Living Underwater Cozumel, Mexico

We dove with Jeremy and Living Underwater in March, 2008 and will recommend him without reservation. We are moderately experienced divers (100+ dives), but it had been nearly 2 years since our last trip. We first engaged Jeremy to provide a full refresher course, which we highly recommend. He is thorough, very safety-conscious and patient, adapting well to our interests and concerns.

On the remainder of our 10 day trip, we dove with Jeremy all but one day, two tanks per day. He and his crew are just terrific. The boat is well suited for the local diving. We set up our equipment once, and the crew took it from there. The boat is covered, fast and well-equipped for our purposes. And the crew of Captain Francisco and Mate Ricardo are highly adept at following our path through the Cozumel currents.

Gustavo, the other dive master was as skilled as Jeremy in site selection, group leadership and finding wonderful things to examine and experience.

Living Underwater is all you could want in a dive operation--great staff, convenient pick-up, always on time, great boat and crew. Careful, thorough and fun. When we return to Cozumel, we wouldn t think of using anyone else. Thanks for a great trip!

Tom McCollum and Marcia Rowan
USA - Saturday, April 5, 2008

What a perfect week of diving with Jeremy and his crew from Living Underwater. We have dived in many places around the world including day boats as well as liveaboards. Hands down, Living Underwater was the best service and best crew we have ever dived with and will continue to dive with on our return visits to Cozumel.

Jeremy has figured out and put into place all the things that makes a dive boat and crew the very best. We were warmly greeted every morning at the dock of the Fiesta Americana and welcomed aboard the Jew Fish to start our day of diving. The crew would have everything just perfect and take us to an agreed site and Jeremy would give us the dive briefing and we would flip off the boat with ease and start our underwater vacation. Upon returning to the boat, the crew would lift our gear out of the water onto the boat, take our fins and then greet us with a dry towel upon boarding. Shortly after that they would offer us a nice fleece lined jacket for extra warmth. Then the water, juice, fruit tray and cookies would appear for a nice after dive snack (or hot cocoa after the night dive). We would then head off to a beach setting if we had dived down south or a hotel restaurant if we were north and take our surface interval in a very nice and relaxed location. Never any pressure to hurry and when everyone was rested up, fed, and comfortable then it was time to head out to our second dive of the morning.

Our dives were almost always 60 minutes or more. Jeremy would take the time to point out sea life including the splendid toadfish that took a bit of coaxing with a rubber squid lure to come out from their hiding places.

We had never dived in Cozumel before so had to do a lot of research to find a good dive operation and believe me we found the BEST on the first try and will never look to another! Can't wait to return with the rest of the family later this year.

Frank and Debbie Crosby
USA - Wednesday, February 20, 2008

We had another week of fabulous diving during our 17 day stay on the island, Dec. 24 - Jan. 9. The service was outstanding. The new boat is fast, has plenty of room and gives a smooth dry ride. Again we dove the dive sites we wanted. We averaged 1 hr 20 minutes on our dives. We had a variety of divers and Jeremy took the time to vist with each one ensuring that they were getting the dive experience that they wanted. One day we had 8 divers onboard four veterans and four who had not dove in a while. Jeremy added another divemaster and the first group did 45 minutes while we did an hour plus. Even though we make multiple trips each year to Cozumel Jeremy provides consistent top quality service and treats us like we were brand new customers. We shoot a lot of pictures and never feel rushed. I'm always pleased to recommend Jeremy to my my students. After they come back they all have great stories to tell.

Jim and Donna Baldwin
Ruston, LA USA - Sunday, January 27, 2008

Tom and I had a great time diving with Jeremy and Gustavo. Saw lots of critters including a spotted eagle ray during our last dive with Jeremy. Living Underwater continues to be the best dive operator in Cozumel, and I look forward to the next dive trip with ya'll!

Tad Honsinger
USA - Monday, November 12, 2007

Jeremy and his living underwater crew are a top-notch organization. Their service is excellent and Jeremy is wonderful about taking the diver to the sites they want to dive. Plus Jeremy truly enjoys diving with you and pointing out the unique critters and things that one may normally overlook. Living Underwater is now our first choice for diving Cozumel.

