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

Living Underwater/Villablanca Hotel, Jul, 2008,

by Sandie Hurst, FL, USA ( 1 report). Report 4232.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food 4 stars
Service and Attitude 4 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 4 stars
Comments My husband and I had previously been to Cozumel in 1998, 2000 and 2004 (pre-Hurricane Wilma). The reefs have not yet fully recovered from Wilma's wrath. The deeper reefs obviously are recovering faster than the shallower reefs, and are in relatively good shape. One of our previous favorite second dives (Yucab) was apparently so damaged, that divers are still not being taken there.

We really liked our room at Villablanca Hotel, and would stay there again next time we go to Cozumel. We requested a room with a larger refrigerator and microwave so we could keep food for our own breakfast and lunch everyday. The location was great for us. The dive boat picked us up at the dock across the street every morning. We walked (about 2 miles) into town late every afternoon to walk around town and have dinner, then usually took a cab back to the hotel (about $4...it varied per driver). The grocery store is about halfway into town.

Our dive operator, Living Underwater, was a well run operation. They kept our gear, rinsed it every day and had it ready for us to use the next morning on the boat. It is a single boat operation and costs $85 for two tank dives (w/o nitrox). The boat is quite large for the maxiumun 8 divers. One day we had a second boat (a 6 pax, which was leased by Living Underwater) because there were 8 divers, and 4 wanted to do 3 dives, while 4 of us only wanted to do 2 dives. The leased boat was smaller, but fine for 4 divers. Both boats had a cover for sun protection. We were picked up every morning about 7:45 am. We had our surface interval at a small beach restaurant every day. We were back at the dock about 12:45 each day. Jeremy, the owner, was our divemaster twice, and we had two other divemasters the other two days because Jeremy's back was bothering him. All three divemasters had a different diving style, and all were attentive to us divers. Although Jeremy has a great boat and a well run operation, he cannot control the type of divers who come aboard. One day two of the other divers had equipment issues because they had failed to have their gear serviced since their last dive three years prior. This shows the problem with a single boat operation, in that there will be experienced and inexperienced divers on the same boat. We would dive with Living Underwater next time we go to Cozumel.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 101-250 dives
Where else diving Aruba, Cayman Brac, Little Cayman, Palau, Sulawesi, Tahiti, Bora Bora, Moorea, Oman
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny, dry Seas calm, currents, no currents
Water Temp 0-80°F / -18-27°C Wetsuit Thickness 2
Water Visibility 75-100 Ft/ 23-30 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Depth 90'
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 3 stars Tropical Fish 3 stars
Small Critters 3 stars Large Fish 4 stars
Large Pelagics 3 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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