Instant Reader Report
on Living Underwater / Coral Princess in
Cozumel and the Mexican Yucatan / [N/A] on
2002/06
by
Hank Martin , NJ, USA
Report Number 020826124959407

 [Unspecified] 

Dive Conditions

Stay with divemaster and return with 500 psi.  But, DM's made very liberal
profiles and there were really no restrictions.  

[None]  

Overall Rating

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.    

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