Aimee Foschetti
East Hampton, CT USA - Friday, October 12, 2007

Just got back from Cozumel and what a wonderful dive trip we had. Jeremy took our group which was made up on 3 beginners and one intermediate diver. He is very informative on what to expect from the dive and worked very well with the beginners. We made a total of six dives all different reefs and he always tried to find the marine life we were looking for. I would recommend Jeremy to anyone and will definitely go back to Living Underwater.

Ron Pugh
USA - Tuesday, May 29, 2007

We had a fantastic trip and one of the best dive experiences one could only ask for. All six of us are still smiling and wish we would have stayed a couple of more days and took advantage of the spectacular diving. We got to do it all slow drifts, faster currents, deep, shallow and wreck diving, what more could anyone want--except more time.

Jeremy was awesome, he listened to us and went above and beyond or expectations. We were impressed with his knowledge and experience. His ability and comfort level were calming to the newer divers which made the diving a real pleasure. And most of all he got us to the best parts of the reefs and of course the abundance of fish were amazing not to mention the sharks and turtles. He gets a big thumbs up--great job!

And a big thanks to you for all your correspondences, you have done an outstanding job keeping us informed of all the details. You had made things very easy over the last couple of months....booking this trip with you was a great transaction--thank you again for making things happen!

Some said it was a trip of a lifetime--but we know thatís not true--we'll be back diving with you soon.

Brian A.
Denver, CO USA - Monday, April 30, 2007

To us, Jeremy IS Cozumel diving -- and he is the reason we return over and over again. He and his staff go above and beyond to make every detail perfect. Even when we had a medical scare during one visit (not dive related), Jeremy stayed on top of things - not just with us but with the doctor, too. Diving with him is a wonderful, attentive, safe and joyful experience each and every time! That's why we keep coming back -- and why we brought our adult children to get their C-cards from the best dive master we know.

Wendy Mayer & Jerry Zimmerman
Falls Church, VA USA - Thursday, April 26, 2007

As per norm for the last 6 years, diving with Jeremy is always a great experience. I own a small dive shop in Ga. and make VERY sure that all of my customers and students know of LU. All who have made the trek down to Coz have come back with GLOWING reports and tell me what a great operation Jeremy has and runs. I can't wait to make our second trip this year to dive off of his new boat this fall. Take Care All and Dive Safe.

Digger & Lorna Virts
Screaming Eagle Diving
Cumming, GA USA - Wednesday, April 25, 2007

I cannot say enough about how great our diving experience was. Jeremy made diving so easy. I loved not having to "schlep" around our dive gear. We had easy entrance in and out of the boat. Julio, the boat captain, was always there to help us out. The dive sites were incredible. Jeremy knew the best places to go and always made sure we were the first dive boat at the site. Also, talk about safety. Jeremy is very careful. He always made sure that safety was a priority!!

Mickey & Tom Merkel
Duluth, GA USA - Tuesday, April 24, 2007

We have made many dive trips over the years and we feel we were very lucky to find Jeremy and Living Underwater in Cozumel. His operation is one the best we have ever seen and that says a lot since most of the other operations we have used have top marks from other knowledgeable divers. Living Underwater has been under the diver radar until recently and is not receiving the accolades it deserves.

Jeremy makes you feel like a part of the family and his knowledge and critter finding skills are unbelievable. He is enthusiastic and appreciates the undersea environment. His enthusiasm and sheer joy in diving are contagious. I would recommend his operation to anyone who loves to dive and enjoy the underwater world. He moves slowly and skillfully locates pipehorses, pipefish and other tiny critters everyone else passes by. When you dive in the current at Cozumel, spotting the small stuff and going slowly are not the norm here. Amazingly he also sees all the big stuff like turtles and sharks so you get to see it all. I love to dive and hate to come up on a planned time with half a tank or more of air. Diving with Jeremy we do hour long or more profiles. You donít get that rushed, get out of the water look when you hit a magic time mark. If you have the skills and air, the dive ends when the air runs low or the sun goes down. We never feel hurried or rushed with Jeremy. He adapts to the divers and their abilities and lets you have enjoyable, safe dives, following computer limits and air. Jeremy takes care of your equipment, helps you with tanks and provides a true ìvaletî diving experience for your vacation. We were the first on the reef in the morning and the last back in the afternoon. I donít think that you could find for a better operation anywhere. We will be back soon to enjoy diving with Jeremy!

