Tipping the DM

[ibj40]

---------- Post added March 15th, 2015 at 10:35 AM ----------

Finally! Someone who specifically acknowledges that the "$5 a tank is the going rate" advice that's be touted for here for going on twenty years is at least ten years out of date. $15 per per person/per tank is on the very generous side of the current going rate of $10/tank.

And we tip daily, as is pointed out above, you are not guaranteed to have the same dive guide every day.

 

[daniel1948]

Tipping is "supposed" to be for special service. But in reality, workers in industries were tipping is expected get paid a pittance, in the expectation that they'll make money on tips. In theory, the good workers will make good money and the lousy workers will not. But there are so many other factors. E.g., a waiter in a restaurant where meals cost $100 makes a LOT more on tips than waiters in restaurants that charge $5 for a meal. Some people tip generously, while others say, "I'm paying X for the trip, why should I have to tip?"

In a fair world, everyone would get a fair living wage, and tipping really would be for service above and beyond. But since we don't live in that world, I try to find out what's considered a "proper, decent" tip and then I add 50% to it for regular service, or 100% for special service.

When we first started diving as a couple (a little over ten years ago), we tipped $10 per person for a two tank dive trip. A couple of years ago, we figured with global inflation that wasn't enough, so we increased it to $15. Also, we try to be sensitive to exchange rates, so if we are tipping in the local currency, we try to make sure that it still works out to $15 per person per tank.

Finally! Someone who specifically acknowledges that the "$5 a tank is the going rate" advice that's be touted for here for going on twenty years is at least ten years out of date. $15 per per person/per tank is on the very generous side of the current going rate of $10/tank.

I'm a little unsure whether ibj40 is tipping $15 per two-tank trip, as the second sentence seems to say, or $15 per tank, as the third sentence says.

I think I'll adopt as my standard $15 per tank for normal service and $20 for first-rate service.

I've never received less than good service, and usually I get first-rate service. Maybe it's the sort of places I go. Once, and only once, I had a DM who did the basic expected work and no more. All the others have been people who seemed to love what they were doing, and love helping people, and were always happy to do whatever it took, like lifting my tank out of the water on account of my bad back.

 

[RJP]

I'm a little unsure whether ibj40 is tipping $15 per two-tank trip, as the second sentence seems to say, or $15 per tank, as the third sentence says.

That swing would move them from the "generous" end of the spectrum to the "cheap" end. As someone who has crewed on a dive boat for years, I can tell you that the going rate appears to be $20/person for two-tank trips.

$20/tank for first rate service on a 2-dive charter is on the "that dude rocks, he can dive with us anytime" end of the spectrum. I saved a woman's life once (no resps and no pulse when I pulled her out) and she didn't tip me that much. Not sure what else I could have done for her to earn more.



My rule of thumb for reasonable service on tropical day trips is as follows, with the assumption that much of the crew's work is in the "loading, going, returning, unloading" associated with how many times the boat leaves/returns to the dock so there's not really a linear relationship between tanks and work.

1-Dive = $15 tip
2-Dive = $20 tip
3-Dive = $25 tip

To earn that from me crew members really only need to do two simple things:

1.) Be a nice person; 2.) Don't do anything specifically that causes me to have a bad time. (And there's not much you CAN do to cause me to have a bad time.) I'll tote my own gear to the boat, I'll set it up, I'll break it down, I'll carry my own stuff off the boat. Out of force of habit I'll probably help the other passengers load/unload and help you drag all the empty tanks off the boat too. Typically I'll let the crew know that I'm very self-reliant, like to do my own thing, including gearing up, and am happy to allow them to focus their attention on any passengers that either really need or really want their attention. Most crew folks understand that this allows them to make more passengers happy with less total work. Everyone wins!

 

[chillyinCanada]

Where is UserNameBella diving? Is she diving in Canada, Florida or end of the world? We do need to be cognizant that tipping $20 in certain places in the world can actually cause problems. This was raised recently on a liveaboard and discussed by divers from all over, as well as the owners. If an annual salary is $350 and tips get left equal to that of an annual salary, are divers changing the course of the area?

 

[gopbroek]

In Cozumel I normally tip 100 pesos a bottle and that is getting a little cheap considering the decline in the Peso over the last year.. I personally think 5 USD a bottle is a little low considering the DM usually splits the tip with the captain and office staff.

 

[flots am]

How much percentage wise or otherwise do you tip a DM? I have used the same place here for about 20 dives, two regular DM's. They've been pretty good to us, but we refuse the whole set up our gear and hold our hands service.
We are doing about ten or more dives and our rescue diver with another instructor. Fun dives are 300 US for ten and I don't think the DM's on this island are making a lot of money.

Usually around 10% of the cost of the dives. Could be up to 50% for a really spectacular dive or down to $0.00 if the DM tried to do something stupid like make me burn through my gas by repeatedly showing me lobsters.

If I want to see a lobster somewhere I'm not allowed to catch it, I'll go to the grocery store.

 

[RJP]

I personally think 5 USD a bottle is a little low considering the DM usually splits the tip with the captain and office staff.

I personally think it's far more than "a little low" considering that it was proffered as "the going rate" twenty years ago.

 

[UserNameBella]

I'm in Utila and Roatan if that helps at all. I haul all my own gear, wash it after and put it away...like RJP said so that the DM can assist the divers that need the help more...plus I don't like anyone touching my gear. The only time I need help is getting to the back once I'm kitted up. The cost of living here is very very low, I don't know what the DM's are paid.

BTW- I wouldn't dive in Canada in winter. Aw hells no. I don't walk outside unless its to a car in the winter.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm in Utila and Roatan if that helps at all. I haul all my own gear, wash it after and put it away...like RJP said so that the DM can assist the divers that need the help more...plus I don't like anyone touching my gear. The only time I need help is getting to the back once I'm kitted up. The cost of living here is very very low, I don't know what the DM's are paid.

BTW- I wouldn't dive in Canada in winter. Aw hells no. I don't walk outside unless its to a car in the winter.

Utila and Roatan: The rule of thumb 10 percent that others have mentioned is fine.

As you may already know, some of those penniless international backpackers who pass through Utila rarely tip at all. At some of the dive ops that cater to that crowd, it's normal for the divers to pitch in and help load and unload tanks, wash the rental gear and hang it back up the shed, etc. The DMs likely were themselves just such backpackers a few months earlier. Any tip is welcome, but not necessarily expected at those places.

 

[Patoux01]

When I go on a dive trip, I don't go on massive charters. And never has it even crossed my mind to tip the guide, even when we were 1-1. In fact, they took the boat out just for me in Vanuatu, and tipping wouldn't even cross my mind then. We went and grab a beer or so later on, but that's it, as friends and not as "he's the divemaster I'm tipping"

I don't see why I would HAVE to pay 10 or 20% extra on my dive trips because "he's a divemaster, he's so poor". Let shops give correct wages, if they don't, the DMs won't work there and as a customer you might want to skip those. To me, the price they charge is what is enough for everyone there to make a living.
If I somehow get outstanding service, yeah there might be a bit more added, but that's usually where prices rise. The more you pay, the better the service.


Just my opinion of course, from someone at the other end of the world (either Europe or Oz).