As a dive instructor on the island, I depended on tips to eat. The theory is, work hard, know your dive sites, and show your customers an incredible dive. I worked hard to make sure they had the best time possible. I generally did very well. The best tip ever was from a couple from Utah named Doug and Sandy. The dive didn’t go off that great. Sandy was unable to do the second dive due to an equipment malfunction. We had some serious difficulties. In spite of all of this, I got a fifty dollar tip, lunch and some adult beverages after the dive was over. They were great, and the fifty dollars meant I had groceries for a week.

On the flip side, I picked up a customer at his resort at 6:00 am, took him all over the island trying to find a drivable site in bad conditions, managed to get one dive in at Olowalu, probably the only stretch of beach without 10 foot waves and zero viz in all of Hawaii on that day, and we even saw some great stuff in the limited visibility. After the dive, I took him to a fast food place so he could pick up some food (I had no cash, so I didn’t eat), and then took him back to his hotel. He gave me a six dollar tip, and told me how upset he was that I cancelled the second dive of the trip. Even though by the time we surfaced the waves were huge and the long-shore current was kicking fast enough to award us with a free trip to Fiji.

Six bucks….I felt like telling him to keep it…but that was two tanks of gas for my scooter.