I know tipping is a controversial topic, and I'm happy to discuss it in the comments further. Please note that. I do say throughout the video that pay is not always the same throughout the world, tipping isn't always a needed thing based on local customs, and that in some areas instructors and dive masters may be working for no pay at all or less than minimum wage, which is when they do rely on tips. Happy to have discussions about this further in the comments, but I'd ask that you watch the video to understand the perspectives I say before immediately jumping on the "Americans/westerns always want to tip like we all have money" band wagon, haha. I understand that argument and I admit that asking to tip is adding even more expense to an already expensive hobby. The video I mention at the end is about budgeting for your dive trips as part of your overall plan for a dive trip. You can learn how to plan a dive trip and tips for doing so in this video: th-cam.com/video/VsfG1mAvnEY/w-d-xo.html
I'm from a country that does not have this tipping concept, and I confess that it's a little difficult to understand. If the employees are not paid enough by their employers, why do they transfer that responsibility to the customers? I would prefer to pay higher prices for the tank dives instead of giving a tip... just my opinion.
I agree that if people were paid properly to start with, tips would be less relevant. But service based industries have this as a common theme in a lot of areas, the US especially but in other countries as well
The employees should be paid properly and that reflected on the trip price. Instead of offering a teaser price and then charge the customer with coffee, drinks, rental gear, park permits, fuel surcharge, and then giving a sorry speech in the last dive day about how hard the crew works and that they do not get paid enough
I definitely agree the "hidden cost" crap REALLY gets me and I've been a victim of that myself (okay, victim may be a strong word, but still). Actually VERY recently I just had this happen, and I'm still pretty upset about the whole thing costing close to an extra $1000 than it should've been. But yes, agreed, and I think a whole video (or series of videos) could be dedicated to the dive industry's system in terms of the costs, pay, etc.
agreed 100%. we live in a society where it's acceptable to expect people to work for pennies and count on generosity of strangers to make a living wage. i am actually saving up to open up a dive shop and make it a point that we don't need or expect tips. everyone is paid fairly, and if you want to "tip", bring drinks or food instead, because we are too lazy to go out.
Now everyone that does a service job expects to be tipped. That's just not right. Tipping started as a way to thank someone for extraordinary service. And that is a joy to do, because it is so rare. Many people are dealing with run away prices and can't afford many things to begin with. Then you go out to dinner or a day dive charter for a couple of dives as a reward to yourself. And be expected to tip someone for ordinary or sub par service is just a slap in the face. What happened to taking pride in your job. This comes from a former Dive shop employee, Instructor and Divemaster. I understand the dive industry pay structure and it sucks!
I completely agree with that Jeff. I think subpar service and still expecting tips is ridiculous. If it's a service based industry and they rely on tips, you have to PROVIDE THE SERVICE and go beyond if you want to really earn that. I tried saying that in a few spots in the video, that it should be based on the level of service received. I did record a bit that I ended up cutting (because it kind of droned on a bit too much) where I was saying on one trip, I left a really low tip compared to normal because it was a really unsafe and bad experience. I dragged on and on with it so I cut it in editing, haha. But yeah, definitely I think you need to work and put effort out to get a good tip, not just expect to sit back and collect a paycheck/tip money.
Seeing another video on instructor salaries would be awesome, as well as the expenses to be an instructor - insurance, organization fees, etc. These seem to be ‘taboo’ topics in many circles, and transparency would be so much more appreciated. I’ve thought about possibly going for dive master or instructor, but not having a good idea of the costs and pay beforehand gives me a lot of hesitation. Most other professions are fairly transparent about the pay and costs, diving should not be different. Great info regarding tipping - this is another topic that is generally not covered as well as it could be, and the practice definitely varies upon location. Personally, I think everyone working on a crew should be paid appropriately, but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. Therefore, the more we know about how crews are paid and local tipping customs, the better we can be to those crews.
I’m going to definitely see if I can get some friends from various parts of the world to share their costs on both getting into the pro side of diving plus the annual costs of insurance and membership and then pay transparency.
For land based dives, many places in Thailand actually tell you to NOT tip more than the cost of the local beer. Because if you tip more, they say it’s common for the boat crew to not show up the next day because you tipped more than their daily wage. I was just there and the dive shops told us this
I appreciate when the dive crew goes above & beyond and swaps our gear, washes down our gear & stores it overnight in their shop for 3-day packages, etc. That is worth tipping alone, not just for being a good guide for the diving part of our trip. In the US we are comfortable with tipping & tip based on performance, not just because they show up. I learned traveling in SE Asia that tipping is awkward, more often than not. I respect their culture about it.
It helps when the crew is really awesome and offloads your gear to your station on the boat. When they’re well run, help out, have everything setup (don’t setup my gear), it’s easy to throw them some extra money.
I don't think it was mentioned in the video, but the tip amounts discussed are for diving in the US (and maybe Europe/Aus) but definitely not for anywhere in the Caribbean, Egypt, or SE Asia. I'm most familiar with SE Asia, and here, a tip of $10-$15 PER DAY (2-4 dives) would be more than generous. For LOBs, just count up the number of days and tip accordingly (not the 15-20 percent of the trip cost).
That’s great feedback, thank you! I mentioned for my experiences in the US, Mexico, and Canada but I haven’t done diving in SE Asian or Egypt. For the Caribbean I mentioned on the islands I’ve been to, which a rough count in my head I think I’ve been to 6 different Caribbean islands now? I said something like “obviously there are a lot of islands and independent countries” in reference to it may be different on some. Thanks for the extra info!
I have a tendency to forget to give a tip. I have to actively remind myself to do so. That's because in Europe, gratuity is included in the price. You're free to tip extra, and it's always appreciated, but it's not expected. I remember having taken a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, and I thought I had been really generous tipping $50 to the guide at the end. Apparently they expected a couple of hundred dollars.
I don’t think tips should ever be expected, but that’s more of my personal principles. I’m taking a job knowing what they pay is and anything else I’m just gracious for. But I’m also working a day job outside of diving so it’s not my only source of income. Gratuity being included or people just getting paid without needing tips would make it so much simpler.
Agree, same for me. Being away in another country somehow stresses me when it comes to saying goodbye and paying the normal bill. Should I add something? Is it expected/needed/"required"? In Germany it would be pretty bad for the service giver to heavily rely on tips when the normal salary is just meant for the basic living costs (let's ignore mini jobs for teenagers or students to earn just a little bit of pocket money). Every cent that you don't get on your paycheck but though tips of course bypasses tax and social systems and kinda gives you the feeling of owning it right now and maybe you just spend it. But having your salary go through the paycheck and accepting a deduction then will pay for health insurance, an insurance in case of unemployment and will count towards your pension later paying for your life after retirement. Just very simple, details are more complicated. That's why I'm pretty skeptical about the American way of dealing with employees in any service industry. I just don't really get how it works and why there is no change for the better. But that's easy to say from far away. I'm just missing personal experience with that system.
