Questions about liveaboards and tipping

[Yazmeen]

Diver hubby and I (non-diving snorkeler) will be doing a liveaboard in a few weeks. This is a 2-week trip, and we're getting conflicting information on tipping.

The liveaboard company "suggests" 10% to 15% of the TOTAL cost of the trip. However, other divers I've talked to who have been on liveaboards say that beyond 10% is excessive. Can those of you with experience please give me an idea of how and what you tip? Thanks in advance.

 

[Stoo]

So a two week liveaboard must be close to what, $10K for the two of you. $1000 to $1500 tip seems ridiculous to me. I suppose if you have money burn and loved the way you were treated, but I'd be inclined to tip a much smaller amount... a few hundred bucks.

 

[Dogbowl]

Tipping customs can be dependent on location of boat, customer’s nationality, owners’ nationality, crew’s nationality and what they write in the boat literature or on their website. In Indo, for example, I know one liveaboard’s website says $200USD is a good tip, whereas that is nowhere near 10-15% of the liveaboard’s price.

What liveaboard are you going on? I’d take all the factors into consideration in determining what is “appropriate “.

 

[KeithG]

Ignore TOTAL cost of the trip. Why would you tip LOB staff based on your air fare?

If you are from a tipping culture then you need to morph a LOB into a hotel, a couple of restaurants and a bunch of boat dives - every day. How much would you tip per day per person for those separate services?

 

[runsongas]

my experience is american divers tip 10%, other countries significantly less

and then the crew gripes about "UN weeks"

 

[DeputyDan]

I have been on several liveaboards.
Generally I tip $200 each. I did do $250 each once.
(By each I mean $200 for you and $200 for your spouse).

 

[outofofficebrb]

I'll leave some information here from my personal experience and you can decide what works best for you. I am including LOB cost, duration, and then what the liveaboard suggested. Know that this will be affected based on what country these liveaboards are on and what kinds of liveaboards these are (budget, mid-range, luxury). Of course, tipping culture is greatly influenced by where you live or grew up as well.

As @giffenk mentioned, this would be somewhat of a restaurant, (3-4 meals a day plus snacks/drinks, etc.), hotel (turn down service, daily cleaning, concierge), transportation (dinghy drivers), as well as a dive op (DMs though sometimes you tip them separately, deck hands, captain) all built into one. I've been on enough liveaboards to see how hard the crew work to make sure the week goes off without a hitch and that we are comfortable, happy, and enjoying our time. Early risers, late sleepers, and that is already if nothing goes wrong. It's even earlier and even later if something does go wrong. I like to show appreciation for that and should be included in any traveler's budget. My take is that if I can't afford to tip on a particular trip, then I feel like I owe it to myself and the workers to find a trip that I can afford where I can also afford to tip.

I hope this helps!

1. Red Sea Blue Planet Liveaboards (2 sailings, 7 days each): $1200-1300 USD, suggested $80-100 USD for each week.
2. Philippines Disovery Fleet (6 days): $2400 USD, suggested $150 USD
3. Indonesia Raja Ampat Aggressor (7 days): $3300 USD (sailed for $2,211), no suggested amount but when asked what was usually given by most - $250
4. Indonesia Mastro Aldo (4 days) $950 USD, suggested that we tip to show appreciation for all that the crew did but did not state amount.
5. Australia Spirit of Freedom (4 days) $1700 USD, suggested that we tip to show appreciation for all the crew; no suggested amount but when asked what was usually given by most, $100
6. Indonesia Mermaid (12 days) $4900-5300 USD (exchange rate fluctuating now) - 5-10% of LOB cost. They give a general recommendation so this would apply to whatever sailing/cost. "Crew Tips/Gratuity: Our Boat and Dive Crews will try very hard to deliver a high level of service, safety and professionalism tempered with lots of fun to optimize your holiday. Many of our guests use 5-10% of the cruise price as a tipping guideline. Tipping is voluntary and most appreciated !"

 

[Yazmeen]

Boat is Rocio Del Mar, Sea of Cortez

 

[dlofting]

Boat is Rocio Del Mar, Sea of Cortez

We tipped within the recommended range when we were on the Rocio del Mar...based on the total cost of the liveaboard, not the entire trip. I have my own thoughts on tipping in developing countries but you need to decide what you're comfortable with...commensurate with the service of course.

 

[Ghosty]

Agree with the others here. $200 to $300 for most 1week LoB trips. Maybe $400/$500 max for a high end luxury 2week LoB.