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

Living Underwater/El Presidente, Jun, 2007,

by Renda Stalter, ks, usa . Report 3438.

No photos available at this time

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

Accommodations 5 stars Food 5 stars
Service and Attitude 5 stars Environmental Sensitivity N/A
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving 3 stars
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ N/A
Beginners 3 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Our eleven day vacation to Cozumel in June 2007 was a welcomed return to El Presidente and Living Underwater. While we had already been back to Cozumel three times since Hurricane Wilma, it had been two years since our last stay at El Presidente. We were also looking forward to diving off Jeremy’s new boat (the Jew Fish). We were pleased on both counts.

Wilma had inflicted substantial damage on El Presidente, and insurance haggles had delayed the resort’s renovations for months. But the resort’s owners knew what they were doing. An adult pool has been added to the grounds, and we took two of the cheaper “pool view” rooms, and could not have been happier. All of the rooms have been spruced up, and the beds have been upgraded to ‘American’ standards. The staff worked exceptionally hard to please us, and we were happy to see many of the long time El Presidente staff.

The shore diving in front of El Presidente was excellent before Wilma, but the coral heads took a beating. We still considered the shore dives enjoyable and found a large green moray, a number of nudibranches, many eels and a juvenile drum fish.

Jeremy put his new boat into the water a week or so before our arrival in Cozumel, and boy was the boat a pleasant surprise. The boat is 33 feet long, and is slightly longer that most ‘fast’ boats employed by the Cozumel dive operators. The boat is also a foot or so wider than the other boats, and these differences allow for a lot of space for divers to spread out before and after a dive. There was no tripping over fins or bags. The boat also had a ‘roof’ that allowed divers to store t-shirts and hats.

Jeremy also uses low pressure steel tanks that really extend everyone’s bottom time. We didn’t have a dive less than 60 minutes. Most dives were in the 80 to 90 minute range (including Columbia Deep). Jeremy worked especially hard to find little critters for our two teenage children. Along the way Jeremy found Pike Blennies, Sail Fin Blennies, several pipe horse fish, juvenile drum fish, and juvenile nudibranches. But Jeremy was out done by our daughter who found a juvenile octopus that had tentacles that only measured an inch long.

Jeremy worked very hard at improving our younger divers’ skills and comfort, and it has paid dividends in their enjoyment of the sport. Both now relish the prospect of a night dive, and the chance to find octopus, squid, lobsters and crabs.

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 251-500 dives
Where else diving Grand Turk, Little Cayman
Closest Airport Getting There

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm, currents
Water Temp 81-84°F / 27-29°C Wetsuit Thickness 1
Water Visibility 80-125 Ft/ 24-38 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions [Unspecified]
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? N/A

What I Saw

Sharks None 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 1 stars

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 4 stars
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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