@@wolfgangmuhsalI very much respect this comment, thank you for writing it. Culture is different everywhere, and I think that's a key part. It's easy for folks to judge the "American way of tipping culture" but we also have free public restrooms and I was paying 1-2 Euros to use the bathroom when driving up and down the A7 last time I was in Germany, haha. Paying to use the bathroom seemed insane to me, but it's also just a part of the culture there. We also do the "unlimited refill" thing for most places, where if you buy a soda, you get refills until you leave included. That doesn't seem true in a lot of places I've visited in Europe and in the Caribbean. Culture is one of the fun things about traveling to me though, completely outside of diving. I even try to learn some of the language if I can, because that often also can show some of the cultural roots of a country or group of people. Just imagine all of the "time" words in German to denote how soon "soon" is (I'm just kidding, but we know German culture is very on time, hehehe). I personally think if people were just paid a fair wage it would be great, and I may still offer a gift of some sort, but it would be far less "stressful" because it's just an extra thing that's not really dependent on anything. This also made me really miss Germany, I need to go back again, haha. Ich war im Februar 2020, kurz vor COVID, für einen Monat in Flensburg. Ich würde gerne mehr vom Land besuchen. It was such a beautiful time.
Why the hell would you tip them couple hundred dollars ?? Helicopter tours are not long, I spend entire day with people on boat from 8h to 18h and they give me €20 tip or sometimes nothing, and those idiots want €200+ tip for doing their job 30min or 1h, I would go back on diferent helicopter tour and not leave them anything
I noticed that at 3:28, the footage of a diver shows the octo trailing and slightly free-flowing. Can we do a piece on best octo practices? Attachment methods? How we avoid this? (Well, those of us rec divers who don't use a long-hose primary-donate system...yet.)
Thomas, how I've never known that you are on TH-cam is a true mystery haha. But what a great video. I like how you've addressed how much the dive crew does, to make your trip amazing. Without you sometimes (or most of the times) noticing it. Of course your Dive Crew has a smile on their faces and show you all the amazing things to see under water. At the same time they keep an eye out for any sort of distress, while gracefully guiding you around. From planning the trips, filling tanks and even carrying them (most of the times by the dozens, if not more per day). And a lot of times going out of their way to create the best experience with them you ever had. I always see it like this... they didn't have to do all of that! I'm a certified diver with my own dive buddy and navigation skills. They could have just dumped my on the reef and told me to be back in 50 minutes or something.... Would I have spotted a cute juvenile fish that I've never seen before.... probably not. Dive crew goes out of their way to make sure I can enjoy my dives. Do I believe they can be rewarded for that? Absolutely! And personally, to me it doesn't matter how much they get payed. That is nog my business. It is just a personal thank you in the form of a tip, for whatever they want to use that. Of course, I'm a little biased since I work in the industry myself. But from the industry I can say that it is Highly Appreciated. That all your hard (and extra) work payed off. Hope to see you soon! Chrissy - Your Ocean Encounters, Curacao Friend!
Chrissy!!!! Hope you and the crew are doing well! I started the channel December 2022, haha. Thanks for checking it out and leaving such a detailed comment. Love what y’all do at Ocean Encounters, my fav dive operator of all so far 🎉
I like the envelope idea and the lockbox/mailbox idea as it eliminates the sometimes aquardness of the handoff itself. I tend to tip a higher amount for a local trip than for a longer trip just because the total goes up more quickly on a long trip. It also depends on how much the captain or DM is doing for me. I tend to be mostly self suffecient with my gear and sometimes just need a boat ride to the site but also sometimes the DM is helpful guiding or pointing out critters and that deserves a better tip. Leaving a good tip if you're going to go back to the resort or the charter operator can help to ensure a better experience on subsequent trips, but tipping a local operator that you frequent can lead to the expectation of tips that can increase your overall cost. One way to handle this would be to send the local operator or shop a random gift every so often such as a lunch delivery or coffee/doughnuts when you visit the shop, this shows your appreciation for their services without running up a huge bill every time. I tip based on service not expectiation so if I have a good experience I leave a tip but if im ignored or neglected than no tip.
I think this is a great approach too and the gifts are actually a great idea. I’ve read stories of people doing things like bringing hard to import items in a suitcase for a dive guide because it would be 3x’s more expensive to get it themselves and that was the “tip” for example too. Donuts are always welcome too 🤣
I’ve heard from many employees, a tip box or shared tips are not always shared. On some occasions, it all goes to management. If it is distributed, there is the problem of equitable distribution. For example: I worked 6 days this week, but you only worked 1. Or, on my work day I had 45 guests, but on your day you only had 2 guests. Or, I’m a great friendly host, but you are rude and entitled. I’ve managed tipped employees for over 20 years and they HATE tip pools!
@@randallsluder8289 this is a pretty common problem with tipping in any service based industry IMO. It sucks, haha. I've seen people have to split tips as wait staff in restaurants even though their clients left them specifically a $100 tip for their birthday, for example. Which. is an insane tip, and also kinda insane to make them split that with the servers when it was for a specific reason.
@@randallsluder8289 Not wanting to make my original comment too long I negleted to referency my experience with a now closed resort that had individual mailboxes for the Dive Staff where you could leave idividual tips if you wanted and you could leave a general shared tip for the housekeeping staff at the front desk. I think this is the best of both worlds as you can choose who gets the most benefit from your tip. If management doesn't find an equitable way to distribute shared tips then shame on them.
I think shared tips is good if it’s truly equitable. Because people who don’t necessarily go on the boat still do work (like sometimes people spend 8 hours a day just filling tanks for divers on very high volume resorts). But then it also goes back to just paying them properly 😅 Economy and pay isn’t easy I guess, bleh lol
My only chartered dive trip (so far) was in pompano on the O Sea D dive boat. The crew was fantastic and really fun to chat with. When I showed up for the first dive my rental Computer errored out, but the boat dive master Kim went and got her personal computer for me to use for the weekend. Another guy on the boat had his tank slip out of the tie down bungee cord due to rough water and sheered off his HP hose for his SPG, and the crew got him set up with a regulator they had on the boat. 14/10 experience with them, and I made sure to give some extra tip to them
I’m glad you mentioned inflation. I got certified in 2012 and the going rate for a tip then was $10 a tank and I used that as a guide for years. Since Covid and the state of the economy now (in the US) I have bumped that to $20 a tank. Unless we all like shore dives I suggest people get on board with that, the going rate is unsustainable. In my opinion, if you can afford the cert, the gear (rent or own), and the trip, you can afford to throw your DM $40 for two tanks.
