Tipping

[Captain HardHead]

How do you tip when on a dive boat.

Do you tip the Divemaster, Captain and Crew individually, or just the Divemaster and hope he shares it?

Also, how much do you tip for a two tank and a three tank dive?

...

 

[sherilynne]

I don't know what the "correct" policy is but I was taught to tip. I figure I tip a waiter at least 10-15% just for food so if the divemaster is really nice to me I'll tip that, if like on this one dive boat they really pamper you, I've been known to tip more. I've not seen many people do it though , especially in cayman and florida. I only saw one to two people out of 15 on a trip tip. I know that divemasters don't make much and I think they usually work pretty hard and they deserve it. Plus, if you go to the same place and they know you tip they give you preferential treatment. I once got a free dive from a boat where my buddy and I were the only ones who tipped. Of course, I tipped him for that dive too.

 

[dfishwoman]

A lot of people do not think about this factor when they go diving. Maybe they are the same people who do not tip in restaurants either! 10 to 15 % of the trip amount on a boat out to the Gulf seems to be the norm. Most of the dive boats split the tips amongst the divemasters who work exceptionally hard for their money. If you are pampered more and they go above and beyond for you feel free to empty out your wallet above the 15% line, it won't go unappreciated I am sure!

 

[GWNDWN]

That's pretty much what I've always tipped....usually about 15 to 20 bucks a day.

A lot of people do not think about this factor when they go diving. Maybe they are the same people who do not tip in restaurants either! 10 to 15 % of the trip amount on a boat out to the Gulf seems to be the norm. Most of the dive boats split the tips amongst the divemasters who work exceptionally hard for their money. If you are pampered more and they go above and beyond for you feel free to empty out your wallet above the 15% line, it won't go unappreciated I am sure!

 

[Chunky]

I tip $15-20 per day.

 

[smash]

I've got a few rules of thumb, depending on where I'm diving.

Most of these were formulated after a lot of discussion with other divers on other message boards and after many dive trips:

On day trips, I usually tip $5 per tank to be shared by the crew. If it's a day trip into the Gulf of Mexico or if there's been exceptional service, then more per tank, maybe up to $10 or $12 per tank.

On liveaboards, I start with 10% of the charter rate and adjust upwards for exceptional service (or downwards for bad service). That base amount I give to the captain or whomever is collecting the tips to be distributed among the crew. Then I'll go individually to specific crew members who may have taken extra special care of me and my gear or who may have done something for me that was above and beyond the expected and personally hand them a little bit more gratuity. This is for boats with an international crew.

For boats in exotic/third world locations with local crew, I also take into consideration the local economy and cost of living. Tipping such crew members according to the formula above (which is geared to first world economies) may be more detrimental than helpful in the larger picture. In such cases, I would determine what the typical wage/cost of living index is for the local crew and adjust my tip accordingly. It might not seem like a lot of money to me, but to them it's still huge, and you don't go messing with the structure of their economy. If I want to make it more valuable to me, I might add a gift of some sort -- maybe a small piece of dive gear that they liked or a t-shirt from the States or something else that can serve as a feather in their caps.

 

[dfishwoman]

Yup!

That's pretty much what I've always tipped....usually about 15 to 20 bucks a day.

That would make the tip on a trip to the FG about $40 for a two day trip. Which is about 10% of the total cost.

 

[Magenta]

How do you tip when on a dive boat.

Do you tip the Divemaster, Captain and Crew individually, or just the Divemaster and hope he shares it?

Also, how much do you tip for a two tank and a three tank dive?

...

Well, on our Coz trip, we tipped $5 per person/per tank and gave it to our DM. I believe that he splits it with the captain, but the captain did a LOT of work too. We tipped extra on our last day as well, which included my first night dive and involved extra "help" from the DM .

 

[sherilynne]

That would make the tip on a trip to the FG about $40 for a two day trip. Which is about 10% of the total cost.

When I went last year it was an unstated rule of thumb that a minimal tip for the trip was $40, most everyone on those trips tips at least that, at least from what I've seen.