On January 20 we'll be on our way to Ambergris Caye for the first time. We'd like to know local customs & expectations for tipping -- for whom it is appropriate and approximately how much. Guide for a half-day snorkeling excursion? Guide for a day trip to Mayan ruins? Housekeeping in our condo? Water taxi drivers? In restaurants, is it similar to the U.S. (15%+-)?

In some countries tipping in certain situations is seen as rude; in others it's rude NOT to tip. I'd like to do it right!

Thanks

Tip them ALL, generously.

As far as restaurants, I tip 20% but I do that here in the states too.

We tip 20% at restaurants here at home, too -- but I think 15% is considered "customary". It's the amount many restaurants add automatically to the tab for large groups -- either 15% or 18%.

So, on a $35 snorkel trip would you tip $5? Or more? $5 per day for housekeeping? On a $5 water taxi ride, $1? I'm trying to figure out what kind of small bills to stock up on.

Tipping customs is the way to go.

Once thing I've always wondered, do you tip taxi drivers? Most of them seem to run thier own vehicle, and flex price the fares, so seem to be working for themselves. Of course if you have a lot of luggage or other items they need to assist loading/unloading, a tip would be given, but what about a simple ride across town? You hop in, you hop out??

Always gets me wondering. I generally do tip at these times, following my usual, "When in doubt, tip". I'd rather be thought of as rude for being ignorant of custom, than rude for being cheap.

We tip the same percentage here as in the US. For diving we tip $5us per tank, so we add up the number of tanks our group used and multiply. Snorkeling we tend to do the same thing, $5us per snorkel.

WhiteWater, do you mean that on a snorkel trip to, e.g., Hol Chan and Shark Ray Alley, you'd tip $10 each person since it's two snorkel stops? That sounds high to me -- on a trip price of $35, $5 sounds enough? I don't want to be "cheap" either but I also don't want to run out of $$!!

Xoe,
at Customs it isn't called a tip, it's called a bribe. Oh, you mean customary tipping, don't you. My mistake. I ususlly tip generously in countries where the going wage is very low. For example, if a dive day costs me $45, I'll tip 20% and round up to the next dollar. That's $10, isn't it? If I'm diving for an extended period of time I'll tip 10%+ per day and then give another 10%+ on the total bill on the last day. That way the crew has some money every day as well as a bigger payday at the end.

In Belize they'll be grateful for the tip. They don't consider it rude, but they'd be grateful even if they did.

Dan

i have never seen anyone tip the taxi drivers, they gennerally have a base price for the length that they go, (and if you stop to shop for grocceries or other they charge for that to), they will sometimes charge hurricane prices though, and does anyone know if they raise there prices in high season?, but a tip couldn't hurt

I think that this is an interesting topic. I never know how much to tip. I probably tip some too much when they dont deserve anything and others not enough or nothing when they should have gotten a tip. That's part of the mystery of travel. I rationalize that it all balances out.
For 2 people scuba diving I tip the DM $5US and the assistant $5US a day. Call me cheap. Everyone else I tip the same as at home, 15% to 20% at restaurants, $2 a day housekeeping. etc.
My one suggestion is to check restaurant bills for the gratuity to already have been added. Someone posted that they had experienced this practice at a particular SP restaurant.