Tipping?

[StuartT]

Have to agree with Divemaven about Lahina divers. I've been with most of the ops on Maui and they were my least favorite. The guide kicked the entire dive and it was hard to get any pictures. I asked him to slow down for the second dive which he agreed to but it didnt happen so my buddy and I basically did the second dive by ourselves which was fine for us but might not be for others. They go way to fast for my liking. If you like to go at a really slow pace, find cool critters, and maybe take pictures don't go with them. Ed robinsons, Mike severns, or Pro diver are my favorites. B&B pretty good too. But we are getting off topic 5-10/tank

 

[old gaffer]

What I find interesting, or puzzling, is the original question.

Stated "I know to tip XYZ amount in the Caribbean, but now in Hawaii or location ABCDEF, how should I tip there?"

so to the original poster, what's the difference in tipping whether you're in Hawaii/Fiji/Roatan/Texas/Seattle/Philippines or? I mean how are you differentiating this, by the average salary of the employee, or the service, or?


Sorry but a very odd question imho

In explanation all of my ocean dives to date have been in cozumel having done week long dive trips each year for a number of years, a valet service dive op in cozumel starts at around 75 bucks for a 2 tank boat dive and I think the highest price op on the island runs around 100 bucks but with that you get steel 100's instead of Al 80's. All the dive ops I checked in Hawaii run considerably higher. So my reason for asking on tipping was based on the cost of the trip. From the answers I got here it seems the tips if warranted by good service run $5 - $10 per tank which is what it runs in Coz as well, thought that perhaps due to a higher cost of living in Hawaii than Mexico a higher tip may be expected if good service is provided.

Thanks to all for the dive op advice. Are any of the ops mentioned based in Lahaina by chance? The problem I am running into is that we are cruise ship passengers and most of the ops depart at 7:am so logistics of getting to them on time come into play. Based on your comments Lahaina divers would not be a typical choice of mine as I prefer really good DM"S and boats with no more than 8 divers.

Gaffer

 

[lonebrave]

Try Extended Horizons in Lahaina if you're not inclined to go with Lahaina Divers. I did a couple days with them last fall. Smaller boats...had maybe 12 divers on board, I think. Good crew, not too fast underwater, plenty of photo ops if you want them.

 

[scottitheduck]

Agreed...... Try Extended Horizons though I'm not sure on the start times. I think they load in around 6:30 or 7am????

G

 

[weaserm99]

I always see how the trip goes to see what tip i give. However i know on one boat that i frequent all the time that the deck hand is always willing to help you. As soon as he has the boat hooked on the mooring he is at the back of the boat helping people in that water, there were several times where he has gone above and beyond in helping with some students of mine and i tipped much better that day.

Ive also been on boats where the deck hand, hooks the boat then decides its better to read the paper than to help anyone in the water, he must have finished his paper by the time everyone got back on the boat because he was willing to help.

Ive also been on boats where we do a large group tip and been told by a dive that he tipped the time before and he didnt feel he needed to that time, the next time he was on the boat i told the deckhand to focus on other people. (this same guy then mentioned as we were loading our gear back into our cars "you know in the tropics they move all your gear for you" i just happened to be there with the response of "20 bucks and ill carry your gear to your car).

To me it doesnt matter where i am, if i get good service i tip well, if i get terrible service there is either no tip or its a bare minimum.

I can remember one time where i didnt give a tip and had excellent service and its because i didnt have any cash on me (i was 17 at the time and didnt know about tipping) needless to say the next time i was on the boat i was prepared and i gave double just to make up for the day that i missed.

 

[DiveMaven]

I believe that if you're a cruise ship passenger who wants to dive, you're only choice is Lahaina Divers. They're the only ones that leave late enough and don't require transportation to get to the boat since they're docked at the harbor. You could always give Extended Horizons a call and see if they accommodate cruise passengers, but keep in mind you'd need a cab from Lahaina to Mala Ramp, which would add cost and difficulty.

 

[JoeSpirit]

Jim Rohn said that the word tip is an acronym meaning, "To insure promptness." If you want to insure promptness you take action at the beginning, not at the end.

But if you're tipping in response to the service you get it's best to go with your heart. If you get great service, and you're thinking about either giving $10 or $20 always go with the $20. When you do that you'll feel pleased about doing so. When you don't do that you'll think back on your action with regret. And that particular dive experience will suffer in quality because of it.

 

[scottitheduck]

We need more Sinatra's!

Val Peters | Syracuse NY Musician | Did You Know... Frank Sinatra was a Tipping Legend

G

 

[Shaka Doug]

I've always heard that "Big Tippers Go to Heaven!"

 

[jcarpini]

Aloha Gaffer,
My name is John and I have a small Dive operation outside kona. if your interested in getting away from the crowded boats, I can take you on some great shore dives check out my web site www.seaguidehawaii.com
Cheers