Dive Boat Etiquette on SoCal Boats

[scottfiji]

Are you talking that Ital restaurant? We had a group of 6 and they added tip. Sevrice was awful.. Wrong food,her food was double billed on the check. Nope, I will NOT ever go there again!
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Originally Posted by hermosadive
North American tipping has got out of control. An 18% tip was added to each person's bill. This always pisses me off.

You don't have to pay that extra tip, if the service is really bad, just subtract it back off. From a legal perspective its optional, even if it says it on the menu.

I dont mind if the tip is automatically added if the service is at least descent, which it is most of the time, but if its horrible, don't be afraid to take it off, the restaurants will get the message after a while.

 

[nanadiver]

I understand your position. All of the divers in my group knew what they were paying for. They were given an itemized statement showing where their money was going. this was the first time I included the tip in the dive fees. The instructor asked me to insure that the dive boat crew was taken of. Every diver in this group was pleased that they did not have to be concerned with anything but themselves and their gear. It worked well this time. It might not work so well the next time. I certainly would not refuse someone a trip if they did not want to give the tip to me in advance. With them, I would make other arrangements.

Then I would not dive through you it is my right to decided weather or not someone giving me service has earned a tip or not.

 

[shark.byte.usa]

...Did anyone ever see that sitcom "third rock from the sun" with John Lithgow and Jane Curtain when they put a pile of ones in the middle of the table and when he thought he was getting bad service he took a dollar off the pile? It was very funny.

Yes, I agree very funny, actually it was kindof an inside joke in my family after that, of course we didn't pile 1's on the table and take them away in front of the server.

 

[AlaskaDiver]

I happened to be browsing over this one and saw the posting. I went diving in March with some of your finest So Cal divers. I met some genuine people who were into diving. Things are a bit different in So Cal than in Alaska or anywhere else for that matter. I loved how inexpensive the boat was for the day. i went to San Clemente island departing late in the evening and returning the next day to Long Beach.

** Ask others how much is customary to tip on their particular boats. I'm not shy and neither was ScubaLaurel for letting me know what is customary (around $20) for that one. Don't be a cheap schmuck.

** If you borrow someone's stuff, take care of it and let them know you appreciate the loan. I borrowed Mo2vation's water heater and he was the most thorough diver about his gear. He asked me each dive how things were going with the tank and if everything was okay. I thanked him each time and of course offered cash. He resisted. I read his posting and yes, my initial assessment of his retentiveness was quite accurate.

I miss the warm water.

 

[California Diver]

dont crap and clog the marine head. bad times.

 

[Taxgeek]

Frankly, I LOVE IT when the tour operator (LDS, usually) includes the boat tip in the trip price. What that does (for me anyway) is, like somebody was saying earlier, convert a wierd, discretionary situation into just the cost of the trip. It helps me several ways:

1. I don't have to bring the cash with me.
2. I don't have to agonize over how much to give, feel guilty if I'm not giving that much or whatever.
3. It ensures that the boat crew know in advance that with this group, there will be a nice tip, so they (theoretically, I suppose) go out of their way for us.
4. Avoids me being lumped in with "those *ssholes from XYZ dive shop" who maybe didn't tip the boat last time they came on, thus lessening the degree of motivation.

If a particular individual goes out of his or her way, I might give him or her a small extra or leave a personalized note, in addition to the group trip.

I definitely like to know how much it is and know that my trip price includes this, but as a general practice, I'm way in favor of it.

Taxgeek

 

[SoCalAngel]

I happened to be browsing over this one and saw the posting. I went diving in March with some of your finest So Cal divers. I met some genuine people who were into diving. Things are a bit different in So Cal than in Alaska or anywhere else for that matter. I loved how inexpensive the boat was for the day. i went to San Clemente island departing late in the evening and returning the next day to Long Beach.

** Ask others how much is customary to tip on their particular boats. I'm not shy and neither was ScubaLaurel for letting me know what is customary (around $20) for that one. Don't be a cheap schmuck.

** If you borrow someone's stuff, take care of it and let them know you appreciate the loan. I borrowed Mo2vation's water heater and he was the most thorough diver about his gear. He asked me each dive how things were going with the tank and if everything was okay. I thanked him each time and of course offered cash. He resisted. I read his posting and yes, my initial assessment of his retentiveness was quite accurate.

I miss the warm water.

When you coming back down? That was such a great trip! I have been diving in Nor Cal this weekend. I dove a small boat out of a shop up here. $75 for two dives. No snacks as advertised, no sodas, only hot water and cold water...oh and some of those Hot chocolate, tea, Cider, and Cream of Chicken soup mixins. They had two yoke tanks for me (instead of the DIN I specfically asked for at reservation timeand confirmation three days before the trip).

However, the crew rocked. It wasn't their fault the shop had screwed up my tanks and not enough food for both morning and afternoon dive trips. One diver showed up late, dropped his gear, then went to move his car. When the crew realized they had forgotten him, they turned around to pick him up. That was definately above and beyond!

There were plenty of reasons to not tip, but more of one to tip! Hey, the diving was even good (although really, really, reallly COLD!!!!)