Tipping your DM

[Divenomad]

Um, where did $50.00 come from? $25.00 for the jar on a day boat. That's a quarter what a boat charges here, roughly. That does tend to be a larger tip than most people give here. Lots of folks don't even bother to tip, despite good crews on good boats.I tend to tip a little better because on another day, I am in their shoes. I know how hard they work. I make sure they get their shoes back. We can't afford to buy new ones

 

[wreckchick]

I'm a little surprised by some of the attitudes on this thread.

Gratuities are what they are; a way of saying thank you. They are never required but are somewhat expected. Just to get the easy part out of the way, I suggest $5-10 per person per tank, adjust up or down depending on how anyone feels the boat crew did.

For all of you out there being outraged at the injustice of being coerced into tipping or how crappily dive operators pay their crew or looking down your nose at the boat crew saying that they (we/me) have made stupid life decisions if we choose to take a lower paying job to dive, but "at least we live in paradise!"

Do you really think that you would pay $20.00 more per trip if a big "PLEASE DON'T TIP THE CREW!!" sign was posted? My experience is that most people will go for the lower priced dive option and tip less or not at all and that we would still not be able to pay the crew the extra because the boat would be empty.

Another consideration is that if the 'tip' is included then what is the crew working for? You wouldn't get the service because there's no benefit to going to extra mile to be more helpful.

Yes, we live in paradise. Yes, we dive a lot. However, working dives are not pleasure dives. We are working. We are keeping track of everyone, we know where the boat is, we know where the cool stuff is and we are fully prepared to handle any emergency that our divers can throw at us. You may never have seen that stuff but we can, and do, deal with it far more often than you might imagine. We also pay $8.00 for a gallon of milk, we were paying $4.89 for a gallon of gas at the peak of gas prices last year, and we're paying $800.00 a month (or more) for not much in the way of housing.

Becoming a dive professional is a lifestyle choice, no doubt about it. I don't get health insurance, a 401k, a pension plan or the latest and greatest toys. I do pay around $800.00 a year just to keep myself able to continue doing what I do. My Jeep is not what anyone would consider anything but functional. I love my life, I love my job.

Your boat crew works very hard for not much money because we are all willing to make the sacrifices that it takes to do what we do every day.

You don't have to tip. You shouldn't tip if you feel like you got crappy service. But, if you feel the crew did a reasonable job or better and you appreciate having those people there to make your vacation fun and that the prices you pay are reasonable, then open up the wallets and let them know. We do it for love, but that doesn't mean we don't have to eat.

Rachel

 

[Rogersea]

I have been in and around this business for a pretty long time, usually in a part time or "avocation" scenario, but also as a customer and have dived in several locations around the world. My rule of thumb is that there is "no rule of thumb".. I consider each outing on its own merits and tip accordingly and it really depends on the DM and how helpful he/she has been to me or my group.

However, I would have available approx 15-20% of my total diving budget incase I have consistantly outstanding service.. If I run into a DM working for "tips only" I dont allow that to sway the amount I decide to tip.

 

[firstdive2005]

I dove at Comox, Vancouver island. The boat captain was the whole crew and he also owns the dive shop. We payed premium prices for the ride, tanks and weights. I think he threw the briefing in as an extra. Kinda nice, I hadn't been to that wreck before. I did not tip him. He did not deserve one to me.
I dive Mexico a lot. There, the dms and boat captains generally spoil my all of a sudden lazy a$$. They schlepp the tanks, load the lead, and try to put my kit together if I dont stop them. They usually throw a towel at me once out of the water. Offer me a bottle of tequila light (water). Usually fruit at the SI also. I pick 6 pac boat ops. The dm or crew try to get to know you with generalized questions that make for comraderie. I like that. I tip for that. I am a Canadian.

ps. - to the ones that said 'the people who choose diving as a viable profession are some type of fools or idiots for this choice of theirs', I hope you one day you are not in the position to loose the present job you have as you are the type to instantly go on welfare and drain my resources. Why not commend those that would put their life at your service. Just a thought.

 

[AmyDelyla]

I always tip the DM who is leading my particular group of divers and the boat captain. There was only one instance where tipped my DM very shabbily. He gave us a very short and rushed dive briefing...he quickly glazed over the details of the dive site and instead reiterated over and over how we must stay as a very tight group in the water. Okay, no problem there.

Well, once we got into the water, he bolted ahead of everyone at such a pace that no other diver in the group felt they could or wanted to keep up with him. I realize that he probably sees that stretch of reef very frequently, but this was a once in a lifetime for most of us on the boat and we wanted time to look around. If he wanted us to stay in a group so badly, how could he not notice that every diver was dragging behind? At first we all struggled to keep up and then we just gave up and did our own thing as a group of customers.

During the surface interval, we asked him if he could slow down the pace on the second dive. He gave some vague remark about being able to reach a particular ridge on the first dive to explain his speed.

