I certainly wish I'd recieved this advice from scubaboard when I asked the same question, so many years ago. 
Liveaboard tipping, what is the local custom?
- Thread starter wildbill9
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Dewi is a beautiful liveaboard. Staff was no better nor no worse than any other boat I've been on since though they did a few extra things with regard to warm towels and shoulder massages after dives and every time you'd been off the boat upon return, whole if staff would come out and singing a greeting. Massages a nicety and greeting great fun but were those things worth a change in tip from IDR equivalent of $10-20/day to $60+? (As 10% of lob cost at the time, ergo tip of $600 USD) that was very painful for me at the time as a Canadian, lol
CPrincess
Registered
I asked a similar question the other week and I have enjoyed reading the above responses.
I think many Americans would agree that we wish our own systems would take a few giant strides back from tipping! I am an employer in a non-tipped industry, although occasionally one of the employees will get a small tip. Honestly, they really seem to prefer when a customer returns with food items for them to snack on
In reality, even in the USA the only employees that are supposed to fall under the "tipped employee" wage rule are those that normally and customarily have gotten the majority of their wages in tips, i.e. waitresses, bellhops, bartenders, etc.
As for the rest of them, their employer needs to take responsibility for paying adequate wages. If your employer is not paying you enough then don't throw it back on the customers! A tip for these other industries is a token gesture and not meant to be the difference between making rent or not that month. I don't know when or where tipping in the USA got to this point, but I'm sure unless you are getting the tips then you are probably on the side of walking the trend backward to where it was a few short decades ago!
I think many Americans would agree that we wish our own systems would take a few giant strides back from tipping! I am an employer in a non-tipped industry, although occasionally one of the employees will get a small tip. Honestly, they really seem to prefer when a customer returns with food items for them to snack on
In reality, even in the USA the only employees that are supposed to fall under the "tipped employee" wage rule are those that normally and customarily have gotten the majority of their wages in tips, i.e. waitresses, bellhops, bartenders, etc. As for the rest of them, their employer needs to take responsibility for paying adequate wages. If your employer is not paying you enough then don't throw it back on the customers! A tip for these other industries is a token gesture and not meant to be the difference between making rent or not that month. I don't know when or where tipping in the USA got to this point, but I'm sure unless you are getting the tips then you are probably on the side of walking the trend backward to where it was a few short decades ago!
dirtfarmer
Contributor
matts
I'm a 20%er in the states also. The wife was a bartender, and always says you'll really make their day. And if you frequent a place it gets me better service.
Traveling I've always been a good tipper in restaurants and with dive guides.
Chilly
On my first LOB in Indo I tipped quite well at 15% of cost but it certainly wasn't the dewi. I made sure to put my name on the envelope hoping they might see it and remember me, but afterwords I felt foolish for tipping so much.
These days I'm a 100k/day to my guide and if on a LOB 100k/day to staff. On a LOB they are away from their families who they are very close with and it's very hard on them.
And when tipping my dive guide I always make sure to do it in private so as to avoid jealousy with other staff.
Thanks for all the replies! We will be on the Blue Manta Oct 20th to Oct 30th 2018 in Raja Ampat. Yes, there are cheaper boats but it is our anniversary and we liked what we read. Imho we are paying top dollar and kinda expect a trip that will blow our socks off. Where we booked thru they 'suggest" 10% to 20%, that was not going to happen! We will tip but not to the extent of their advice. We really hope this will be a trip dreams are made of Bill and Dee Dee
Bill and Dee Dee
billt4sf
Contributor
Thanks for all the replies! We will be on the Blue Manta Oct 20th to Oct 30th 2018 in Raja Ampat. Yes, there are cheaper boats but it is our anniversary and we liked what we read. Imho we are paying top dollar and kinda expect a trip that will blow our socks off. Where we booked thru they 'suggest" 10% to 20%, that was not going to happen! We will tip but not to the extent of their advice. We really hope this will be a trip dreams are made of
It will. Be safe.
BTW I always suggest that people take a few days diving somewhere easy before getting on a boat you've paid so much money for. Just to get 100% squared-away and relaxed.
