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Dive Review of Living Underwater/Hotel Cozumel in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan/Cozumel

Living Underwater/Hotel Cozumel: "Healthy Reefs", Oct, 2015,

by Bradley William Bowen, UT, US (Sr. Reviewer Sr. Reviewer 7 reports with 9 Helpful votes). Report 8513 has 1 Helpful vote.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations N/A Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling 3 stars
Value for $$ 4 stars
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments We first dove in Cozumel 20 years ago this coming Thanksgiving. The reefs today look better than they did 20 years ago and have recovered extremely well after the damage suffered by Hurricane Wilma. We couldn't believe how healthy the hard and soft corals are, and sea whips 10 feet or longer have had time to get big again. The Mexican locals have done a STUPENDOUS job of protecting these reefs. Two years ago we were on a dive when Jeremy pulled out a net and captured a 30 foot long "string" of oil from the Deep Horizon disaster, and we've watched dive masters haul divers off the reef who were kicking the coral with their fins.

This trip we saw well over a hundred lobsters from a foot long up to German Sheppard size; nurse sharks on many dives, both free swimming and sleeping under ledges; and lots of turtles, from 18" youngsters to HUGE turtles bigger than a person, and some HUGE Black Grouper. Night dive was FABULOUS as always, four octopus (one free swimming), free swimming eels, slipper lobster, splendid toadfish halfway out of their holes, seahorse, fighting crabs, and a sleeping turtle a big as a volkswagon.

As always, Jeremy had pastries and freshly sliced seasonal fruit after the first two dives; fleece lined coats for everyone who got a bit chilled; and took us to nice beaches for surface intervals and lunch at Palancar Beach.

We've been diving with Jeremy Anschel, owner of Living Underwater, for around 15 years now. I don't normally write trip reports regarding his operation as we've been there so many times, but I was so impressed with the reef health and all of the lobster, turtles, and nurse sharks we saw this trip that I had to let the rest of you know. I speak fluent Spanish and learned that both the dive community and the government have been keeping the fishermen off of the reefs where diving occurs, which has allowed this wildlife to grow without being molested.
Websites Living Underwater   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Fiji, Maldives, Indonesia, Cozumel, Mexico Cenotes, Playa del Carmen, Galapagos, Hawaii, California, Florida, Socorro Islands, Palau, Turks & Caicos, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, Philippines, etc.
Closest Airport Cozumel Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, windy, rainy, cloudy, dry Seas calm, surge
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 100-250 Ft/ 30-76 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions We had some beginners in our group that were diving air. Jeremy told the four experienced divers that were all diving EAN 32 with computers that he was fine with us each diving our own profile.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks Lots Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 5 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 4 stars

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

Subject Matter 5 stars Boat Facilities 3 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments Jeremy has a rinse tank at the back of the boat with separate compartments for each camera set up, which has a fitted lid. In a pinch, you could work on your camera on the lid or during a surface interval. We changed a battery or two while on the boat or shore during a surface interval, but did the "heavy lifting" on our camera gear in our hotel room.
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Note: The information here was reported by the author above, but has NOT been reviewed nor edited by Undercurrent prior to posting on our website. Please report any major problems by writing to us and referencing the report number above.

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