Great video, I always tip the crew/instructors but also I wonder how much. Tipping where I live (LA) is out of control. Anytime you swipe your credit card the screen says “SELECT TIP 15% 20% 25% CUSTOM.” Even happened when getting my oil changed at a car shop and at a self serve yogurt place where the customer makes their own.
4:31 if I didn’t have a day job, I’d honestly want to do a deep dive on “scuba-nomics” and maybe make a video about it Through researching and planning dive trips, I’m always fascinated by how different prices are in different countries and wondered what the (political, socioeconomic, etc whichever) forces are behind the industry I think James from Divers Ready has made something similar but maybe from a scuba professional’s stand point but it’s probably something i’d like to do or know in future
I definitely want to make a video like this. It’s a problem that really sits above the dive shops too. Manufacturers have smaller profit margins as well. It’s just kind of an entire industry issue. Instructors may not be paid very well because shops don’t make much off classes and only have minimal margins on a lot of dive gear. Manufacturers provide minimal margins to shops because they also don’t have the best margins (I mean I’m sure they’re fine but my understanding is it’s not HUGE margins or anything). Agencies charge shops annual fees and processing fees for students doing courses. I agree a video really diving deep would be awesome and I think I could cover some, but may not be able to dive into all the aspects and do them justice without a lot of heavy research time I don’t know if I can spare right now :(
I get the tipping part that's cool I am from canada we tip for every service . The part that I don't agree with is all the dive resorts use us money. Well for Canadians it's 1 us buck is 1.35 bucks canadian.. thst means your live aboard trip at 1300 plus 300 tip comes to 2209 bucks for the same dives. Don't get wrong I do tip but not that much .
Yeah I think that’s just world economics for touristy areas unfortunately. Euros, US dollar, and whatever local currency are usually what I’ve found to be accepted. Makes it tough if your country doesn’t use that currency normally. :/
I visited the Red Sea in Egypt and found that tipping is used there and is a kind of expression of satisfaction for the service provided by the boat captain and the assistants. It is a very small amount that may not exceed 3 US dollars put it inside small box For me it’s good to pay tips
Dive boat in Egypt after our two weeks diving wanted 100 dollars per person … I’m not sure the crew get this money shared between them or it goes to dive company
My wife and I have a open water class scheduled in Cozumel along with 4 additional days of diving with the same dive school. What would be a reasonable amount to tip the crew?
For the class you’ll do 4 dives in open water, some people also tip the confined water but that’s more rare imo. $5-$10 per tank is the rule of thumb, but as I mentioned in the video people have said that for at least 15+ years, so $10-$15 is more appropriate. Count the tanks, go off of that. I’d also ask the shop there how tipping works for your class versus the additional dives. They’ll be happy to share the process since it can be awkward to know who to tip and when. Which shop did you pick? There’s some great ones down there
@@CircleHScuba , Salty Endeavors. My wife wanted a small outfit that would give her a little more attention. She had a bad experience with a discover scuba that we did in Roatan last year. No fault of the dive shop, just had some rowdy teenagers in the same class that the instructors couldn’t really give their full attention to the others.
@AdventuresAcrossUSA ah dang sorry to hear of the bad experience. I haven’t dove with them yet but best of luck! Let me know how it all goes, and congrats (premature congrats haha) on getting certified!
In SoCal and all over the USA, there is a tipping culture of entitlement, to the point of being a surcharge, and not providing the customer with good service to "earn' or deserve a tip. Fortunately, that quasi mandatory tipping is not being followed by many younger people. If your employer does not pay you enough find another job.
Hoping to shed some light and not shade… I’ve worked in the service industry much of my life, from restaurants to owning my own business as a contractor in the trades. In the service industry I busted my butt (still do) to provide an over the top good experience or service, in the restaurants and on projects, especially if I wanted a gratuity or wanted to ask more as a tradesman. Not everyone, from my experience aspires to provide exceptional service, no offense intended. I’ve also been a certified diver for over 30 years, have over 1k dives and have been fortunate to dive in several different countries around the world. I’ve always been autonomous and try not to have too high of expectations when boat diving, so I hadn’t realized the difference until recently. I see now not everyone has the same attention to detail or bandwidth when it comes to service or serving several people at once. That said, my 11 year old son was scuba certified this last spring and we’ve been on a couple of trips since. For context he has about 20 or so dives now. We always do a pre dive buddy check and I’m right there with him 100% of the time on the entirety of our dives. On more than one occasion, 3 actually, his cylinder valve was closed or he had no weight in his bcd. It’s not a big deal we caught it on deck and I know safety as a diver is our responsibility but on a concierge dive, when you want a gratuity, you should not just do the basics but go the extra mile. I do realize that the dive crew and boat crew don’t make much money but scuba is potentially life or death and as Jack Reacher says details matter. I’m hoping that my experience as of late is unique and doesn’t repeat itself but frankly I’m not optimistic. It seems the service industry as a whole has taken a hit in the last 10 or so years, it appears like people expect a tip if they show up for work. I’m really not trying to be negative and I tip 100% of the time regardless but the percentage is definitely reflected in the effort and attitude of the service.
I’m right there with you on this sentiment. People need to do the job well for a tip too. As an aside, I’m a Veteran, and I have a bit of the mindset of “why are you tipping me for just doing my job?” that I’ve always struggled with a bit. But I see when people put in a lot of effort and I think a tip, maybe a small/cheap gift (heck, bring a cup of coffee for them), goes a long way in showing the appreciation. On the opposite side, if they’re messing up and missing expectations, I let that be known too usually to try to correct it. That’s why I mentioned at some point in the video, that people should definitely like owners/operators know if the experience was poor.
Important topic! I know very well how much liveaboard guides and crew earn. That's why I always tip. But! The size of the tip directly depends on the contribution of the crew and guides to the organization of good diving. Sometimes I get disappointed. 