On the second dive, he did the same thing but worse. Once we got to the turn around point, he simple bolted all the way back to the boat without our group. For the entire second half of the dive, we couldn't even see him. Thankfully the straight shot back to the boat was not difficult to follow.

After the dive, I asked him to sign my log book. He did, but not before giving me a speech about how it is unnecessary to ask DMs to sign log books. I should just ask my dive buddies in the future and not my DMs.

I have been on just over 50 dives in my life and this is the only one where I have received bad service. I'd say that is a pretty good ratio! Having this poor service just makes me want to tip my future DMs more when they do an excellent job. I guess you don't fully appreciate good service until the day you have to do without. I mean is it that big of a deal to just smile and sign my book? No other dive master has complained to me before. They have always seemed more than happy to do it. How hard can it be to just slow down and enjoy the view?

I usually tip an excellent dive master and captain team 20% of my total trip cost and have them split it up as they see fit. Thankfully, all but 1 have been excellent! In this case, I literally gave the guy a couple bucks and gave the rest to the captain.

As a side note, I am often traveling on a shoe-string budget. There have been times where I have tipped all I can afford, but wished I could have tipped more. In these cases I try to make sure that I give even more verbal thanks than usual. I have never had a dive master (with the exception of the one mentioned above) be less than gracious and very thankful when receiving a tip, regardless of the amount. Again, this just makes me wish I had more to give!

 

[Beyond_Diving]

I am an instructor... I also have a PhD in biology. So why do I do this job which pays me in a month what I was making in a day at my other job? It's easy. bigger office (also, unlike most of my coworkers, I dont live off of what I make). Most dive shop owners see it this way... they want their people to make $Z. so they'll pay them Y (about 1/2) and expect that with tips they will make up $X (the rest). Sure, you've already paid your trip, but guess what, we (instructors and dms) know where all the cool stuff is on the reef/wreck you are diving. We set up your equipment for you, even rinse it out for you (which is not part of our job descriptions), we have to carry around tons of extra weight because half the time people dont even know how much weight they need.. It would be a lot easier for me to just give a briefing with a site description and instructions on how to get off/on the boat and then go for a dive and not care whether or not you have a good time and see lots of things. let you set up and rinse your own gear while I enjoy the boat ride to/from the site. So if you expect a good service and you appreciate good service, then tip your crew. it's as simple as that. if not, when you come back the next day/month/year we will remember you, and you get nothing from us other than what you paid for.

 

[jrm1900]

There is a lot of pleasure in giving, being it a tip or anything else, since I like to please myself, I do tip DM’S, no less than US $ 20 for an average good service.

 

[Standard11]

still new here and only been on a couple boat dives and what ive heard/seen is ~10 per tank for tip is the norm. so 20 per trip out. but that is more of a minimun with giving more for better service. we went out 1st of april and the captain had breakfast bagels and drinks for everyone coming out, left dock at 730 am.

 

[scubak]

I tip DMs for the service received, just like I would to any "tipped" person!
Being in a "tipped" industry by choice, I appreciate a gratuity!
My norm is 10US min and on up from there!
K

 

[daniel1948]

I like nature trips. Hiking, snorkeling, African safari (twice, when I lived in Europe, and Africa was closer) and now diving as well. The guides, DMs, and other service workers in this industry are typically paid low wages, but they choose this work because of the surroundings. They are typically either poor people native to the region, or people who love nature and accept lower compensation because they love the place. While there are bound to be exceptions, and people who have a bad day from time to time, they usually possess a contagious enthusiasm and a ready smile. I could do any of these activities on my own, but the guides and DMs multiply my enjoyment by their knowledge, experience, and their own joy in what they do, and by saving me some of the back-breaking labor (carrying tanks, or in the case of hiking guides, carrying emergency gear). If these people had not chosen these low-paying professions, my life would be poorer for it as my enjoyment of these activities would be lessened. A tip is both a small increase in their income, and a way of telling them that I really appreciate what they do (I also thank them verbally). I want to encourage them and others like them to continue in their job so that there will always be dedicated people there to help me get the most enjoyment out of my nature trips. These people want to make my trip more enjoyable, because they love the outdoors, or the ocean, and they want others to love it also. A tip is more than added salary. It is a way of telling them they are appreciated, and everyone wants to feel appreciated. They're more likely to stay in their profession if they feel appreciated.

On my first diving trip I didn't know how much was a good tip, and I gave the boat $10 some days and $15 other days (for a two-tank day outing). They made it clear that all tips would be divided equally, regardless of who we handed it to. I like that because it makes it easier for me. If I had a really bad guide/DM I probably would not tip. But I've never had that happen. From now on, I'll be making it $10 per tank, and more for extraordinary service. (Oh, yes, as it was a multi-day trip, and they took care of my equipment between days, I tipped for that also.)