If you have been on a scuba diving trip, or maybe taken a dive course, I’m sure that at some point you have wondered about the protocol when it comes to leaving a tip for your dive guide or instructor. How much should you tip them? When should you tip? In this article I will give you my thoughts on this topic, along with some things you should consider.
But first, a disclaimer: I am British, and live in Mexico. So I am fully aware that the general tipping behaviour of Europeans is different to other nationalities. I hope that whatever your tipping habits are, you will take something useful from this blog post.
The arguments for and against tipping
Believe it or not, tipping is not a universal practice. Whilst the act of tipping is probably thought of in a positive way, not everyone believes that it is a good thing. I remember Mr Pink in Reservoir Dogs giving some fairly valid reasons why he didn’t believe in it.
The arguments in favor of tipping your dive instructor or guide include: increasing their income; giving a confidence boost; and improving job satisfaction, albeit short term. In some countries when the cost of living and average wage is relatively low, a tip can make a significant impact to a guide’s salary.
Conversely, there are also reasons against the practice of tipping. These include: it could lead to unfair treatment of customers (based on their nationality and tipping norms); it’s unpredictable so difficult for staff to manage their money; workers might be less inclined to call out unacceptable behaviour for fear of losing their tip. And it can give the bosses an excuse to pay their staff less.
Remember, tipping should be OPTIONAL.
Despite us knowing this to be true, our tipping decisions are influenced by social norms and our desire to conform. For example most of us don’t think twice about tipping waiting staff in restaurants – it’s “the done thing”. But we would not consider tipping a supermarket checkout operator to be normal.
We also now have “tipping technology”. An example is when you are presented with a choice of percentage gratuity on your screen before tapping in your credit card PIN. This adds a little more pressure on the customer which in many situations is not a bad thing. Hey, even Mr Pink caved in and put in his dollar! In my opinion there’s nothing wrong with a nudge, but tip or service charge should not be added automatically. Here in Mexico it’s illegal to include a gratuity on the bill without the customer’s consent.
Consider the following when making your decision whether or not to tip the dive staff, and how much
What’s the reason why you are tipping?
Is it to say thank you? Or to gain superior treatment next time? If you want superior treatment, would that be to the detriment of other non-tippers on the boat? Do you feel pressured to tip?
Who will receive the tip and who deserves it?
Now, I certainly don’t want to take away from all the hard work that your instructor or guide does, but there might also be a boat captain and marinero who earn less and whose working day started two hours earlier than the instructor’s. There could also be someone whose face you never see but who doesn’t stop cleaning and organizing the equipment room so that everything runs smoothly. In my opinion they are all contributing to the great service that you receive. Because of this, it’s worth checking if the tips at the dive shop are pooled between all dive shop staff.
How often will you tip?
Every day or at the end of the trip? – Every day seems a bit of overkill to me if you are on a multi-day dive trip, but it would probably depend on whether or not the tips are pooled.
How much should you tip your dive instructor/guide?
If you have decided to tip, then 10% to 20% is regarded as usual but again, that should be down to you.
“Never expected, always appreciated”
I have worked as a Divemaster and Instructor in many places around the world in the last 16 years. For me a tip was never expected, but was always very much appreciated.
What if the service was bad and you don’t want to tip your dive guide/instructor?
My advice is to speak up! I’m sure that any decent dive operator would want to know if you were unhappy with any aspect of the product or service that you have paid for. So please talk to someone in charge so that at least they are given the opportunity to put things right for you or improve in the future. If you have a number of dives booked then speak up as soon as you have a problem – don’t wait until the end of your stay.
Finally, should your tip your Course Director for your IDC?
No! If they are the boss they have decided the prices and those prices should enable them to receive a fair wage. The best “tip” for a happy customer to give to a Course Director or dive shop owner is a 5-star review online or recommendation. Do it now!
The Go Pro Family is PADI Platinum Course Directors Angel Navarro (from Spain) and Jo Armitage (from the UK), and their team of pros. Together, they have personally trained over 900 PADI Instructors, and have issued over 4000 professional-level certifications. Based in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, The Go Pro Family offers professional-level scuba training as well as technical, cave diving and freediving.
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For the years I have been diving I would suggest for travelers to be considerate not all dive places are paying well,most of the time it’s just hand to mouth,or just to pay bills,my experience when I get tip of course you should share with your coworkers and it helps especially if you have kids for allowance for school and pay bills and so forth we should remember everything is going up as to me when I go at restaurants I give same way I would like for me to be treated just my two cents.
I think that’s a great way to look at things!