I consider myself a smart guy, but there’s something I don’t understand.
A customer goes into a restaurant and orders food. The waiter writes down the order, walks across the room to the kitchen and gives it to the chef. A short time later, the waiter walks back across the room carrying a tray of food. He puts the food on the table. After the meal is finished he picks up the plates and carrys them back to the kitchen. For this service — three trips across the room, one carrying a sheet of paper, one carrying a tray of food and one carrying empty plates, the customer gives the waiter a tip of 15-20% of the total bill.
That same customer walks into a dive shop and asks to learn to scuba dive. The Instructor spends three days (if not more) teaching him dive theory, teaching him how to use equipment that lets the customer breathe underwater, teaching him skills that will keep him alive and safe, and actually guarding the customer’s life during the course of multiple dives. After these three days, the customer has learned a great deal and is now able to venture underwater and explore the underwater world on his own, without supervision from a trained professional, and the customer will feel safe doing so because of the knowledge instilled in him by the scuba instructor. And for this service — three (or more) days of teaching, multiple scuba dives, physical labor, and often risk to the instructor’s own health and safety in order to keep the customer safe from his own stupidity, the customer gives the scuba instructor a tip of 0% of the total bill.
How does this make sense?
Although most people don’t seem to know this (based on their actions), it IS customary to tip your scuba instructor. That is the case whether you take a class or just go on a boat trip or a guided dive. Scuba instructors make very little money (I make less than the minimum wage in the United States), and we rely on tips to get by. But even when you tell people that gratuities are customary and are appreciated, they are rarely given. And frankly, I think it is shameful.
Just the other day I was leading guided dives. I had eight individuals with me that day — six divers on the 9:00am dive, and then two additional divers on the 11:00am dive (two of the divers from the first dive also did a second dive, giving me a total of four divers on the 11:00 dive, but eight divers in total that morning). Most of these divers were very inexperienced — it was either their first dives in the ocean after getting certified in a lake or quarry, or they had less than ten dives total in their lives — and had signed up for guided dives because they believed they needed to have an instructor with them to keep them safe. And that is what I did: I kept them safe, and at the same time gave them a great dive. Even for the two experienced divers in the group, I provided important services: navigation and dive planning. My dive sites have a lot of great caverns to explore, but many divers have a hard time finding them. Because I know the sites so well, I not only know where the caverns are, but I know all the ins-and-outs, and the best way to go to see everything. Many experienced divers sign up for guided dives so that they don’t have to worry about navigation and dive planning, and can just focus on having a good time. Both dives went off without a hitch, and everyone came out of the water raving about how amazing the dives were and how great I was. After my morning of hard work, keeping eight individuals safe from the dangers of scuba diving and from the dangers of their own muppetry, I was rewarded with a tip of a whopping $5. Total. One diver tipped me $5, and the other seven divers thanked me profusely and then just walked away. And that one $5 bill that I did get was in US dollars, which is worth less than the Cayman dollar, so really I made $4 in Cayman money. For all of my hard work (and it is hard work keeping that many people safe and happy) the tips averaged out to a mere 50 cents per diver.
I don’t like to complain about this, and I don’t mean to sound bitter, but honestly it’s insulting. I know that the culture of tipping is a bit out of control. It used to be that you just tipped your waiters. Now you tip everyone, from taxi drivers to the housekeeper at the hotel to yes, scuba instructors. But when you’re thinking about whom to tip, think about who REALLY deserves it. Is the guy who carried a plate of food across a room, or the guy who taught you to breathe underwater? Is it the guy who drove you down the street in his taxi, or the guy who guided you on your scuba dive, found all that great marine life and provided you with the best memories from your vacation?
The next time you go diving, please consider these factors, and remember that your divemasters and instructors are working very hard for you. And please, tip accordingly!