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Something about this particular tour, compared to all other boat excursions, has been bothering me… This seems to be the only instance where tipping is solicited and where there’s an unusual refund mechanism for remunerating the boat operator upon boarding. I paid roughly 500,000 VND for three individuals, and the ticket counter returned about 40,000 VND for me to ‘pay the boat man’. Past the entrance, and without identifying who the boat operator was, the person showing me to my boat (not the rower) immediately took the 40,000 VND. I’m unclear if that procedure was correct. Ultimately, I felt quite uncomfortable at the finish because I was unsure if that initial sum was meant as a mandatory pre-tip, so I had not planned to leave an additional gratuity. Given that none of the five other boat tours I took required this, how was I expected to know?
It truly is a very peculiar system.
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I was a bit concerned about what had read re tipping and insistent sellers but no issues at all in July. I asked at the ticket office and they simply said tip 50K if happy. A lovely woman rowed us. At one point she started showing pictures for sale. I just told her no picture for me but I would be tipping at the end. She seemed to understand clearly as that was that for the photos. We tipped 100K and were met with smiles. Would recommend wonderful scenery and quiet when we went
The boat rowers get paid by the trip.
In English:
https://vietnaminsiders.com/tam-coc-bich-dong-adjusts-entrance-ticket-prices/
In Vietnamese:
https://www.vietnam.vn/sau-lum-xum-dong-cua-tam-coc
Replying to Michael P
Thanks Michael, I think!.
There goes my recently acquired perspective☺
I had 120,000 in my pocket to tip the rower for two of us. When we were getting off the boatt he aggressively demanded for tips. I was taken aback by his rude behaviour. Anyways I handed him the money and walked away. Boat or Tour company needs to explain to them that they can not demand for tipping. They must think it is their right to be tipped. It was an uncalled behaviour which spoilt our boat tour at the end which actually was the highlight of our month long Vietnam tour.
The boat fee in Tam Coc: 150,000 VND/boat ( 2 foreingers on 1 boat).
sightseeing ticket: 120,000 VND/adult and 60,000 VND/child
i guess you are 2 adults and 1 child so your sightseeing ticket is 120,000*2 + 60,000 = 300,000 VND
As you are 3 persons in a group so if you take 2 boats it costs 300,000 VND but in Tam Coc they are flexible when you are 3 and you want to use 1 boat so your total payment is 300,000 + 150,000 (1 boat) and they gave you back 50,000 VND ( i guess becuase you say about 40,000 VND).
Beucase the rowers only have to carry 2 foreingers on 1 boat so when you are 3 persons and the man who directed you to the boat might told you to tip the boatman becuase in regulation they don’t have to carry 3 foreingers.
That is the way they work there so it is not like other tips.
That is what i guess becuase if you are 3 adults then the cost will be more than 500,000 VND
When we finished our ride, the rower refused to take us to the dock until we tipped him. I gave him 100,000 but he demanded more. Another 20,000 got us to shore. I felt like it was more a random than a tip.
We did the Linh Coc boat ride today 140 k Dong, plus we gave our rower 100k at the end of the trip, minimal hassle- she earned it
We paid for the boat plus tickets for 2 people. I read a recommendation to tip 20-40k VND – we tipped 35k and the lady rowing got angry saying “50k minimum “. Tip what you thing they deserve!
Vietnamese normally do not tip, but some might take advantage of Westerners, especially in high tourist areas.
Just fixed this up for you Palawan. 😉
How old was the info that you read? Was info for Tam Coc?
Tam Coc is now managed by the same company that operates Trang An. Some things were changed to get it up to par to become a World Heritage site – like Trang An.
I have no idea of the regular payments as this was included on our day tour. However we were reminded by several locals to tip the boatmannas he earnsca pittance compared to the boat owners. We hate it when we are told to leave a tip so only leftv20k dong. He may have got more if we had not been constantly reminded. Vietnamese normally do not tip but they take advantage of Westerners.