Tipping

[friscuba]

Tipping is in a sad state around here on both sides.

And most operators (here) don't do that much for you compared to other places.

And the whole deal is 120 for a two tank dive so people cannot probably afford to tip much after all that.

And dive guides give "pushy speeches"....

I'm in total agreement with you on signs, I think it's tacky to ask for tips on the boat. That said, I've actually had a customer or two give me a hard time about my NOT passing around a tip jar, wierd.

I'm curious about what the norm is on Oahu. You say most operators here don't do much compared to other places. The only diving I did off California, they did virtually nothing. No in water guide, no help with the gear setup or donning, just did a 40 second briefing and sat down. It seemed their job was to give you a boat ride and retrieve bodies if any float to the surface.

In Kona, most of the operators put together your gear, help you into and out of both your gear and the water, send down a guide that points out hard to find stuff and returns divers to the down line so no surface swims, they provide a lunch and beverages and a relatively thorough briefing, and at the end of the day will wash your gear for you. We get lots of divers from California, Florida and elsewhere who say they've never seen this level of service, and that's pretty much the level of service offered by several of the ops I've worked for over the years here.

Anyway, I actually had people on a couple of occasions this year tell me I should stop doing all that stuff so I could offer 50 buck boat trips. I was on the verge of explaining to them what the true costs of running a legitimate charter was (lots more than most thinK - I probably lose a few bucks on half the charters I run, even at 99 bucks a head), but just left it at being tough to make any kind of profit taking 2-3 divers out at 50 bucks a head. A lot of the divers that seem to find me apparently do diving where they dont' get much in the way of service in other parts of the world.

I never really have figured out what the 'norm" is in other parts of the world.

 

[scubapro50]

I'm in total agreement with you on signs, I think it's tacky to ask for tips on the boat. That said, I've actually had a customer or two give me a hard time about my NOT passing around a tip jar, wierd.

I'm curious about what the norm is on Oahu. You say most operators here don't do much compared to other places. The only diving I did off California, they did virtually nothing. No in water guide, no help with the gear setup or donning, just did a 40 second briefing and sat down. It seemed their job was to give you a boat ride and retrieve bodies if any float to the surface.

In Kona, most of the operators put together your gear, help you into and out of both your gear and the water, send down a guide that points out hard to find stuff and returns divers to the down line so no surface swims, they provide a lunch and beverages and a relatively thorough briefing, and at the end of the day will wash your gear for you. We get lots of divers from California, Florida and elsewhere who say they've never seen this level of service, and that's pretty much the level of service offered by several of the ops I've worked for over the years here.

Anyway, I actually had people on a couple of occasions this year tell me I should stop doing all that stuff so I could offer 50 buck boat trips. I was on the verge of explaining to them what the true costs of running a legitimate charter was (lots more than most thinK - I probably lose a few bucks on half the charters I run, even at 99 bucks a head), but just left it at being tough to make any kind of profit taking 2-3 divers out at 50 bucks a head. A lot of the divers that seem to find me apparently do diving where they dont' get much in the way of service in other parts of the world.

I never really have figured out what the 'norm" is in other parts of the world.

"Tip jars" are quite common on the larger "cattle boats" where you really don't get to know the crew very well. The smaller boats (with 4 to 6 divers) the crew seems to give more personal service and you're able to talk with them about the diving before and after you get in the water. At one time (back in the 60s and 70s) no one ever tipped because it wasn't expected. You got on the boat and set up all your equipment and if you were lucky the captain gave you a quick run down about where you were diving that day. Today is different with 3 or 4 crew members on board. A tip jar usually gets divided up among the crew. If there is one person that really helped you and made you have a great dive then you should tip him personally. Remember that the captain is usually the only one that gets paid upfront and the rest of the crew is working for tips or a free ride to the dive site.

 

[Dive California]

I think I paid for a new house for the DM and skipper in Coz this year. Showed up the first day, dive four days, never had to touch my gear and it would be on the boat in the AM, clean, dry and set up. Now that is service!

I don't want some stranger setting up my gear :no ...1) I'm not that lazy...and 2) My life depends on that set-up.

I'm surprised that you want and encourage that Wildcard.

 

[Dive California]

I don't get many tips, but I have no problems accepting them if they are offered. If I were in your situation, I would tell them once that they shouldn't worry about it, but if they persisted, I would accept it gracefully. It might make you feel odd, but your client probably feels better.

Mahalo...I agree 100%...I do everything I can to not accept the tip, doing my job. But, if I feel like I'm going to offend the client, I accept it gracefully. :yelclap:

 

[do it easy]

In regards to giving tips, I think that the tips should go to the crew and not the captain, so I actually feel awkward when the mate is the co-owner of the boat. I figure he sets the prices and his share is included in that. Am I cheap? Does the captain usually split the tips with the crew or just hand them over? Any thoughts?

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

Boats that I am familiar with pay their crew and split tips with their captain.

 

[ScubaThor]

I have to agree with Catherine though, when the charters in Hawaii cost nearly $50 more than anywhere else in the world, sometimes it's tough to want to dig into my pockets for another $20 for a tip (for 2 of us).

What in Hawaii doesn't cost $50 more than it would anywhere else in the world? It's the nature of the beast....

 

[Cacia]

I think Kona and Maui get a different demographic diver than Oahu.

When traveling, I resent having to figure out who splits what...I just prefer not to have to deal with all that. So..we do five dollars a tank, which comes to about 20/day for the two of us....they can take it from there. Bali, where they insisted on humping our gear to the boat through the water and snatching our fins off our tooties...of course we gave them more.

It just varies so much...from rinsing your gear to doing almost nothing (SoCal...where they don't do the dive with you...) You really cannot answer the question easily.

It is not realistic to make it complicated though. Also I find the poorer the place the less aggressive they are for tips. The last thing you want is for someone to act like you owe them this and that.

Some of the Instructor types I know that gripe about tips are pretty frugal themselves with waitresses, etc.

 

[Wildcard]

I don't want some stranger setting up my gear :no ...1) I'm not that lazy...and 2) My life depends on that set-up.

I'm surprised that you want and encourage that Wildcard.

Why? Is always checked before I use it and in fact is very common. Some boats set up everything some nothing. I find it's easer and quicker for me to set up six rigs for the customers than try to fix four rigs in the water. If someone wants to hump my gear for me, they get a bigger tip.
When Im working with a DM/Inst as the capt or playing DM/inst for another Capt, we split the tips. When working with the owner, I get em all. It's only fair. Why should the owner get tipped? Well, he does work to but thats his policy.

 

[Cacia]

I find it's easer and quicker for me to set up six rigs for the customers than try to fix four rigs in the water.

true! especially the people that show up here and have not had their gear out since last Christmas.

The old etiquette of tipping is that the proprietor does not get tipped.