How much should you tip a dive operator?

[Cacia]

The Operator, as the business owner, does not get tipped according to conventional etiquette unless I am mistaken or too old.

I tip the workers (boat hands or dive guide) what I think they deserves and it tends to be more in third world places because it is a more satisfying experience for me. (and they tend to give better service)

I know liveaboards do it differently, which is one reason I don't think it would be my bag...the whole group everything

 

[torqd]

The Operator, as the business owner, does not get tipped according to conventional etiquette unless I am mistaken or too old.

I tip the workers (boat hands or dive guide) what I think they deserves and it tends to be more in third world places because it is a more satisfying experience for me. (and they tend to give better service)

I used to think that same way but now think differently.

As a diving professional I have had the opportunity to work with one operator in Hawaii and two in the Florida Keys where the owner of the company was the captain as well. How would you handle tipping in those cases?

Also, tipping the shop staff would not be something I would think of doing, but they also do a lot of work in many places. Who do you think fills all the used tanks while the boats are out at sea? Who stocks and cleans the shop? Who checks people in before each trip and makes sure all the paperwork and payments are handled? The shop staff.

I am not preaching to tip the shop staff, I'm just trying to point out that there is a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes.

 

[ScubaSeanMaui]

I think 10 dollars per dive is reasonable in the USA if you have a good time. When I was in Indonesia this summer in Bali and Lembeh I tipped about 5 dollars per dive. They make less than 100 dollars per month so 5 bucks is quite a bit of money. At Diver's Lodge Lembeh where I stayed the owner collected all the tips and paid an equal share to all the workers at the resort since they cleaned, cooked, filled tanks, etc... I thought that was a fair system to all the employees. Some places don't share tips so perhaps giving some money to the other staff at the dive shop might be a good idea instead of the entire tip to the dive guide.

Sean

 

[fishtal]

Whew, I feel a bit better now that I wasn't the only newbie that didn't think about it.

It makes sense to me, I work in an industry that has tipping involved, I do hair for a living.

Tipping is quite variable in my industry too... I have some clients that tip every time and others that never have. Both are completely satisfied. In other cases, like when I've worked at high-end places, say Oak St. in dtwn Chicago, clients tipped almost every employee in the place... I thought that was a bit much.

Being self employed now, I'm with each client, one on one, for their entire service time and I give them my undivided attention. Some of these clients have been with me for 15-20 years now and I see them on a monthly basis(except when I'm in Hawaii, lol) whereas my diving experience was a bit different. In the end, I will end up diving with the same company again next Feb. I hope the same two guys that instructed me are still there.

 

[kmayer]

If you remember the people who you want to tip and the dive operator: call the dive shop, tell them that you want to tip your instructors and give the shop your credit card. They should be able to handle it from there.