I also suggest taking Pepto Bismol 4x/day as a preventative. Anyone can get the runs when going to a new area -- it doesn't mean bad water or bad food, just new bacteria. Good insurance on a trip you've invested a lot in!
- Bill
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Hey dirtfarmer, some of the places and boats that I frequent have a "rule" "SOP" etc., that supposedly all staff have agreed to and that is no individual tips.
This doesn't always stop me from discreetly slipping a little extra to anyone on staff that I feel has done me an extra service, whether that is my dive guide, a maid, boat boy or a bartender.
Last year a dive OP manager told me that he wanted the tips to come to the office, even if with an extra envelope for the guide, because he was determined to ensure that none of the guides were abusing the flora/fauna in an effort to assist photogs to get an extraordinary photo that they wouldn't otherwise have been able to capture, had the guide not mangled/moved coverage and harassed the elusive creature out into the open. He went on to tell me that he could easily tell which guide needed enhanced instruction on reef preservation because if Larry and Moe regularly made an extra $20 but Curly more often made an extra $100, well . . .it was apparent what was going on.
Leaders/management on another lob and another resort, both told the guests that the staff had agreed to sharing of the tip kitty because the guides can't be wonderful without support from the folks in the background whose efforts often aren't as evident.
This position makes sense to me though I'm still inclined to slip just that little bit extra to my guide if he's made my time enjoyable on the boat as well as under the surface.
This doesn't always stop me from discreetly slipping a little extra to anyone on staff that I feel has done me an extra service, whether that is my dive guide, a maid, boat boy or a bartender.
Last year a dive OP manager told me that he wanted the tips to come to the office, even if with an extra envelope for the guide, because he was determined to ensure that none of the guides were abusing the flora/fauna in an effort to assist photogs to get an extraordinary photo that they wouldn't otherwise have been able to capture, had the guide not mangled/moved coverage and harassed the elusive creature out into the open. He went on to tell me that he could easily tell which guide needed enhanced instruction on reef preservation because if Larry and Moe regularly made an extra $20 but Curly more often made an extra $100, well . . .it was apparent what was going on.
Leaders/management on another lob and another resort, both told the guests that the staff had agreed to sharing of the tip kitty because the guides can't be wonderful without support from the folks in the background whose efforts often aren't as evident.
This position makes sense to me though I'm still inclined to slip just that little bit extra to my guide if he's made my time enjoyable on the boat as well as under the surface.
Luko
Contributor
That says more about the dive OP manager than his guides or the people tipping the guides.
It's strange/weird/scary to hear that some people think that :
1- everything is driven by tipping money
2- some guides are not supposed to find photo ops without cheating a bit.. so presumably that local guides can't be more skilled than a gringo OP manager on biology.
3- all indonesian guides are equally skilled and knowledgeable (Does he even diffrentiate their names or are they just "those Indonesian people" to him? or maybe he just whistles at them?)
I used the word "economic imperialism" in a previous post now some other words come to my mind like "control freak", "colonialism" and "patronizing"...
Luko, sigh
Why not consider that my paraphrasing may not be that good. Why not consider that it is true, in that I've seen it with my own eyes? If a guide goes too far for me, I wave them off of it myself. If a guide is continually manipulating/manhandling, they'll may get a lesser tip and will get a word from me. So consider that I've related this story with a lot of my personal projection on it.
Where do you get the idea that all Indo dive guides are equally skilled? This hasn't been my experience at all and last year, I waved off a guide entirely, not because he was overly eager but because he wasn't helpful or attentive in any way at all. They're not all Aswar and some of the guides aren't even close. Myself, As much as I like to dive with Aswar, I may actually prefer Rulli!
Why not consider that my paraphrasing may not be that good. Why not consider that it is true, in that I've seen it with my own eyes? If a guide goes too far for me, I wave them off of it myself. If a guide is continually manipulating/manhandling, they'll may get a lesser tip and will get a word from me. So consider that I've related this story with a lot of my personal projection on it.
Where do you get the idea that all Indo dive guides are equally skilled? This hasn't been my experience at all and last year, I waved off a guide entirely, not because he was overly eager but because he wasn't helpful or attentive in any way at all. They're not all Aswar and some of the guides aren't even close. Myself, As much as I like to dive with Aswar, I may actually prefer Rulli!
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