Dive Boat tipping

[DiveLvr]

On a recent trip to Key Largo where I made several boat dives I wondered what amount is customary. On my Keys trip the boat crew loaded the tanks. They offered a keg of not very cold after taste water with paper cups. They also provided individual punch drinks. They kept us steady as we jumped off and guided us to our seats after the dive.I had to losd and offlosd my gear and change tanks between dives.

In Southern CA the crews I used did about the same but provided hot/warm soup and sandwiches.

In the Mobile AL/ Pensacola FL gulf coast area the boats I have used the crew helped or by themselves take our equipment off our trucks/cars and load in the boat. At the end of the dive they put it back in the vehivle. During the trip tge crew helps us put our fins on, keeps us steady and helps us outof the water and changes our tanks out. They offer cold bottled water and fresh fruit.

Question 1 Going by percentages should all these get tipped the same? I feel like my "homie" boat crews provide more for the money.

Question 2 What is the standard tip amount for a 4-5 hour $150 trip.

Doug

 

[Wookie]

Depending on the boat, in the Keys we operators often get the hairy eyeball when we touch someone else's gear without permission. It makes us hesitant to do so. The tanks should have been loaded for you, they should have steadied you to the jump in point, and they should have helped you on with fins, or kept you steady when you put your own fins on.

I personally don't want someone changing out my rig between dives, and will tip better when they don't. I don't want someone rinsing my rig, all I want is a place to throw my gear in a bag so I can take care of it the way I see fit.

I would tip 10-15% of the cost of the trip to have it my way. If I get cut fruit and cold water, it goes up from there. If I have to follow the guide, there will be no tip, but I'm pretty careful to ask about that before I book. If I am forced to come up before I am ready, there will be no tip, but again, I make sure before I book that the operator doesn't limit my dive time.

I usually dive from my own boat, as not many of the Keys operators meet my needs or wants.

 

[Shasta_man]

Hmmm... seems like most of that stuff is controlled by the operation and outside of the crews control and so shouldn't be "punished" or rewarded for it. If we define a tip as extra money for good service, then it should only impact that which is in the crews control. Following the guide and dive time limits are set by the boat and shouldn't impact the tip. Helping with gear is a courtesy. If you tell me you don't want your gear touched, but I still do, then there should be a deduction, otherwise I was providing a service. The operation provides any food and water so it's presence shouldn't impact the tip negatively or positively.

 

[WheelsUSN]

The operation provides any food and water so it's presence shouldn't impact the tip negatively or positively.

Not always, I have been on boats where the DM would provide the food. The DM that actually cooked breakfast on the way out and then cooked a fish that he shot on the first or second dive for lunch always made much better tips than the one that just grabbed a box of cookies and pre made sub sandwiches from the convenience store.

 

[chillyinCanada]

Food and water may be provided by the dive op but service of same may be provided by crew. How the crew deals with that can affect my tip upwards.

 

[Wookie]

I believe there was a longish thread from Amazz about finding out after the boat left that their dive times would be limited. Yes, that is not something the crew controls, but I'd sure be peeved if I found out from a crew member.

The crew is my best source of information. If someone is cheesed off about a boat policy and they don't tip the crew because of it, it makes me stand up and take notice. If someone is peeved about a boat policy and tip the crew regardless, I have a whole different thought process. As I've said many times, tips are our way of keeping score. I'd rather have a write-up on ScubaBoard of how we did, positive or negative, but that's not how people work. It's way easier to throw 20 bucks in the tip jar than actually put thought in a review. I've seen some of your thoughtful insights, though. Very nice.

---------- Post added September 30th, 2013 at 05:01 PM ----------

Not always, I have been on boats where the DM would provide the food. The DM that actually cooked breakfast on the way out and then cooked a fish that he shot on the first or second dive for lunch always made much better tips than the one that just grabbed a box of cookies and pre made sub sandwiches from the convenience store.

Whatever boat in Jupiter that Amazz and Chuckitall are working will have fresh lobster salad on it in season. Those lobster are not provided by the operator, but by Angie. That's the boat I go looking for to ride.

 

[tajkd]

This topic has been around many times here. I tip $5 a tank on local boats, 10-15% on live-aboards. I believe that tipping is important as some of the crew get their entire income from tips. Some, like me, get tips for crewing but appreciate the sentiment as much as the dollar value. There have been times I've refused to tip but never based on a missed dive. The conditions are not the responsibility of the crew.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

On average I tip $5 per dive.
On a two day trip on a Southern California boat I throw $40-$50 into the pot.
That's for 8-10 dives for both days.
If the service sucks and they're rude then they get nothing, but that's rare and it's never happened on any of my two day trips.
But it did happen in San Diego once when they had 4 crew standing around BS'ing amongst themselves and helping no one with anything.

 

[Tug]

I generally tip $5 per tank on local dives. Most of the boats here are just taxis to the site and they will sometime help with fins and such. If I'm doing a dive with stages and deco bottles and the crew helps me gear up I will tip them extra. Same goes for when I'm on a scallop charter and I get my daily limit or when the crew shucks the scallops for me. These are two tank (or one tank tech) half day dives.

I was hanging out with the crew and captain after a dive and e told me about a recent trip. After dropping the divers on scallop beds where they all got their limit, lending catch bags and teaching how to shuck, they only got a five dollar bill dropped off in the tip jar. Of course now these divers will never be dropped on goo scallop beds again


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DiveLvr]

Thanks, I may have been over vtipping, $20 for a 2 tank dive up to 15 miles out, $25 to $30 gor 2 tank dive 21 miles out.
Still with fresh fruit, changing gear out, and hsuling to and fro my truck is more than my monies worth. Plus the crws sre really great guys.