I think it depends on the location like I’ve said the video, then also if the instructor’s only job is dive instructing imo. I have a day job and have turned down tips too, but I know full time instructors that make less than minimum wage so tips are a necessity
Hi ! Thanks for the video ! I’m actually one of the many who’ve asked on FB groups about tipping etiquette lol. I appreciate the information ! As a new diver, I’m curious about one of the points you mentionned. You say that some dive instructors decided to follow the course (to become instructor) with a specific diving club while not paying BUT having to work there for a specific timeframe. (Or any other possible arrangement similar to this) (Is it very common?) It may be because I’m not an English speaking person, but it sounded to me in your video that you presented the fact they don’t make much (among other points) as a reason why « we » should tip. I have to say this specific example bothered me. Why would « I » need to pay more by tipping if the instructor himself chose this situation? (I understand for appreciation, living conditions, the concept and all. It’s just the logic behing this point that bothers me and I wanted to mention it/clarify it. :) ) Otherwise very clear explanations ! Thanks
Hey! Glad you enjoyed the video and great question!! So ideally, the industry would be different and people would get paid a normal wage. However, in certain industries there are jobs that are known to be little to no pay plus commission or tips, and you rely on that to earn a livable wage. Diving is an industry that has some of that. Why should you? Well, they’re deciding to take an unpaid internship for a year to deliver as great of an experience as possible to you, so there’s an argument to be made that they put themselves in that position. However if people didn’t do this, with the way the industry pays, we basically wouldn’t have anyone be a dive guide. People do it for the love of it, not for the money. Because the money is near non-existent. Tips help make it doable, and are a way to thank someone for the service they’re providing. They’re never mandatory in my opinion, and I don’t think mandatory gratuity or tips should be a thing.
You leave a tip if you’re happy and satisfied with the quality of the service. This applies also to other industries. I’ve seen terrible diving operators with horrible services, who did not even care about minimal safety standards, and who would put their own customers at risk, but were still expecting to receive a tip (!). I don’t really care what your salary is. If it’s not enough, talk to your employer, or find another job. This is not charity.
I live in Cayman and dive consistently with 2 different dive ops. If I don’t tip or sometimes forget (I’m getting old) I FEEL GUILTY…these guys are not paid well and appreciate the tips!
Never dive in America because of tipping is required or expected, its because the company is ripping off their staff. Pay a decent wage instead of guilt tripping customers.
In Mexico now is the same. They are use the the US and Canadian customers tipping 10 to 20 percent as a surcharge, regardless I'd the quality of the service.
@condoonsixthavenue8060 I wouldn’t say regardless. I know a lot of people I’ve chatted with tip based on quality of service like I mention in the video. I tried making it clear “general guidelines” were being said a few times too because it’s not the same everywhere and for everyone. I’m likely tipping, but if I have really bad service I’m going to not tip or tip extremely low. In either case I give a lot of feedback to owners so they know about the poor service.
I’ve heard from many employees, a tip box or shared tips are not always shared. On some occasions, it all goes to management. If it is distributed, there is the problem of equitable distribution. For example: I worked 6 days this week, but you only worked 1. Or, on my work day I had 45 guests, but on your day you only had 2 guests. Or, I’m a great friendly host, but you are rude and entitled. I’ve managed tipped employees for over 20 years and they HATE tip pools!
I’d like to propose a middle ground. I book a dive and I ask the shop/ facility owner what is the fair market pay including tips. I include that with what I pay, because it makes sense to pay once, and the owner has to withhold taxes which so many in the cash tip economy fail to do and everyone hates a taxpayer who absconds from paying what they are legally required to declare as taxable income.
Asking the shop what tips normally are like as an average is usually a decent route to take honestly. As for cash tips and not declaring as income, that’s a bit out of scope haha. I believe that’s the case in any industry in the US that has tips, though more and more places take cards as tips so that’s declared since it’s electronic
I tip my instructors pass or fail because I ask a lot above and beyond what the class entails. My concern is if I am tipping enough. Plus dive people talk ; if you are a jerk it’s gonna get out. I started in life in the service industry so I appreciated tips but didn’t expect them. Fast forward 50 years I remember those times and remember others that are there now. Don’t be a jerk just be nice and provide a gratuity
But that's just the thing. When I'm on vacation I don't need the additional stress of figuring out what's an "enough" tip. I don't want to be a jerk but I don't want a guessing game either. If I guess to low I've insulted someone who's done their job well enough. If I guess too high I've just added a significant expense to the trip. A living wage shouldn't be optional, even when the service worker has a bad day and isn't at their best. So make the operator pay it and put it on the bill. I'll gladly tip for service above the normal level but truly hate all these hidden costs. In Europe we've gotten rid of all the hidden costs when booking flights and it's so nice to be able to see the full price in the ads and websites. Can we do the same here?
Work arrangements are none of customers' problems, in my opinion. Whoever, I tip about 90% of a time. I just have one rule - don't touch my gear, tip gets lower every time you do. 😅
I definitely hear you on pushing the cost to the customer. I don’t agree with that aspect, BUT being that it is the situation many people deal with, this video is to help serve how to go about it. I get touchy with my gear sometimes too. I like the help but have sometimes had people break gear by accident 😢
Tipping culture doesnt make sense. I love how we tip in Europe. Excelent service = extra monetary appreciation. Simple as that. Shitty service? Wont come back. Regular service? Fine, pay the bill. It's an exchange with a pre-agreement (price on the menu)
I think it’s the same in the US…outside of the regular service piece. We’d do a minimal tip for average but extra for excellent, and if it’s really bad sometimes no tip at all and definitely not coming back
You make it sound like it is mandatory to tip , that is wrong. Probably because you are a dive instructor you are bias. It cost a lot of money to dive and tip is nonsense. That is like saying you should tip your mail guy, or maybe the bin man, or maybe your football coach. Thumbs down for this one.
The video has been up for 9 mins so I’m aware you haven’t watched it all. I actually say a few times in the video that they aren’t mandatory and give reasons why tips may be something you should do and consider depending on where you are in the world. To your comment, the bin man, mail guy, and football coach are paid salaries. Instructors sometimes aren’t paid anything, or may receive minimum wage or less than minimum wage quite often.
I wonder how much it would cost to dive if the boats paid their DMs more? I bet that cost would still be covered by you the diver in increased charter fees.
@@CircleHScubaI’d like to add, mail delivery people & other city/state/federal employees cannot accept money tips at any point. I’m basing that on US policy over 10 years ago when my sister worked delivering mail & people wanted to gift her money for Christmas. It was illegal then & expect that is still in effect.
I know tipping is a controversial topic, and I'm happy to discuss it in the comments further. Please note that. I do say throughout the video that pay is not always the same throughout the world, tipping isn't always a needed thing based on local customs, and that in some areas instructors and dive masters may be working for no pay at all or less than minimum wage, which is when they do rely on tips. Happy to have discussions about this further in the comments, but I'd ask that you watch the video to understand the perspectives I say before immediately jumping on the "Americans/westerns always want to tip like we all have money" band wagon, haha. I understand that argument and I admit that asking to tip is adding even more expense to an already expensive hobby.
