I’m curious what you guys think about tipping in dive shops. I really am.

If there was a D&C dive shop I think we’d have a sign saying “Unless it’s about the new hot place in town, we don’t take tips”. Yes, we would probably have to charge more. I wonder if that would fly.

For you that may be non diving folks, this is actually quite a contentious issue in the scuba community. Opinions vary greatly and practices and expectations change with location. In Europe you don’t tip the crew nor the boat captain, you pay an agreed amount up front and that is that. Same thing on the St-Lawrence river, you charter the boat, that’s it. If something sucks, well you won’t come back and you’ll probably make sure none of your friends go there either. Reputations are hard to build and easy to tear down. Otherwise, in the Americas tipping is pretty much expected, and I don’t know about Asia or Oceania.

In the places we’ve been I’ve seen quite a range of attitudes to tipping so far. From the French no tips at all, to a bucket held by a divemaster at the exit off the boat, basically cornering you. Once I witnessed an Oliver Twist like speech from a freshly tipped DM, “thank you guv’nor, we couldn’t make ends meet without you”,  ok, I added the guv’nor part, but I’m sure if he had a tweed cap he would have been folding it over-nervously in his hands as he spoke. I thought that was rather overplayed, clearly a speech for other divers’ benefit. Maybe it’s because I’m Canadian (higher minimum wage, healthcare, stuff like that?), but if you can’t live off your salary (and you’re not a jackass with your money) your employer is probably slipping you the rough end of the pineapple, big time.

I get it, boat crews don’t make killer bucks, but why don’t you charge me more upfront instead? Charge me the whole price, the real price and let me decide if I want to dive with you or not.

I guess this is the part that bothers me the most. You advertise dives for X $ a tank, but then you give me the hard sell to tip. I have literally heard boat captains on the boat’s P.A. remind customers to tip the crew saying they don’t make much money. Then you get the stink eye if you fail to comply. What kind of fuckery is this?

The best case scenario is usually a tip jar at the dive shop. Do as you please, but it still feels a little underhanded. Why don’t you pay your people decent living wages instead? And if they suck, fire their asses. Tipping seems to be the lazy ass way of salary management. I don’t need to manage my crew, i f they are good, they will make enough money, if not they will quit.

Things get even more complicated if you dive anywhere for a length of time. I distinctly remember getting massive attitude after a dive from a DM I did not tip, in a shop I was diving with for ten days, well over 20 dives. Not that there was anything wrong with him, just that I tipped collectively in the middle and at the end of the trip. This guy’s attitude was so poor though, he got a talking to from his own manager. Yeah clients notice. For the record, now that I think on it, that dude spent both dives taking pictures with a gopro, I hope we did not bother him too much.

By the way, using a camera underwater? Can you please turn off your beeps? Pretty please? Cherry on top? Thank you.

Another time, I must have been wearing my invisibility cloak, I remember a DM chatting up a diver at the end of a two-tank outing, shooting the breeze about the Chicago Bulls and whatnot (the client wore a Bull’s jersey). After a few minutes of exchanging basketball minutiae the diver walks away, the DM turns to a fellow crew member and says, and I hear this loud and clear being barely two feet away,  “and that’s how you get good tips”. And I’m like, OK, I’ll keep that in mind when you chat me up, but maybe that’s the nature of the beast? Of the general service industry I mean?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a hippy-dippy wide eyed and bushy tailed we-are-all-in-it-for-the-love-of-the-ocean diver. People need to make a living, of course, I get it, me too, and we all would rather make more money than less. But don’t fuck with me. Don’t take me for a ride. Tips in dive shops feel like the equivalent of hidden fees from your telecom carrier, or the highway passes and extra extra insurance when you rent a car. Why is it not 29.99 a day as advertised? Well, you see sir….

I can hear some people say, yeah, but tips are there to reward exceptional service. Except they’re not. They’re expected. You need to tip, that’s that. I say it again, charge me up front. If you or your guys are good you’ll get more business and better diving cred. Does the crew make less money at the end of the day in that scenario? Maybe. Is that the crux of the issue or is it unwillingness on the part of owners to advertise higher prices? Or am I just a cheap bastard? I don’t know.  At least I don’t think I’m a cheap bastard.

Then you have the question of who to tip and to a lesser extent how much. The boat captain, the DM, the helper carrying tanks, the person behind the counter? If you dive several days with the same shop do you tip everyone every day or in installments according to the length of your stay? Once at the end? Why the boat crew and not the counter person? That’s where tip jars are the better option, the crew can sort it out.

Maybe it’s a cultural thing. In Europe service charges are added to your bill, it’s a line item, paid , done, in the days of cash whatever coins were leftover from the transaction would usually stay on the table. To tip overmuch was frowned upon by the other patrons as it drove up expectations. That’s frequently why some Europeans are seen as poor tippers in North America, they think it’s already part of the bill. at least I hope that’s what it is.

Of course that dovetails into the larger discussion of who to tip and why in society at large. I’m not looking to pull a Mister Pink on you,  I will continue to tip in dive shops, but I’m curious what you think. Ask divers around you and let us know in the comments, and maybe get some back and forth going.

Have a great day everybody.