How much to tip?

[spc751]

I will be in Riviera Maya the first two weeks of January and am wondering about tipping my Instructor and Dive Master.
I am taking at least one course and doing a number of dives as well.
What is the traditional amount to tip? How do I tip?

 

[Grover48]

I spend two weeks in Akumal every fall. I use the same divemaster during the visit. I tip at the end and tip about $5.00 USD per dive. If I use a different divemaster for a dive, I tip at the end of the dive, or day if I use the same one for 2 or 3 dives. Is far as the boat captain ( I guess the panga has a captain) goes, I tip him $2.00 USD per dive at the end of the dive. We seem to change captains often.

I start out with $100.00 USD in ones and use them to tip. The divemaster gets pesos at the end of the trip because large American bills are harder to change.

These are common amounts and practices among the divers using the dive shops in Akumal.

 

[SolarStorm]

I figure the range of 10 - 20% of what the diving costs and spread that around between the DM, captain and the boat hands. I tip after each trip as it might be a different crew on the next dive. I also give the tip to the person involved instead just one person to spread around. It only happened once and might have been a language thing, but after an excellent day at Punta Sur, I felt the need to tip a bit more and gave the deck hand a $50 and said for you and the crew. (there were two of us on the dive so really $25 each) I later found out it went only into his pocket. Other well received things I have done is run into the local town and picked up a couple cases of beer and dropped them off at the dive shack for all of the guys that handle your gear, book your dives, etc. Usually very well received.

 

[DandyDon]

On a regular dive trip, I expect the crew to split the tips I leave so I I just tip the DM: $10-15 for a 2 tank trip usually, $5 & $10 bills being fine, $1s being too much trouble - but I tip every trip.

For the Inst, your call....

 

[Ed Hatfield]

When in Playa I use the $5 per tank standard. I usually tip at the end of the trip and give it directly to the shop owner/manager. If it is a reputable operation they will divide it amongst the DM/Captian and crew. The shop should not take any of the tip. I tip separately if I have included any cenote dives giving the $5 per tank to the DM. Most of the shops recommended on this site are used to this method of tipping. If you use an independent like Jason Surtain (PlayaCountryBoy) and tip him he will take care of the Captain and crew out of his own pocket. He provides personal service so you may want to tip more than the $5 standard. FYI - the $5 tip is for good service. Poor service in Playa is rare but it can happen. Adjust the tip accordingly. I have gone out with some of the resort shops and have been disappointed. H10 Ocean Maya was one shop that I didn't tip at all. We had 12 divers on a boat with only one DM. I beleive the legal maximum is 8. No radio. No oxygen.