Would you dine in this restaurant?
This place gives the concep of a "fish restaurant" a whole new meaning.
With floor-to-ceiling glass windows, it sits five metres below the Indian Ocean in crystal-clear blue water.
According to the Daily Mail, the restaurant is so bright, diners and staff are required to wear sunglasses.
The five-star Ithaa underwater restaurant can be found at the luxurious Conrad Maldives Hotel and provides breathtaking views of sharks, stingrays, turtles and other sealife.
A spokesman for the luxury resort on Rangali Island said: 'Using aquarium-inspired architecture, Ithaa was built to allow guests to enjoy the colour, clarity and beauty of the Indian Ocean without getting their feet wet.'
The restaurant seats 14 people and serves contemporary European cuisine in a six-course set dinner menu.
The structure cost a staggering £3m to build and weighs 175 tonnes, with another 85 tonnes of sand ballast used to weigh it down, reports the Daily Mail.
The truly indulgent Conrad Maldives Rangali resort is set across two islands and is only accessible via a 30 minute seaplane flight. It boasts 11 restaurants and bars, including the Ithaa Undersea Restaurant, 2 spas and a number of excursions including a submarine.
The Conrad is not the only hotel to go underwater: deep sea hotels have recently taken on the market with a vengeance.
Luxury lovers will be interested in Deep Ocean Technology's new construction in Dubai (above), which, It claims, will be the world's most luxurious under-water hotel. The Water Discus Hotel will have two shaped as two discs - an underwater and above-water one, which, combined will allow guests to admire the depths of the ocean while making the most of the warm climate. The hotel will house 21 suites, a bar and a dive centre and will sit at about 10-15m below the surface – which is apparently the optimum depth for sunlight and marine life.
The owner say it will be thoroughly sound-proofed and will minimise noise pollution by placing all toilets, kitchens etc. toward the centre of the structure.
It may seem like something plucked from the pages of a science fiction novel, but this isn't a new concept. First Choice Holidays provided us with a a quick round-up of the best underwater hotels already in existence, if your bank balance will allow.
Here are six more
1. Utter Inn, Lake Mälaren in Västerås, Sweden
Not quite on the same scale as the Water Discus, this charming, quirky, floating equivalent to a garden-shed was lovingly created by local artist and sculptor, Mikel Genberg and contains a single room submerged 3m below the surface of Lake Mälaren.
You're driven out to the Utter Inn via inflatable dingy. Opt for the deluxe package and a courier will deliver supper. You'll also have the opportunity to visit the closest uninhabited island.
If a restful, secluded stay on your own island, in the middle of a gorgeous Scandinavian lake sounds like your dream vacation, then this may be the one for you
Price: £200 - £275
Open Period: April/May – Early September
2. Jules Undersea Lodge, Key Largo, Florida
Jules Undersea Lodge
This tiny three-roomed hotel started life as La Chalupa research laboratory, an underwater habitat which was used to explore the continental shelf off the coast of Puerto Rico. Today today it's a fully functioning hotel complete with hot showers, fully stocked kitchens, books, music and 42 inch round windows to peer out at the Florida marine life.
You're going to need your sea legs if you want to stay here. Jules' Undersea Lodge, off the coast of Florida, has been around since 1986 is completely underwater. To enter it, you'll need to scuba dive 21 feet beneath the surface of the Emerald Lagoon in Key Largo.
Price: £487 for the' JUL for Two' package which includes world famous pizza delivery, breakfast and dive gear.
3. Poseidon Undersea Resort, Fiji
The Poseidon Mystery Island, Fiji is over a mile long and is surrounded by a 7.8 square-mile lagoon.
Facilities include: two restaurants (one on land, one underwater), a spa, fitness centre, library, theatre area and an undersea wedding chapel –for anyone that wants to tie the knot overlooking an enchanting coral garden.
Better still, Poseidon recently announced plans to replace their windows with a new acrylic material that is near optically perfect, with bonding joints of less 1mm thick and is pretty much invisible to the human eye, just to make the experience even more immersive!
However, at $30,000 per couple for a week's stay, it might be a little out of some people's price range.
Price: £913 per person, per night, £18,260 per couple, per week; £1,826,023 million to reserve island.
Poseidon Undersea Resort
4. The Manta Resort, Tanzania
For something even more exotic, The Manta Resort in Zanzibar has a private Underwater Suite that casts you adrift in the middle of the Indian Ocean; an area renowned for its stunning aquatic life.
This Swedish-engineered floating dwelling is comprised of three levels; upper and lower decking ideal for sunbathing, and a single bedroom which is completely submerged. With enormous windows and panoramic views, guests can sleep completely engulfed by shoals of silver bait, shark and sting-ray.
The ocean surrounding Pemba Island is a well-known diving spot, with plenty of steep drop-offs and untouched coral to explore, so you can always throw on a wet-suit and scuba gear and get even closer to the action.
Price: £913 per night all inclusive (10% discount during low season, from 01 March – 30th June)
The Manta Resort
5. Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai
This 1,539-room, $1.8 billionmegaplex is situated on The Palm, an artificial sand island shaped like a palm tree.
The hotel's Poseidon and Neptune suites provide captivating views from both the bedroom and the bathroom windows into a lagoon filled with 65,000 marine animals. So you can relax on your bed and watch giant manta rays float slowly by. There is also a butler on call 24 hours a day.
The Ossiano retaurant also offers beautiful views in to the colourful lagoon.
Price: from £3,978 per night
Atlantis
7. Niyami, Maldives
The Niyami resort is home to the first underwater nightclub. The nightclub is only accessible by boat.
The underwater nightclub features the spectacular backdrop of the Indian Ocean. Enjoy the vibrant upbeat vibe with champagne and cocktails as international DJs spin tunes from across the globe for all-night dancing beneath the waves.
The nightclub is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 9-late.
Price: from £836 per night
Per AQUUM
