Basic HTML Version
www.alertdiver.com
|
21
COUR T E S Y CONR A D HO T E L S A ND R E S OR T S
I
f you’re looking for a unique
vacation with family and friends
or a place to celebrate a special
occasion, enjoy an unforgettable
meal, get married or spend your
honeymoon, consider underwater
tourism at a submerged hotel or
restaurant. Underwater tourism offers
everyone — divers and nondivers alike —
a fascinating experience. No certification
or knowledge of dive tables and gas
laws is required; you don’t even need a
swimsuit. Underwater tourism is also an
opportunity for investment and enterprise
that’s waiting to be leveraged.
Since diving experience is not needed,
anyone can visit. Age and fitness level don’t
matter, and there’s no risk of barotraumas,
decompression sickness or nitrogen
narcosis. Underwater residential structures
keep their internal pressure constant and
equal to surface pressure — 1 atmosphere
(ATA) — regardless of depth, so a stay is
unlimited in duration. Surprisingly, only a
few underwater residential and commercial
buildings exist that can provide such
subaquatic experiences.
DINING
The two most well-known underwater
restaurants are the Red Sea Star restaurant
in Eilat, Israel, and the Ithaa Undersea
Restaurant in the Maldives. The Red Sea
Star, which opened in 1998, has 130 seats. It
lies submerged under 18 feet of water and is
reached by crossing a 200-foot bridge. The
restaurant’s cross shape and pentagonal
alcoves increase surface area to facilitate
viewing. Each of the restaurant’s 62 tables
has a framed window, and additional
windows are arranged around the ceiling,
which is covered with more than 200
elements that resemble enlarged sea
pebbles. The colors and shapes of jellyfish,
sea cucumbers, sponges and other marine
plants inspire the restaurant’s interior
décor, and a flooring of transparent epoxy
poured over sea sand evokes the sensation
of floating weightless in the water. The
interior’s red-orange pallet of colors was
chosen after extensive experiments and
investigations of changes in light properties
at depth and its effects on people’s faces and
plates of food to ensure a positive customer
experience when red becomes bluer. Find
out more at www.redseastar.com.
The
Ithaa Undersea Restaurant at the
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island resort
opened in 2005 and is situated 16 feet below
the surface. Diners reach the restaurant
from shore using a wooden dock. The all-
glass, aquarium-like structure, built by M.J.
Murphy Ltd.
,
seats 12 and provides a 270-
degree panoramic view overhead. See more
at www.mjmurphy.co.nz.
HOTELS
Perhaps the most famous underwater
hotel is also the smallest, the Hotel Utter
Inn (Otter Inn), a one-room steel cube
submerged 10 feet below the surface of
Sweden’s Lake Malaren. From a distance, it
looks like a little red shack floating on the
lake. Downstairs, there’s a single room with
DIVE SLATE
//
Underwater Architecture
There’s plenty of room at the bottom
Dive the Exuma Cays
In Style!
www.aquacatcruises.com
Toll-Free: 1-800-867-4764
www.BigGameClubBimini.com
#1 dive spots in the Bahamas
#1 dive boat and dive facility
in the Bahamas