Steve & Cathy Mason
Sault Ste Marie, MI USA - Tuesday, April 24, 2007

LU boat Alfa arrives and we head to Palancar Caves on a simply outstanding morning. 80 minutes to 84 fsw. Arrow crab, pipe fish, 2 turtles and lots of beautiful views. Jeremy Anschel, a displaced Minnesotan, runs a great operation. His customers continue to return and dive with him. A 90-minute surface interval at Nachi Cochom. A nice place, mellow and clean. Second dive at Chankanaab Bolones. Lots of little stuff plus my favorite drum fish. 66 minutes at 80 fsw. Oh, by the way we also saw a SUBMARINE!It is a little windy Friday morning but doesn't look too bad, from the west at 10-15 kts. A night of strong thunder squalls preceded it. It is, however, sunny and warm. We beat down the shore to Las Palmas. Living Underwater's new boat should provide a much nicer dive platform in only a few short weeks. I must admit I entered into this dive with a bit of skepticism. It seems to me Las Palmas currents are quite contrary. With LU you make a slow decent and gather at the bottom. Jeremy reasons that if you take time to chill you will be relaxed during the dive. It works great. We start out each dive with a two-minute meeting of the minds. We also spotted a baby pipe fish while waiting. Cool. We made our way to the wall. It is very steep where we began. Two turtles and a giant green moray to start. It was then the splendid toadfish tour. Everyone saw at least 3, some saw 5 or 6. Lots of other fish. It started as a perceived lousy first dive but turned out excellent. 108 fsw for 61 minutes.

Second dive to Paradise reef. It is my second trip to Paradise, the first being my first boat dive on certification in 2004. Today was a day to appreciate diving no matter the circumstance. We could have bitched about being on Paradise with steel 120s filled with nitrox but Jeremy made the best of it. A cool thing about nitrox, my no deco time ever got below 195 that I saw. A nice gentle decent and we begin our search of every nook and cranny. A beautiful spotted eel, another baby pipe fish, blennies, so much little stuff-relaxing. Dive buddies today was Joe Stommel from Colorado and Jim and Donna Baldwin from Louisiana. They also own a beautiful home here. Awesome divers and good folk. Jim was nice enough to give me a lift from caleta to save a rough boat trip. Today's dives show outstanding diving can be had on reefs not perceived as outstanding.

David Harper
Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Thank you for a great time. The diving was the best. My brother paul asked me to come down with him and I am glad I did. You do a great job and I will be back soon and look forward to diving with you. Again Thank you

Dave Guthrie
Virginia Beach, VA USA - Friday, June 17, 2005

May 2005 -- I just returned from an eight-day trip to Cozumel, diving with Jeremy. I just can't say enough about this Dive Master. He really is a Jedi. I have been diving with Jeremy ever since he left Aldora and I have never, ever regretted my choice. Besides being the consummate professional, Jeremy insists that he earn my business on each subsequent visit. From the fresh fruit and clean towels, to perfect gear set-up every time, Jeremy insures that I receive incredible VALUE on each and every dive. Jeremy's judgment is flawless, his diving skill unmatched, his demeanor and disposition insure that everyone on the boat has the best possible trip. On this trip I was able to observe Jeremy under stress. A vessel carrying divers from a competitor radioed that they needed help ferrying a passenger to shore as soon as possible. When we arrived at the other boat we were met, not by a passenger , but by a distressed diver. The crew of the other boat was administering oxygen and said that she had experienced a little trouble . A little trouble indeed. Apparently, the woman had popped from depths unknown, like a cork. At a minimum, she was bent . To the untrained eye it looked far more serious. Skillfully negotiating the social protocol involved with removing a diver from another boat, Jeremy insured that we get the woman safely aboard and, in rapid fire Spanish, directed the Captain of our boat to get us to shore. We radioed ahead that we needed medical assistance. As we sped to shore the diver s conditioned deteriorated rapidly. Treating for shock, administering the first aid that she required, and generally hovering like an angel, Jeremy remained cool, in absolute command of the situation, and remained so til we reached shore. As we were getting to shore I felt relieved. On the one hand, I was sure that everything possible was being done to help this diver. Even as she slipped in and out of consciousness, Jeremy remained calm. Determined, unflappable, competent, and assuring. On the other hand, I reflected that if I had been the incapacitated diver, I could not possibly have been in better hands. Words fail me. I want somehow to assure you that, although Jeremy may never be the largest or the most profitable dive operation on Cozumel, I am positive there will never be a better dive operator. Jeremy will have my business and all that I can persuade, for a very, very long time. Questions? Please feel absolutely free to email me. It would be my real pleasure to answer your questions about diving with Living Underwater. Sincerely, Damian Dgfinch yahoo.com. (Please replace with the ampersand. Spam relief you know