The video I mention at the end is about budgeting for your dive trips as part of your overall plan for a dive trip. You can learn how to plan a dive trip and tips for doing so in this video: th-cam.com/video/VsfG1mAvnEY/w-d-xo.html
I'm from a country that does not have this tipping concept, and I confess that it's a little difficult to understand. If the employees are not paid enough by their employers, why do they transfer that responsibility to the customers? I would prefer to pay higher prices for the tank dives instead of giving a tip... just my opinion.
I agree that if people were paid properly to start with, tips would be less relevant. But service based industries have this as a common theme in a lot of areas, the US especially but in other countries as well
The employees should be paid properly and that reflected on the trip price. Instead of offering a teaser price and then charge the customer with coffee, drinks, rental gear, park permits, fuel surcharge, and then giving a sorry speech in the last dive day about how hard the crew works and that they do not get paid enough
I definitely agree the "hidden cost" crap REALLY gets me and I've been a victim of that myself (okay, victim may be a strong word, but still). Actually VERY recently I just had this happen, and I'm still pretty upset about the whole thing costing close to an extra $1000 than it should've been.
But yes, agreed, and I think a whole video (or series of videos) could be dedicated to the dive industry's system in terms of the costs, pay, etc.
agreed 100%. we live in a society where it's acceptable to expect people to work for pennies and count on generosity of strangers to make a living wage.
i am actually saving up to open up a dive shop and make it a point that we don't need or expect tips. everyone is paid fairly, and if you want to "tip", bring drinks or food instead, because we are too lazy to go out.
That’s a goal of mine as well
Now everyone that does a service job expects to be tipped. That's just not right. Tipping started as a way to thank someone for extraordinary service. And that is a joy to do, because it is so rare.
Many people are dealing with run away prices and can't afford many things to begin with. Then you go out to dinner or a day dive charter for a couple of dives as a reward to yourself. And be expected to tip someone for ordinary or sub par service is just a slap in the face. What happened to taking pride in your job.
This comes from a former Dive shop employee, Instructor and Divemaster. I understand the dive industry pay structure and it sucks!
I completely agree with that Jeff. I think subpar service and still expecting tips is ridiculous. If it's a service based industry and they rely on tips, you have to PROVIDE THE SERVICE and go beyond if you want to really earn that. I tried saying that in a few spots in the video, that it should be based on the level of service received. I did record a bit that I ended up cutting (because it kind of droned on a bit too much) where I was saying on one trip, I left a really low tip compared to normal because it was a really unsafe and bad experience. I dragged on and on with it so I cut it in editing, haha. But yeah, definitely I think you need to work and put effort out to get a good tip, not just expect to sit back and collect a paycheck/tip money.
Seeing another video on instructor salaries would be awesome, as well as the expenses to be an instructor - insurance, organization fees, etc. These seem to be ‘taboo’ topics in many circles, and transparency would be so much more appreciated. I’ve thought about possibly going for dive master or instructor, but not having a good idea of the costs and pay beforehand gives me a lot of hesitation. Most other professions are fairly transparent about the pay and costs, diving should not be different.
Great info regarding tipping - this is another topic that is generally not covered as well as it could be, and the practice definitely varies upon location. Personally, I think everyone working on a crew should be paid appropriately, but that’s not likely to happen anytime soon. Therefore, the more we know about how crews are paid and local tipping customs, the better we can be to those crews.
I’m going to definitely see if I can get some friends from various parts of the world to share their costs on both getting into the pro side of diving plus the annual costs of insurance and membership and then pay transparency.
For land based dives, many places in Thailand actually tell you to NOT tip more than the cost of the local beer. Because if you tip more, they say it’s common for the boat crew to not show up the next day because you tipped more than their daily wage. I was just there and the dive shops told us this
Good to know! I think I mentioned (I hope I did) that local customs vary, so I guess that would be one of them, thanks for the note!
I appreciate when the dive crew goes above & beyond and swaps our gear, washes down our gear & stores it overnight in their shop for 3-day packages, etc.
That is worth tipping alone, not just for being a good guide for the diving part of our trip.
In the US we are comfortable with tipping & tip based on performance, not just because they show up.
I learned traveling in SE Asia that tipping is awkward, more often than not. I respect their culture about it.
It helps when the crew is really awesome and offloads your gear to your station on the boat. When they’re well run, help out, have everything setup (don’t setup my gear), it’s easy to throw them some extra money.
Agreed
I don't think it was mentioned in the video, but the tip amounts discussed are for diving in the US (and maybe Europe/Aus) but definitely not for anywhere in the Caribbean, Egypt, or SE Asia. I'm most familiar with SE Asia, and here, a tip of $10-$15 PER DAY (2-4 dives) would be more than generous. For LOBs, just count up the number of days and tip accordingly (not the 15-20 percent of the trip cost).
That’s great feedback, thank you! I mentioned for my experiences in the US, Mexico, and Canada but I haven’t done diving in SE Asian or Egypt.
For the Caribbean I mentioned on the islands I’ve been to, which a rough count in my head I think I’ve been to 6 different Caribbean islands now? I said something like “obviously there are a lot of islands and independent countries” in reference to it may be different on some.
Thanks for the extra info!
I have a tendency to forget to give a tip. I have to actively remind myself to do so. That's because in Europe, gratuity is included in the price. You're free to tip extra, and it's always appreciated, but it's not expected.
I remember having taken a helicopter tour of the Grand Canyon, and I thought I had been really generous tipping $50 to the guide at the end. Apparently they expected a couple of hundred dollars.
I don’t think tips should ever be expected, but that’s more of my personal principles. I’m taking a job knowing what they pay is and anything else I’m just gracious for. But I’m also working a day job outside of diving so it’s not my only source of income.
Gratuity being included or people just getting paid without needing tips would make it so much simpler.
Agree, same for me. Being away in another country somehow stresses me when it comes to saying goodbye and paying the normal bill. Should I add something? Is it expected/needed/"required"?
In Germany it would be pretty bad for the service giver to heavily rely on tips when the normal salary is just meant for the basic living costs (let's ignore mini jobs for teenagers or students to earn just a little bit of pocket money). Every cent that you don't get on your paycheck but though tips of course bypasses tax and social systems and kinda gives you the feeling of owning it right now and maybe you just spend it. But having your salary go through the paycheck and accepting a deduction then will pay for health insurance, an insurance in case of unemployment and will count towards your pension later paying for your life after retirement. Just very simple, details are more complicated.
That's why I'm pretty skeptical about the American way of dealing with employees in any service industry. I just don't really get how it works and why there is no change for the better. But that's easy to say from far away. I'm just missing personal experience with that system.
