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

Living Underwater/Intercontinental El Presidente: "A Private Trip with Living Underwater", Aug, 2017,

by David Vickery, NJ, US (Reviewer Reviewer 5 reports with 4 Helpful votes). Report 9813 has 1 Helpful vote.

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 5 stars
Dive Operation 5 stars Shore Diving N/A
Snorkeling N/A
Value for $$ 5 stars
Beginners 4 stars
Advanced 5 stars
Comments Two nurse sharks swept past my right side and overtook Jeremy Anschel, swirling around and around, bumping his BC. When they couldn’t find the source of the delicious scent trail Jeremy left in the water they turned around and investigated my partner and me thoroughly, even bumping noses on my mask. When they gave up and swam back to Jeremy who finally acquiesced and took the dead lionfish he had been saving for his lunch out of his BC pocket and tossed it to the larger shark who slurped it down. The sharks turned and swam south out of our vision but returned a minute later hoping for another hand out, but we were fresh out of fish and eventually they gave up and headed away.
Problems personal and professional prevented our usual two-week summer vacation, and thus sent us to Cozumel for the second time in one year. It’s close, the diving is among the best in the Caribbean and we love the El Presidente, so there we were again.
After a temporary detour with Scuba Du, Jeremy Anschel, captain Luis and mate Ricardo picked us up in the newly refurbished “Jew Fish” every day at 07:45. We were always the first boat at the dive sites. On our first dive at Punta Sur the sky was clear, the seas were perfectly flat and we could see the sand fore-reef at 50 feet. As soon as we back rolled in we spotted two sharks in the sand, a nurse and a Caribbean reef, swimming circles around each other but when we made it to the bottom we interrupted their fun and they split up and took off. Our 120 cube tanks allow plenty of time on the reef so we dropped down to 112 feet in the mild current and checked out the swim throughs and overhangs. A late season eagle disappeared into a canyon and then returned along the wall to give us a good view.
We were amazed by a school of oceanic triggerfish that stretched for over a quarter mile. If I had to guess I’d say well over a thousand strong. Lots of tame turtles, huge groupers, and Jeremy finding minute critters while drifting past them.
August is a tad warmish in Mexico. The El Presidente was only half full but the pool lounges were completely occupied every day. The ninety plus temperatures and high humidity made for some uncomfortable afternoons so after lunch at the Mediterranean restaurant on the beach we cooled it in the pool until 4:00 or so and then headed back to the air conditioning in our beach front room. We missed the cool mornings we have in March or April and couldn’t spend a lot of time on the patio before being chased inside by mosquitos. Much to my partner’s consternation, the hotel sprayed for the bugs every afternoon while our suits were drying outside. I didn’t notice that there were any fewer mozzies, but then again my suit didn’t smell like the spray.
We were Jeremy’s only clients for the whole week, a situation that had to cost him money. We tipped the crew and threw in a few extra bucks for gas, but we are sure we didn’t make up for what it cost to guide us for five days. We can only urge readers of the chap book who are headed to Coz to dive with Living Underwater. If you are returning divers, you’ve tried the rest, now try the best.
Websites Living Underwater   

Reporter and Travel

Dive Experience 501-1000 dives
Where else diving Caribbean hot spots, Caribbean Hide-aways, Central America, Mexico, Fiji, Hawaii, Palau, Australia, PNG, Bikini Atoll, Maldives, Indonesia.
Closest Airport Cozumel Getting There AA Newark > Charlotte > Cozumel

Dive Conditions

Weather sunny Seas calm
Water Temp 84-86°F / 29-30°C Wetsuit Thickness 3
Water Visibility 80-120 Ft/ 24-37 M

Dive Policy

Dive own profile yes
Enforced diving restrictions If we had known when we were going to dive Punta Sur, we'd have asked for air to dive deeper than allowed by nitrox.
Liveaboard? no Nitrox Available? yes

What I Saw

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

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

Subject Matter 4 stars Boat Facilities 2 stars
Overall rating for UWP's 4 stars Shore Facilities N/A
UW Photo Comments
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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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