestly, if you can't afford to tip the staff you have no business being on the boat in the first place. Save your pennies and find a hobby you can afford.

lol is this assuming that diarreah is part of the trip or is it optional?

But seriously, no need to get so heated about it, poo. Don't let anybody tell you what you "should" tip. Each according to their means, experience and conscience. Otherwise it would be a fee, and not a tip.

 

[Charlie99]

LUBOLD8431 once bubbled...
Now, other boats I go on, the owner is the operator, and sometimes, his son is there to help crew the boat. I have no problem giving the son a tip, but not the owner. It just seems wrong to give him money for the charter, and then another extra bit of cash too.

The principal owner of one of my favorite boats is the DM, and his partner is the Captain. He's a great DM and the boat is very well run. Should I NOT tip him just because he's the owner? No way!

Nobody is getting rich running a 6 pack, even at the high charter rates of Hawaii. I gladly leave him an extra $20 or $30 per trip.

 

[scubasean]

raviepoo once bubbled...
I think $10 per day for a liveaboard verges on abuse. Think about it. On a liveaboard you might do 4 - 5 dives a day. If you did that on a charter boat your $10 per day tip would break down into $2 per dive - cheap, cheap, cheap. And I'm not even taking into account all of the other service the staff provides during the 24 hours a day you spend in their care.

The absolute MINIMUM I would consider tipping is 10% of the cost of the trip unless the crew is rude and negligent. For good service I give more. On a $1800 7 day liveaboard trip with good service I would probably tip 15% or $270, a far cry from the 70$ indicated by some others in this thread. The MINIMUM tip I would consider would be $180.

Liveaboard crews work like dogs. They help you in and out of the water. They fix your faulty gear. They are responsible for hauling you out of the water if you do something really stupid. They scrub all the boat's filthy places. They fill your tanks so you can do five dives a day. They fix engines. They mop up vomit. They muck out the heads. They take turns staying up all night, navigating and/or driving the boat while you sleep off the last evening's rum punch. They wake before the sun to be sure that your coffee is ready in the morning. They deserve both respect and compensation for all of their hard work.

Trust me, if you are tipping out $10 per day to the staff of a first class liveaboard they WILL remember you - as a cheap-skate. They might not be so eager to mop up your diarreah the next time you come aboard.

Honestly, if you can't afford to tip the staff you have no business being on the boat in the first place. Save your pennies and find a hobby you can afford.

Excellent points, and I'll certainly keep them in mind when I do my three-day trip at the end of this month.

Seems like boat tips should mimic what I use in restaurants...Begin at 20% and round down for terrible service...

10% for my trip would be just under $100 ($47 each for my son and I) and I'll use that as a floor...

Now, all I need to figure out is how to get my son to earn his half...heh

 

[pcscuba]

Depending on the trip and the crew, anywhere from $10-$20

 

[Dyno Bill]

I havnt had the opportunity to do a week long trip, I usually do single day or two day trips in our local waters. I will vary the tip according to how good the trip went. Its the captains job to find neet spots that are in accordance with the skill on the boat. The crew is the everything else guys and of course gals. If its a really good trip then I will tip 20 bucks for a single day. There are usually 4 dives on a trip. The first is a deep jump, then a midwater type of spot and the last 2 are hopefully in a bay with enough area and stuff to see that 2 jumps can be made there and everyone still has a lot of fun. This can all be done with ease in So Cal waters so if it isnt then the tip shrinks a bit. Anyway between 10-20 bucks for a single day. This is a typical Cal Dive boat.http://www.diveboat.com/

 

[MikeJacobs]

Dyno Bill once bubbled...
SNIP...This can all be done with ease in So Cal waters so if it isnt then the tip shrinks a bit. Anyway between 10-20 bucks for a single day. This is a typical Cal Dive boat.http://www.diveboat.com/

Oh, I miss those big 'ol So Cal dive boats, they're ROCKS compared to what we use out here in Florida. We see more here, though.

 

[augie]

On our typical two-tank day trips we usually give $5 per diver directly to the mate/divemaster. We haven't tipped the captain, but it kind of "feels" as though his compensation is a part of the boat fee.

At the conclusion of last week's five day, two tanks per day trip in the Keys I gave the mate/divemaster $40 and the captain $20.

That works out to about 22% of the trip price.

It's an interesting topic - no one at the dive shop I usually use, or at the one we used in the Keys ever mentioned tipping, so you are never quite sure what's the norm, what they consider to be fair, generous, or cheap.

 

[metridium]

raviepoo wrote...
I think $10 per day for a liveaboard verges on abuse. Think about it.

Take it up with the operators who recommend that amount. If they're happy with the quality of the crew and there isn't excessive turnover, then it would tend to mean that the level of tipping is satisfactory, no?

raviepoo wrote...
Liveaboard crews work like dogs. They help you in and out of the water. They fix your faulty gear. They are responsible for hauling you out of the water if you do something really stupid. They scrub all the boat's filthy places. They fill your tanks so you can do five dives a day. They fix engines. They mop up vomit. They muck out the heads. They take turns staying up all night, navigating and/or driving the boat while you sleep off the last evening's rum punch. They wake before the sun to be sure that your coffee is ready in the morning. They deserve both respect and compensation for all of their hard work.

They certainly do; we can agree on that. But compensation for most of what you describe is called wages. Gratuities are to cover optional personal services, not inseparable components of the goods or services you're purchasing.

If I use the optional services, I tip appropriately. If I'm self-sufficient (this generally applies only on day boats), there's nothing to tip for.

 

[scubasean]

metridium once bubbled...




If I use the optional services, I tip appropriately. If I'm self-sufficient (this generally applies only on day boats), there's nothing to tip for.

May I ask....What are the optional services you are talking about?

Do you tip waiters/waitresses? If so, for what?

Just curious...

Sean

 

[metridium]

scubasean wrote...
May I ask....What are the optional services you are talking about?

Leaving the choice of site up to my group or myself, helping me reboard, lending a hand at other times, finding loaner gear if a hose bursts, etc. Others appreciate help setting up their gear (or even having it done for them), but that's not something I need or want.

scubasean wrote...
Do you tip waiters/waitresses? If so, for what?

Normally, yes. I tip for keeping my glass filled, providing extra bread or rice, and bringing the check at the right moment. I don't tip for take out, or at a buffet, or when the waiter/waitress delivers the food and abandons the table til checkout.