@@wolfgangmuhsalI very much respect this comment, thank you for writing it. Culture is different everywhere, and I think that's a key part. It's easy for folks to judge the "American way of tipping culture" but we also have free public restrooms and I was paying 1-2 Euros to use the bathroom when driving up and down the A7 last time I was in Germany, haha. Paying to use the bathroom seemed insane to me, but it's also just a part of the culture there. We also do the "unlimited refill" thing for most places, where if you buy a soda, you get refills until you leave included. That doesn't seem true in a lot of places I've visited in Europe and in the Caribbean.
Culture is one of the fun things about traveling to me though, completely outside of diving. I even try to learn some of the language if I can, because that often also can show some of the cultural roots of a country or group of people. Just imagine all of the "time" words in German to denote how soon "soon" is (I'm just kidding, but we know German culture is very on time, hehehe).
I personally think if people were just paid a fair wage it would be great, and I may still offer a gift of some sort, but it would be far less "stressful" because it's just an extra thing that's not really dependent on anything.
This also made me really miss Germany, I need to go back again, haha. Ich war im Februar 2020, kurz vor COVID, für einen Monat in Flensburg. Ich würde gerne mehr vom Land besuchen. It was such a beautiful time.
Why the hell would you tip them couple hundred dollars ?? Helicopter tours are not long, I spend entire day with people on boat from 8h to 18h and they give me €20 tip or sometimes nothing, and those idiots want €200+ tip for doing their job 30min or 1h, I would go back on diferent helicopter tour and not leave them anything
I noticed that at 3:28, the footage of a diver shows the octo trailing and slightly free-flowing.
Can we do a piece on best octo practices? Attachment methods?
How we avoid this? (Well, those of us rec divers who don't use a long-hose primary-donate system...yet.)
Great idea, I can definitely do a video on that!
Thomas, how I've never known that you are on TH-cam is a true mystery haha. But what a great video.
I like how you've addressed how much the dive crew does, to make your trip amazing. Without you sometimes (or most of the times) noticing it. Of course your Dive Crew has a smile on their faces and show you all the amazing things to see under water. At the same time they keep an eye out for any sort of distress, while gracefully guiding you around. From planning the trips, filling tanks and even carrying them (most of the times by the dozens, if not more per day). And a lot of times going out of their way to create the best experience with them you ever had. I always see it like this... they didn't have to do all of that! I'm a certified diver with my own dive buddy and navigation skills. They could have just dumped my on the reef and told me to be back in 50 minutes or something.... Would I have spotted a cute juvenile fish that I've never seen before.... probably not. Dive crew goes out of their way to make sure I can enjoy my dives. Do I believe they can be rewarded for that? Absolutely! And personally, to me it doesn't matter how much they get payed. That is nog my business. It is just a personal thank you in the form of a tip, for whatever they want to use that.
Of course, I'm a little biased since I work in the industry myself. But from the industry I can say that it is Highly Appreciated. That all your hard (and extra) work payed off.
Hope to see you soon! Chrissy - Your Ocean Encounters, Curacao Friend!
Chrissy!!!! Hope you and the crew are doing well! I started the channel December 2022, haha. Thanks for checking it out and leaving such a detailed comment. Love what y’all do at Ocean Encounters, my fav dive operator of all so far 🎉
I like the envelope idea and the lockbox/mailbox idea as it eliminates the sometimes aquardness of the handoff itself. I tend to tip a higher amount for a local trip than for a longer trip just because the total goes up more quickly on a long trip. It also depends on how much the captain or DM is doing for me. I tend to be mostly self suffecient with my gear and sometimes just need a boat ride to the site but also sometimes the DM is helpful guiding or pointing out critters and that deserves a better tip. Leaving a good tip if you're going to go back to the resort or the charter operator can help to ensure a better experience on subsequent trips, but tipping a local operator that you frequent can lead to the expectation of tips that can increase your overall cost. One way to handle this would be to send the local operator or shop a random gift every so often such as a lunch delivery or coffee/doughnuts when you visit the shop, this shows your appreciation for their services without running up a huge bill every time. I tip based on service not expectiation so if I have a good experience I leave a tip but if im ignored or neglected than no tip.
I think this is a great approach too and the gifts are actually a great idea. I’ve read stories of people doing things like bringing hard to import items in a suitcase for a dive guide because it would be 3x’s more expensive to get it themselves and that was the “tip” for example too. Donuts are always welcome too 🤣
I’ve heard from many employees, a tip box or shared tips are not always shared. On some occasions, it all goes to management.
If it is distributed, there is the problem of equitable distribution. For example: I worked 6 days this week, but you only worked 1. Or, on my work day I had 45 guests, but on your day you only had 2 guests. Or, I’m a great friendly host, but you are rude and entitled.
I’ve managed tipped employees for over 20 years and they HATE tip pools!
@@randallsluder8289 this is a pretty common problem with tipping in any service based industry IMO. It sucks, haha. I've seen people have to split tips as wait staff in restaurants even though their clients left them specifically a $100 tip for their birthday, for example. Which. is an insane tip, and also kinda insane to make them split that with the servers when it was for a specific reason.
@@randallsluder8289 Not wanting to make my original comment too long I negleted to referency my experience with a now closed resort that had individual mailboxes for the Dive Staff where you could leave idividual tips if you wanted and you could leave a general shared tip for the housekeeping staff at the front desk. I think this is the best of both worlds as you can choose who gets the most benefit from your tip. If management doesn't find an equitable way to distribute shared tips then shame on them.
I think shared tips is good if it’s truly equitable. Because people who don’t necessarily go on the boat still do work (like sometimes people spend 8 hours a day just filling tanks for divers on very high volume resorts). But then it also goes back to just paying them properly 😅
Economy and pay isn’t easy I guess, bleh lol
My only chartered dive trip (so far) was in pompano on the O Sea D dive boat. The crew was fantastic and really fun to chat with. When I showed up for the first dive my rental Computer errored out, but the boat dive master Kim went and got her personal computer for me to use for the weekend. Another guy on the boat had his tank slip out of the tie down bungee cord due to rough water and sheered off his HP hose for his SPG, and the crew got him set up with a regulator they had on the boat. 14/10 experience with them, and I made sure to give some extra tip to them
That sounds like great service
I’m glad you mentioned inflation. I got certified in 2012 and the going rate for a tip then was $10 a tank and I used that as a guide for years. Since Covid and the state of the economy now (in the US) I have bumped that to $20 a tank. Unless we all like shore dives I suggest people get on board with that, the going rate is unsustainable. In my opinion, if you can afford the cert, the gear (rent or own), and the trip, you can afford to throw your DM $40 for two tanks.
Great video, I always tip the crew/instructors but also I wonder how much.
Tipping where I live (LA) is out of control. Anytime you swipe your credit card the screen says “SELECT TIP 15% 20% 25% CUSTOM.” Even happened when getting my oil changed at a car shop and at a self serve yogurt place where the customer makes their own.
