How much to tip at Cozumel Reef Club?

[DandyDon]

I'm going on a LDS trip next month, and the LDS advises that this A-Inclusive even includes paid-tips, that we don't need to tip anyone there. Is this right? :huh:

I also want to be a grateful guest when I visit another country. :tree: I was very luck to be born in the U.S. land of plenty, Texas at that, and I feel I should be generous in tipping elsewhere.

I guess if the employees didn't like the no-tip rule, they could see other possibilities - if qualified, but I don't want to be mean.

We're diving with Popa Hawgs, by the way, so I'll carry :$: greenbacks in my dry bag to sweeten thank-yous to the DM, along with promo ballpoints and calculators from my business.

thanks, don

 

[Christi]

for the service staff, but if you feel someone has taken care of you, then by all means feel free to give them a little more. I would particularly encourage you to leave a couple of dollars a day for your maid...they make VERY LITTLE and tips are very much appreciated.

The only people I would adamantly tell you NOT to tip in Cozumel are the taxi's. Believe me, the tip is built in! Save your tip money for your service staff and DM's...they work MUCH harder for it!

Also, don't let the taxi driver ever pull the "I don't have change" scam on you! Make them come back if they don't have change and change will suddenly appear!

Have a great vacation!

 

[plmbrok]

We were at Reef Club in April. Tips for the bartenders speed up your drinks and get you any drink you can imagine.

We even a full bottle of Tequila to take to room for after the bar closed.

Tips for food service personnel did not help service there at all.

Rather than a taxi, have you considered renting a car on your last day and doing ALL your sight seeing and shopping in one tour the island trip?

Worked for us, we split car rental with another couple and saw the entire island in one day. Girls got to shop while we had drinks at downtown bar watching cruise ship tourists get ripped off. Prices went up as soon as cruise ships started unlaoding.

 

[DandyDon]

I'd been discouraged, as refilling was such a problem? :huh:

don

 

[ggunn]

dandydon once bubbled...
I'd been discouraged, as refilling was such a problem? :huh:

don

It's not a prob, really; it's just that there are only two gas (PEMEX) stations on the island. They are both on the road that goes across to Mescalito's from town; one is on the SW corner of that road and the first boulevard back from the water, and the other is a bit farther out on the north side of the road. They both take dollars as well as pesos, and they have attendants to dispense the gasoline.

The one farther out (east) has more pumps, so there is less, if any, waiting.

 

[DandyDon]

I'd heard there was only one, and he'd incurred a long wait. I guess he didn't know about the other one out east. I'll check on the possibilities, but...

I'm pretty much an "Eat, Sleep, Dive" traveler. If I arrive Monday, dive the park that afternoon, dive off the boats 2 trips Tuesday and Wedenesday, then one more trip Thursday, all I'll have left is Thursday afternoon before flying Friday morning.

Still, I'll keep it in mind...

thanks, don

 

[ggunn]

If you've never been across to the "wild side" of Cozumel, you owe it to yourself to go see it some time. The loop around the southern 2/3 of the island can be done in an hour or two if you don't stop, but the way we do it takes most of a day.

 

[BrettM]

Keep in mind the DM's on the dive boats generally split their tips with the boat captains when you decide how much you want to tip them. The cash you put in their hand may only be about half of what they get to put into their own pocket.

Vacations in Coz are a typically a great value and in general the folks on the island are so darn nice and helpful that it seems like a shame not to spread around a little extra appreciation by tipping even at an "all inclusive". I'm betting that the pay scale for the service staff at an all inclusive resort is not much if any higher than for the service staff at non all inclusive resorts. Just a couple bucks here and there when combined with being nice to the service staff, learning their names and making a point to chat nicely with them will work wonders in the way they appreciate and respond to you as a guest.

A couple bucks for the maids per day got us double the fresh towels in our room daily and an extra bottle of purified water on the bathroom counter every day without our even getting a chance to see the maids to ask for this or to thank them in person. We did not tip to get these bonuses but it was a nice result.

If you want fast food caliber service and appreciation while on a nice vacation at a resort tip and treat the service staff like a cash register operator at McDonalds, otherwise.......

 

[BES1020]

We tip our maids daily ($1-2) and have always had exceptional service. As mentioned before, extra towels, water, towel animals flowers, and daily restocked mini-bar are some of the benefits. We have also left hershey's chocolate, markers, etc for the maids to take to their children. I tip the bartenders and waiters too, especially during the first day or two and the service is always first rate.

Gina

 

[dnhill]

Don,
You will notice the maid staff gives the little extras if you tip during the first few days. It is my understanding that a large portion of the imcome of the maid staff comes from tips. I was last at the Reef club about a year ago and I would suggest a couple of things:

- ask for a room as close to the dock as you can. It is on the far north side of the property and I was placed in a room on the far south side. I was glad I was diving with an op that kept my gear overnight. I have a bad ankle and it gets painful hauling the gear that far over uneven ground.
- be prepared to go into town for some meals. I found the food not nearly as good as Iberostar.

I would go to the Reef Club again. I have found great deals with Funjet for 3 and 4 day trips from Houston in the less than $400.00 range for Reef Club. Of course, that is only one plane ride for me.

dnhill