Dive Review of Dive House/Ruby Princess in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

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Dive House/Ruby Princess, Jan, 2009, by Paul Lima, TN, US ( Sr. Contributor 27 reports). Report 4626.
No photos available at this time
Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Accommodations	N/A	Food	N/A
Service and Attitude	N/A	Environmental Sensitivity
Dive Operation		Shore Diving	N/A
Snorkeling	N/A
Overall Rating
Value for $$
Beginners
Advanced
Comments	Second time diving with Dive House and again very pleased with the large, clean vessel, competent staff and choice of sites. David provided detailed briefings about the sites and about exit and entry procedures. Due to strong NW winds they could not pick us up at the ship and we had to taxi (provided) to a nearby marina where we boarded. Gear requirements had been completed on board ship and there was plenty of choice in various sizes available. Once choices had been made the remaining gear was bagged up and returned to the dive store dock as we passed by. The gear was generally good quality though we only rented a BCD, having brought the rest. There was plenty of water as well as various bottled soft drinks available and the crew was quick to take and stow empties for you. A 40 minute ride south to the first dive site, Santa Rosa wall. The procedure was to gear up and shuffle to the dive platform with the aid of a crewmember, then giant stride in. Returning to a trailing line the procedure was to remove fins and hand them up, then stand on the ladder, hand off the weight belt and then the BCD before climbing on deck. A crew member was on the dive platform and one was in the water by the ladder such that they did all the heavy lifting. I was light and had difficulty submerging but was spotted quickly by Manuel who added the exact required additional weight while in the water. Strong currents in midlevels but manageable as one got closer to the wall. Several swim-throughs though little life as recent hurricanes had deposited white sand over everything. After an hour surface interval we motored north to Punta Tunich which turned out to be an excellent dive with moderate currents. We glided effortlessly over rolling terrain at the edge of the wall, lush with growth and teeming with sea life. The largest angel fish I have yet seen (french, grey, queen) and none were skittish. Schools of various fish under overhangs and in the lee of rocks. The highlight was a huge turtle eating, accompanied by a grouping of angels, the entire aggregation the size of a Volkswagen (and I chose not to take my camera on this dive). None of them paid the slightest attention to our group as we drifted by. After surfacing we found the wind had diminished sufficiently to motor directly to the pier. Under the conditions we encountered this was definitely not for beginners. In retrospect a fleece jacket would have been nice since it was a rather cold wind and few places (other than the head) to get out of it.
Reporter and Travel
Dive Experience	101-250 dives
Where else diving	Hawaii, Florida, Cayman Islands, Roatan, Belize
Closest Airport		Getting There
Dive Conditions
Weather	sunny, windy	Seas	choppy, currents
Water Temp	75-78°F / 24-26°C	Wetsuit Thickness	3
Water Visibility	100-150 Ft/ 30-46 M
Dive Policy
Dive own profile	no
Enforced diving restrictions	follow divemaster, 80 ft. max
Liveaboard?	no	Nitrox Available?	N/A
What I Saw
Sharks	None	Mantas	None
Dolphins	None	Whale Sharks	None
Turtles	> 2	Whales	None
Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):
Corals		Tropical Fish
Small Critters		Large Fish
Large Pelagics
Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):
Subject Matter		Boat Facilities
Overall rating for UWP's		Shore Facilities	N/A
UW Photo Comments	dedicated fresh water rinse container on board plenty of room for equipment

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Dive Review of Dive House/Ruby Princess in Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

Dive House/Ruby Princess, Jan, 2009,

Ratings and Overall Comments 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Overall Rating

Reporter and Travel

Dive Conditions

Dive Policy

What I Saw

Ratings 1(worst) - 5 (best):

Underwater Photography 1 (worst) - 5 (best):

Dive Review of Dive House/Ruby Princess in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel