In my many seasons of working as a DM/Mate on a dive boat I usually adjust my "level of service" depending on the individual diver. Upon showing up at the dock I can quickly tell the "leave me alone and don't touch my rig" set from the "please help me I'm lost" divers.
Exactly that. Here's my experience since I've crewed on a dive boat in New England for the last 3 years, mostly every weekend or every other weekend. We also teach Open Water checkout students off our dive boat, prior to that I DM'd on the boat (basically a glorified deckhand)..
While I do actually get paid to crew the dive boat, we do appreciate tips. They are certainly not required but it is definitely a common courtesy thing here. Me and the captain split them equally. On other charters, some crew may just work for tips entirely or free diving. A $10 or $20 seems to be the norm, again that's your choice.
We are primarily what I like to call a "taxi service" as I often joke. We drive you to the dive site, set the anchor, hook or tie into the wreck, pick you up if we're doing a drift dive, provide you a briefing/orientation of local conditions, and get you back to the dock safely. We provide a cooler with ice for food/drinks, some bottles of water and even some complementary beers after the dive if one wishes to hang around for a bit.
We don't put a divemaster in the water although someone at that level of certification or higher is always on the boat. If you're a new diver or a diver not familiar with the area, I'll do my best attempt to find you a buddy if there is willing participate on the boat. Keep in mind, a lot of people here prefer to dive solo. I'm not the scuba police, you are responsible for your own dive. I can't and won't willingly force someone to dive with you. In some cases, you can get a divemaster for hire or if I'm not teaching I may be happy to dive with you; I do genuinely enjoy showing people around my favorite dive sites.
My level of helpfulness/service varies on the group or experience levels of the divers. We don't assemble anyone's gear, that is the responsible of the diver in question. For open water students (we teach OW checkout dives off our boat) we will give helpful hints or reminders, of course. We tend to be a lot more helpful with open water students and newly certified divers but we are certainly not a Florida or Caribbean dive boat if that makes sense? Here is the level of service that I give on a dive boat when I am crewing...
I do sometimes help divers unload tanks on and off the boat or they can pass me gear bags or bins. If they want to do it themselves, no problem; I'll leave them alone. Dive gear can be heavy, don't be ashamed to ask for help.
For experienced divers (recreational or technical divers), I may help hold up their tanks/doubles and help them slide into their harness or help them with get their arms in their BCD. I may help them unroll or check a drysuit neck seal if asked or tuck in a hood.
For technical setups (e.g., doubles, rebreathers, sidemount), I will not touch your valves; That is your responsibility. For recreational divers, I will occasionally get asked to turn someone's gas on or check their valves. I will do this but make them breath off their regulator if I don't know them.
I may help divers route their drysuit inflator hose through their harness, attach their drysuit inflator, help with stuck or tangled regulator hoses behind their back. I will help them put on dry gloves or assist with their 5mm/7mm gloves if they ask.
I'll help them clip off stage/deco bottles, pass them camera gear. I'll even help divers put on their fins since doing this on a rocking dive boat is not always fun.
When divers are coming out of the water I will be waiting at the dive ladder to provide support. If someone wants to pass me their fins (our ladder allows you walk up with fins but some people prefer to take them off) or remove weights/belts, they can hand me those. I will help divers unclip deco/stage bottles and hand up camera gear or catch bags.
Pretty much everything I said here is normal for most dive charters in New England that I've been on, not just the boat I work on for what it's worth, I don't feel we're unique in providing this level of service. There are plenty of other dive charters in the Cape Ann/Boston area that provide the same experience.
Now to turn this thread around slightly....Here's what I expect from YOU as a customer on the boat.
Please try to keep your gear neatly stowed and together. I know this is hard on a dive boat, especially smaller six pack boats but it makes everyone's job difficult if your dive gear is all over the place or you bring on this absolutely MASSIVE scuba gear bag. Be organized. This isn't the quarry or a shore dive where you have ample space to spread out, pack smart and try to eliminate clutter.
Here is one of the most common dive bags you'll find in New England.. the venerable rubbermaid container! They stack nicely and can be stowed under most dive benches.
Please show up on time (e.g. 30 minutes prior to departure) to load the boat and get everything sorted out. Our boat departs at 10AM, this doesn't mean arrive at 9:55AM while everyone else is already loaded and waiting. Sure, accidents and traffic happens but please try to be on time or call if you're running late so we know. We like to leave on time (and even early if possible). On days where we do a morning and afternoon charter this is even more critical. Arrive early, setup your kit, and stow your gear. If it's the winter time, maybe don your drysuit partially too.
Although those lines, please show up.
If you book a spot on a boat, you own that spot. It is your responsibility to find a replacement diver if you can't attend or have to cancel otherwise you will be charged for the spot. Dive charters are not a profitable business; we may have other people waiting that may have wanted your spot. If doesn't help me if you cancel at 10PM or 9AM morning, If you had told us sooner I probably could have filled your spot. If weather conditions are bad, we will issue refunds or give alternative site options, if possible.
Listen to the boat briefing, please. We do try to keep them brief but often times they have valuable information if you've never dove here before. Even instructors and us lowly tech divers, listen to briefings.. You may want to know where the life jackets are or oxygen kit is. You may want to know the easiest way to re-board the boat. We may tell you a heading where the bottom topography is nice or there is something interesting to see. If we're scallop diving, I may give you a compass heading to take so you stay on the scallop bed. I will tell you to stay with the dive flag and not swim away from it. If you swim away from the dive flag, now we have two targets to avoid.
While we don't set or limit dives times, if you're planning on doing a longer runtime or longer than an hour, please let us know your dive plan and when I should expect you back. We record when the divers splash in the water and the approximate time to expect you back. If you're planning a 75 minute runtime or longer, just tell us.
Navigation... I know mistakes do sometimes happen but please try to come back to the anchor or stay with your dive flag, return to the boat or don't surface too far down current. I'll have to come get you and you can almost guarantee they'll be some sort of playful banter involved if I don't think you'll be offended. In New England this sometimes means running a reel when visibility is bad. A diver with a reel is never lost and usually can get back to the anchor or mooring without issues. If you're really not sure where you are, deploy a surface market buoy to be safe. Better yet, if you plan on deploying a surface market buoy, include that in your dive plan.
If you're an instructor teaching off the boat, let us know if you require some sort of special conditions. Do you need a certain depth requirement? Wreck? Sandy bottom, rocky bottom, no current? Will you be deploying lift bags or surface market buoys and do you need any additional surface support? We're glad to help, just ask.
We have extra weights on the boat.. You are welcome to use them but that does not mean that you should arrive with no weight at all and immediately start stuffing 40lbs of lead on a belt or into your BCD. Although those lines, we have extra lobster catch bags and scalloping knifes but I've prefer you have your own if you dive with us frequently. Countless catch bags and scallop knives have been lost that we owned.
Do you not want any help? Some people can be incredibly anal about people touching their gear or feel they need to do everything themselves. Don't be afraid to ask for help but also please let us know if you don't want any help. I'm not going to assemble your gear but I'm happy to provide assistance if needed. Being self sufficient does not mean you can't always use a helping hand. I know I can gear up by myself but I don't mind if someone helps me unclip a deco bottle or helps me untangle a hose stuck behind my back. Sorry guys, I'm not helping with your crotch straps.. Ladies.. we can talk...
:thumbs-up