4:31 if I didn’t have a day job, I’d honestly want to do a deep dive on “scuba-nomics” and maybe make a video about it
Through researching and planning dive trips, I’m always fascinated by how different prices are in different countries and wondered what the (political, socioeconomic, etc whichever) forces are behind the industry
I think James from Divers Ready has made something similar but maybe from a scuba professional’s stand point but it’s probably something i’d like to do or know in future
I definitely want to make a video like this. It’s a problem that really sits above the dive shops too. Manufacturers have smaller profit margins as well. It’s just kind of an entire industry issue.
Instructors may not be paid very well because shops don’t make much off classes and only have minimal margins on a lot of dive gear.
Manufacturers provide minimal margins to shops because they also don’t have the best margins (I mean I’m sure they’re fine but my understanding is it’s not HUGE margins or anything). Agencies charge shops annual fees and processing fees for students doing courses.
I agree a video really diving deep would be awesome and I think I could cover some, but may not be able to dive into all the aspects and do them justice without a lot of heavy research time I don’t know if I can spare right now :(
I get the tipping part that's cool I am from canada we tip for every service . The part that I don't agree with is all the dive resorts use us money. Well for Canadians it's 1 us buck is 1.35 bucks canadian.. thst means your live aboard trip at 1300 plus 300 tip comes to 2209 bucks for the same dives. Don't get wrong I do tip but not that much .
Yeah I think that’s just world economics for touristy areas unfortunately. Euros, US dollar, and whatever local currency are usually what I’ve found to be accepted. Makes it tough if your country doesn’t use that currency normally. :/
But you can tip in looneys and tooneys (spelling?) which makes it a lot more funny for me as an American 🤣
I visited the Red Sea in Egypt and found that tipping is used there and is a kind of expression of satisfaction for the service provided by the boat captain and the assistants. It is a very small amount that may not exceed 3 US dollars put it inside small box
For me it’s good to pay tips
Dive boat in Egypt after our two weeks diving wanted 100 dollars per person … I’m not sure the crew get this money shared between them or it goes to dive company
@albertbell7120 very likely goes to the crew
My wife and I have a open water class scheduled in Cozumel along with 4 additional days of diving with the same dive school. What would be a reasonable amount to tip the crew?
For the class you’ll do 4 dives in open water, some people also tip the confined water but that’s more rare imo.
$5-$10 per tank is the rule of thumb, but as I mentioned in the video people have said that for at least 15+ years, so $10-$15 is more appropriate.
Count the tanks, go off of that. I’d also ask the shop there how tipping works for your class versus the additional dives. They’ll be happy to share the process since it can be awkward to know who to tip and when.
Which shop did you pick? There’s some great ones down there
@@CircleHScuba , Salty Endeavors. My wife wanted a small outfit that would give her a little more attention. She had a bad experience with a discover scuba that we did in Roatan last year. No fault of the dive shop, just had some rowdy teenagers in the same class that the instructors couldn’t really give their full attention to the others.
@AdventuresAcrossUSA ah dang sorry to hear of the bad experience. I haven’t dove with them yet but best of luck! Let me know how it all goes, and congrats (premature congrats haha) on getting certified!
@@CircleHScuba , Thanks.
Here in SoCal, a lot of the boats have added tipping Venmo bar codes on the tip jar for folks that are cashless.
That’s pretty convenient!
In SoCal and all over the USA, there is a tipping culture of entitlement, to the point of being a surcharge, and not providing the customer with good service to "earn' or deserve a tip. Fortunately, that quasi mandatory tipping is not being followed by many younger people. If your employer does not pay you enough find another job.
Hoping to shed some light and not shade… I’ve worked in the service industry much of my life, from restaurants to owning my own business as a contractor in the trades. In the service industry I busted my butt (still do) to provide an over the top good experience or service, in the restaurants and on projects, especially if I wanted a gratuity or wanted to ask more as a tradesman. Not everyone, from my experience aspires to provide exceptional service, no offense intended. I’ve also been a certified diver for over 30 years, have over 1k dives and have been fortunate to dive in several different countries around the world. I’ve always been autonomous and try not to have too high of expectations when boat diving, so I hadn’t realized the difference until recently. I see now not everyone has the same attention to detail or bandwidth when it comes to service or serving several people at once. That said, my 11 year old son was scuba certified this last spring and we’ve been on a couple of trips since. For context he has about 20 or so dives now. We always do a pre dive buddy check and I’m right there with him 100% of the time on the entirety of our dives. On more than one occasion, 3 actually, his cylinder valve was closed or he had no weight in his bcd. It’s not a big deal we caught it on deck and I know safety as a diver is our responsibility but on a concierge dive, when you want a gratuity, you should not just do the basics but go the extra mile. I do realize that the dive crew and boat crew don’t make much money but scuba is potentially life or death and as Jack Reacher says details matter. I’m hoping that my experience as of late is unique and doesn’t repeat itself but frankly I’m not optimistic. It seems the service industry as a whole has taken a hit in the last 10 or so years, it appears like people expect a tip if they show up for work. I’m really not trying to be negative and I tip 100% of the time regardless but the percentage is definitely reflected in the effort and attitude of the service.
I’m right there with you on this sentiment. People need to do the job well for a tip too. As an aside, I’m a Veteran, and I have a bit of the mindset of “why are you tipping me for just doing my job?” that I’ve always struggled with a bit. But I see when people put in a lot of effort and I think a tip, maybe a small/cheap gift (heck, bring a cup of coffee for them), goes a long way in showing the appreciation.
On the opposite side, if they’re messing up and missing expectations, I let that be known too usually to try to correct it. That’s why I mentioned at some point in the video, that people should definitely like owners/operators know if the experience was poor.
Important topic! I know very well how much liveaboard guides and crew earn. That's why I always tip. But! The size of the tip directly depends on the contribution of the crew and guides to the organization of good diving. Sometimes I get disappointed.

I agree!
My instructor in Chicago refused a tip. Dive guide/instructor in FL practicality begged.
I think it depends on the location like I’ve said the video, then also if the instructor’s only job is dive instructing imo. I have a day job and have turned down tips too, but I know full time instructors that make less than minimum wage so tips are a necessity
Hi ! Thanks for the video !
I’m actually one of the many who’ve asked on FB groups about tipping etiquette lol. I appreciate the information !
As a new diver, I’m curious about one of the points you mentionned. You say that some dive instructors decided to follow the course (to become instructor) with a specific diving club while not paying BUT having to work there for a specific timeframe. (Or any other possible arrangement similar to this) (Is it very common?)
