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

Living Underwater/Casa Mexicana, May, 2013,

by BRADLEY CONDO, CO, US (Reviewer Reviewer 4 reports with 2 Helpful votes). Report 7385.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 4 stars Food N/A
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Cozumel Trip Report - Casa Mexicana and Living Underwater, May 11-18
My wife and I had a great week staying at Casa Mexicana and diving with Jeremy at Living Underwater. The combination was great, we enjoyed our hotel and the diving.

Jeremy delivered everything promised and more. He met us at CM on the evening of our arrival. We discussed our expectations, experience and he left with our gear to be setup for our first dive the next morning.

The next day the Jewfish was waiting for us at the dock in front of CM at 7:30 sharp – a two minute walk to the north of CM. The boat was spacious, stable, had a nice shade cover, GPS and twin Yamaha 115s. The captain was assisted by a deck hand – we were well taken care of. Entries were back rolls and exits were via ladder after passing off gear to the boat – easy. The run south was an enjoyable boat ride – past the cruise ships and then one or two stops to pick up other divers at AI hotels. I’d pay extra for the boat ride! We dove with a max of 5 and a min of 3 other divers for the week.

The diving was outstanding, as promised. We dove from south to north our gas consumption dictating bottom times – the only concession was NDL. Everyone dove NIRTOX. The tanks were LP steels – lots of gas.

Jeremy was safety conscious, courteous and subtle in his suggestions. He excelled at pointing out small critters – using an over sized magnifying glass we saw lots of small life that we would have missed. We hit all the spots discussed at the start of the week, with easy agreement among fellow divers. The order changed a bit, but in the end we covered all the sites we had discussed. Dive times averaged 70+ minutes – shorter on the deep dives – with a maximum of 92 minutes.

Surfacing from the dives the boat was deftly maneuvered by the captain for effortless pickup. The crew swapped our gear to fresh tanks as we were treated to snacks and fruit. The SI was at a beach club, where food was available for purchase or you could simply use the facilities and loungers on the sand. We stuck to the fruit and a few snacks, preferring to have lunch at the end of our diving day. On shore we were treated to a loud peacock that strutted about the beach in full regalia.

At the end of our second dive day I asked to see the marina after our fellow divers were dropped at their respective piers. The marina was immediately north of the Presidente Hotel and Jeremy obliged with a tour. I like boats and the marina was great. There were other dive ops and I enjoyed seeing what the fishing boats had brought in. The Jewfish was clearly the best small boat in the marina. Before I was done with my sight-seeing Jeremy was ready to drive us back to CM. He gladly dropped us at one of the great restaurants in the east of CZM, exactly what we wanted.

One of our dive days saw Jeremy’s day off and we dove with Mario. He was very capable, personable and I found it enjoyable to dive with him. Mario had a different style – more animated – but none the less enjoyable.

Casa Mexicana fully met our expectations. We wanted to be downtown, within easy walking distance to restaurants and we weren't disappointed. The farther from the ocean front the better the food and the better the value. Our hotel room faced the ocean, had a king bed, small desk, adequate closet and storage. The tub/shower had plenty of pressure and hot water. The room was spotless – scrubbed clean daily and all of the tracked in sand vanished. The rate included breakfast – eggs and waffles cooked to order, along with fresh fruit and the other usual offerings. We thought that CM provided full value.

Websites Living Underwater   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving South Pacific, Hawaii, Florida, So Cal
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 82-84°F / 28-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 0
Water Visibility 50-90 Ft/ 15-27 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions Drift diving - low on air then up with a sausage while group continued.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

Sharks 1 or 2 Mantas 1 or 2
Dolphins Schools Whale Sharks None
Turtles > 2 Whales None
Corals 4 stars Tropical Fish 4 stars
Small Critters 4 stars Large Fish 5 stars
Large Pelagics 3 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 5 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 5 stars Shore Facilities 4 stars
UW Photo Comments Large rinse tank and crew that cared about your equipment.
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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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