Damian G. Finch
Stone Mountain, GA USA - Monday, May 30, 2005

We dove with jeremy from April 17 thru April 23 and was very pleased to see that nothing has changed. The service is still great your technical ability and knowledge is better than ever, and your bottom time is unsurpassed, and your choice of barbers, what can I say. I just read about you in the latest undercurrent and it was great to see that they thought so highly of your service and technical ability, which anyone who has dove withyou already knows, but I didn't understand their concerns about a few extra psi of air in those steel 122's, and rust??? I don't know, they must have had a magnifying glass, we didn't see any. And backaches, gee as you know I am a 65 year old diver and we did about 15 dives there and didn't suffer one bit from backaches. maybe the writer of that article needs to get in a little better shape before his next dive. My sugesstion is that you are doing things right, and I hope you keep everything the same. We can hardly wait to come back, keepup the good work

Ray Brown
Bessemer, MI USA - Thursday, May 26, 2005

In December I dove with LU for the second time. Again I found Jeremy to be a real gentleman. The service is excellent and the boat is fast! There were just four of us diving, including Jeremy. He took us where we wanted to go. The big tanks and long bottom times were a treat. Jeremy pointed out lots of fish and tiny critters and we saw lots of turtles, too. LU is a very good operator, very safe and with outstanding service. Thanks Jeremy! Hope to see you again soon.

John Jordan
Duluth, MN USA - Sunday, March 27, 2005

Was happy to be back diving with you. Great boat, timely pick-ups, great service both on and off the boat (hard to list everything this covers), great divers on the boat which enabled us to pretty much go anywhere for lengthy bottom times (generally we were cold before we were out of air) and a sincere desire to fix *anything* that wasn't quite right. This is the very first time in my diving experience that an op has asked me at the end of it all "what more could I do to have made this better for you". And I actually felt you meant it. Good luck Jeremy - you've really done a good job and you've done it in a low key, quiet, polite way, thoroughly earning every kudos sent your way.

Marg Moran McQuinn
Pilot Butte, Sask Canada - Tuesday, March 15, 2005

I just returned from a fantastic diving experience with LU. I have been diving Cozumel for over thirty years and in all those many trips, I have never met a more professional team as what LU provides. As you read many of the posted messages supporting my experience,the two things that stand out is the absolute attention to detail as well as the professionalism displayed by Jeremy and Annie (Dive Masters) and Francesco (Dive Boat Captian). I saw all that we hoped to see, at depths and bottom times that we could not believe.. Thanks Jeremy! You run a first class operation. See you next year.. Steve

Steve McPherson
Battle Creek, MI USA - Tuesday, March 08, 2005

I did my Open Water Referral with Jeremy last week and I can't speak highly enough about the experience. Jeremy was extremely thorough, professional and conscientious. Because of his patience and attention to detail, I consider myself to be a safer, more competent novice diver. He was also very polite, considerate and spent a lot of time with me, despite having a terrible cold. Thanks for a wonderful experience!

Max Hendricks
Regina, Sk Canada - Saturday, March 05, 2005

Just to let you know that we had another week of fabulous diving. We brought a couple who had never dove Cozumel before and they were amazed at the professionalism and personal service. After 12 dives in six days and seeing everything they wanted including sharks, turtles and the tinest of juvenile pipefish they can't wait till June. Thanks again. Jim & Donna Baldwin

Jim Baldwin
Ruston, LA USA - Sunday, December 12, 2004