It may be because I’m not an English speaking person, but it sounded to me in your video that you presented the fact they don’t make much (among other points) as a reason why « we » should tip. I have to say this specific example bothered me. Why would « I » need to pay more by tipping if the instructor himself chose this situation? (I understand for appreciation, living conditions, the concept and all. It’s just the logic behing this point that bothers me and I wanted to mention it/clarify it. :) )
Otherwise very clear explanations ! Thanks
Hey! Glad you enjoyed the video and great question!!
So ideally, the industry would be different and people would get paid a normal wage. However, in certain industries there are jobs that are known to be little to no pay plus commission or tips, and you rely on that to earn a livable wage. Diving is an industry that has some of that.
Why should you? Well, they’re deciding to take an unpaid internship for a year to deliver as great of an experience as possible to you, so there’s an argument to be made that they put themselves in that position. However if people didn’t do this, with the way the industry pays, we basically wouldn’t have anyone be a dive guide. People do it for the love of it, not for the money. Because the money is near non-existent. Tips help make it doable, and are a way to thank someone for the service they’re providing. They’re never mandatory in my opinion, and I don’t think mandatory gratuity or tips should be a thing.
You leave a tip if you’re happy and satisfied with the quality of the service. This applies also to other industries. I’ve seen terrible diving operators with horrible services, who did not even care about minimal safety standards, and who would put their own customers at risk, but were still expecting to receive a tip (!). I don’t really care what your salary is. If it’s not enough, talk to your employer, or find another job. This is not charity.
I agree if you receive unsafe or horrible service you’re not going to give a tip
good topic to cover, thanks
You’re welcome!
Great video!
Thanks!
I live in Cayman and dive consistently with 2 different dive ops. If I don’t tip or sometimes forget (I’m getting old) I FEEL GUILTY…these guys are not paid well and appreciate the tips!
Depending on the islands, for sure. Some do get better pay (maybe nothing crazy but definitely better than a basic living wage). But a lot don’t :(
Never dive in America because of tipping is required or expected, its because the company is ripping off their staff.
Pay a decent wage instead of guilt tripping customers.
Like I said in the video, discussing industry pay and such is a whole topic of its own for sure
In Mexico now is the same. They are use the the US and Canadian customers tipping 10 to 20 percent as a surcharge, regardless I'd the quality of the service.
@condoonsixthavenue8060 I wouldn’t say regardless. I know a lot of people I’ve chatted with tip based on quality of service like I mention in the video. I tried making it clear “general guidelines” were being said a few times too because it’s not the same everywhere and for everyone. I’m likely tipping, but if I have really bad service I’m going to not tip or tip extremely low. In either case I give a lot of feedback to owners so they know about the poor service.
I’ve heard from many employees, a tip box or shared tips are not always shared. On some occasions, it all goes to management.
If it is distributed, there is the problem of equitable distribution. For example: I worked 6 days this week, but you only worked 1. Or, on my work day I had 45 guests, but on your day you only had 2 guests. Or, I’m a great friendly host, but you are rude and entitled.
I’ve managed tipped employees for over 20 years and they HATE tip pools!
I’d like to propose a middle ground. I book a dive and I ask the shop/ facility owner what is the fair market pay including tips. I include that with what I pay, because it makes sense to pay once, and the owner has to withhold taxes which so many in the cash tip economy fail to do and everyone hates a taxpayer who absconds from paying what they are legally required to declare as taxable income.
Asking the shop what tips normally are like as an average is usually a decent route to take honestly.
As for cash tips and not declaring as income, that’s a bit out of scope haha. I believe that’s the case in any industry in the US that has tips, though more and more places take cards as tips so that’s declared since it’s electronic
I tip my instructors pass or fail because I ask a lot above and beyond what the class entails. My concern is if I am tipping enough. Plus dive people talk ; if you are a jerk it’s gonna get out. I started in life in the service industry so I appreciated tips but didn’t expect them. Fast forward 50 years I remember those times and remember others that are there now. Don’t be a jerk just be nice and provide a gratuity
This is my opinion too. I don’t expect anything. Then feel the same way on the customer side as well
But that's just the thing. When I'm on vacation I don't need the additional stress of figuring out what's an "enough" tip. I don't want to be a jerk but I don't want a guessing game either. If I guess to low I've insulted someone who's done their job well enough. If I guess too high I've just added a significant expense to the trip. A living wage shouldn't be optional, even when the service worker has a bad day and isn't at their best. So make the operator pay it and put it on the bill. I'll gladly tip for service above the normal level but truly hate all these hidden costs. In Europe we've gotten rid of all the hidden costs when booking flights and it's so nice to be able to see the full price in the ads and websites. Can we do the same here?
Work arrangements are none of customers' problems, in my opinion.
Whoever, I tip about 90% of a time. I just have one rule - don't touch my gear, tip gets lower every time you do. 😅
I definitely hear you on pushing the cost to the customer. I don’t agree with that aspect, BUT being that it is the situation many people deal with, this video is to help serve how to go about it.
I get touchy with my gear sometimes too. I like the help but have sometimes had people break gear by accident 😢
Don’t touch my gear, if it’s properly stored.
Tipping culture doesnt make sense.
I love how we tip in Europe.
Excelent service = extra monetary appreciation. Simple as that.
Shitty service? Wont come back.
Regular service? Fine, pay the bill. It's an exchange with a pre-agreement (price on the menu)
I think it’s the same in the US…outside of the regular service piece. We’d do a minimal tip for average but extra for excellent, and if it’s really bad sometimes no tip at all and definitely not coming back
You make it sound like it is mandatory to tip , that is wrong. Probably because you are a dive instructor you are bias. It cost a lot of money to dive and tip is nonsense. That is like saying you should tip your mail guy, or maybe the bin man, or maybe your football coach. Thumbs down for this one.
The video has been up for 9 mins so I’m aware you haven’t watched it all. I actually say a few times in the video that they aren’t mandatory and give reasons why tips may be something you should do and consider depending on where you are in the world.
To your comment, the bin man, mail guy, and football coach are paid salaries. Instructors sometimes aren’t paid anything, or may receive minimum wage or less than minimum wage quite often.
DUDE- YOU ARE SO WRONG! I HOPE YOU’RE NEVER ON MY BOAT…YOUR ATTITUDE SUCKS
I wonder how much it would cost to dive if the boats paid their DMs more? I bet that cost would still be covered by you the diver in increased charter fees.
@@CircleHScubaI’d like to add, mail delivery people & other city/state/federal employees cannot accept money tips at any point.
I’m basing that on US policy over 10 years ago when my sister worked delivering mail & people wanted to gift her money for Christmas.
It was illegal then & expect that is still in effect.