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

Living Underwater/Coral Princess, Jun, 2002,

by Hank Martin, NJ, USA . Report 105.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 3 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 4 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Fifth Cozumel trip. Chose Living Underwater after hearing of Oracio's departure from Aldora and his setting up his own shop. Could not have been happier with the diving. We basically dove wherever we wanted, including Barracuda and San Juan. Living Underwater uses low pressure steel 120's that they slight overpressurize, resulting in about 150 cubic feet of air. The tanks are so negatively buoyant that you can drop 8 - 10 pounds of lead - it is very easy to be overweighted the first time using them. They also give bottom time that is unsurpassed. We weren't that interested in doing two hours per dive, but it was great to have enough air to do Punta Sur and have some meaningful bottom time, rather than doing the throat and heading up. Yes, we went into deco during the dive, but had enough air to hang as long as we needed.

We dove with Gabriel for the majority of the trip. A very colorful and confident diver, he was willing to go anywhere. The dive he led to Barracuda is one of the best dives I've ever done. A current of about 2 and a half knots, running along the wall at 120 feet with the sun highlighting the fish above us. Just magnificent.

The service could not have been better. From making arrangments stateside to having all of our equipment handled while there, everything went smoothly. In fact, the only problem with LU is that Oracio only has one boat. So, if you want to do a twi-nite two tank, you will need to go with the boat to the marina, and wait as they gas up - which we did. Plus, if you don't particularly care for your dive mates, you are stuck with them! If he has a large enough group, however, he will contract with another boat, so there is never more than 6 people in a boat.

I will definitely dive with LU again.

Stayed at the Coral Princess as a change from our regular, the Costa Club. Liked the room better - a great ocean view, but the location is not as favorable. Definitely need to take a taxi into town. Staff is much nicer, though, and try to accomodate all requests. Pool area isn't as nice as the Costa Club.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving [Unspecified]
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 78-85°F / 26-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 80-100 Ft/ 24-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile no
Enforced diving restrictions Stay with divemaster and return with 500 psi. But, DM's made very liberal profiles and there were really no restrictions.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas None
Dolphins None Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 3 stars
Large Pelagics 2 stars

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

Subject Matter N/A Boat Facilities N/A
Overall rating for UWP's N/A Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments [None]
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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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