Tipping Recommendation for a Private Tour??

[Corlee]

We have booked a private tour for my family of 8 with Rony when we are in Roatan.  We will probably visit Daniel's Monkey / Sloth hangout, maybe zipling at Pirate's of the Carribean or maybe a glass bottom boat tour.  What would you recommend tipping at the end of the day?

Edited November 22, 2019 by Corlee

[crewsweeper]

What ever you feel the day was worth.  I recommend for a group that size that if the driver is good and you get to see and do everything you want, tip the cost of one person.  But probably no more than $50.  DW tips $20 for 2 of us. I tip $10, lol.

[lifes-a-beach]

I always figure 20% as a baseline.  Everything goes smoothly, driver does his or her job, 20% is sufficient.  Over and above service, particularly if it’s personal like taking us to a restaurant we may not otherwise have found or getting us out of an emerging unsafe situation, drives that percentage up.  I have tipped 100% before when I felt it was deserved.  I think if you start with 20% you will know when something more is warranted.

[#1TravelMom]

Totally agree with lifes-a-beach.  We always tip 20% for great service but have also tipped much more for various reasons.   Rony does a lot works with kids in his community.  He is very involved in the soccer program. So, we like to give him a little action for that.   We had a driver in Belize who was super nice.  It was close to Christmas. We asked him what his children wanted. He said neither of them have ever had sneakers and he was trying to save up to surprise them.   We were appy to give him extra.

Edited December 5, 2019 by #1TravelMom
Added comment

[Nashna]

On 12/5/2019 at 6:29 AM, #1TravelMom said:

Totally agree with lifes-a-beach.  We always tip 20% for great service but have also tipped much more for various reasons.   Rony does a lot works with kids in his community.  He is very involved in the soccer program. So, we like to give him a little action for that.   We had a driver in Belize who was super nice.  It was close to Christmas. We asked him what his children wanted. He said neither of them have ever had sneakers and he was trying to save up to surprise them.   We were appy to give him extra.

Loved this.  Unfortunately, I have seen excellent tours where the guests make sure to go out of their way to avoid tipping.   As I overheard one cheapskate remark, "why should I tip, I'll never see them again."   When booking an excursion, you should automatically allocate 20 percent of the cost of the tour for tips to the drivers and guides.