Top 7 Best Underwater Hotels in the World

Spending the night underwater, with fish and rays swimming past the glass, is one of the most unusual ways to spend a holiday. Here are seven hotels and projects where you can wake up on the sea floor.

1. Jules' Undersea Lodge, Key Largo, USA

The first underwater hotel in the USA, converted from a research laboratory, sits about 6 metres deep in a lagoon in Key Largo, Florida. Guests scuba dive to reach their room, so the hotel suits those with basic diving skills.

There is no restaurant: meals are brought down by a diving chef, and the portholes show the life of the lagoon.

2. The Manta Resort, Pemba Island, Tanzania

A resort on Pemba Island, about 50 km north of Zanzibar. Its highlight is a floating room on three levels: a sun and stargazing deck on top, a lounge at sea level in the middle and a bedroom about 4 metres below the surface.

At night the windows are lit by spotlights, attracting fish and octopuses.

3. Anantara Kihavah Maldives Villas, Maldives

A luxury resort on Kihavah island in Baa Atoll, a UNESCO biosphere reserve. It has about 80 villas and the underwater restaurant SEA, where guests dine among the coral reef.

Next to the restaurant is the world's first underwater wine cellar.

4. Atlantis The Palm, Dubai

A hotel on the artificial Palm Jumeirah island. Its Poseidon and Neptune underwater suites have floor-to-ceiling windows into the huge Ambassador Lagoon aquarium, home to thousands of marine animals.

The hotel also has the Michelin-starred underwater restaurant Ossiano overlooking the aquarium.

5. Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Maldives

On Rangali island stands The Muraka villa, with a bedroom about 5 metres below the surface. Through panoramic glass you can see the coral reef, fish and turtles.

Above water the villa has a full floor with a pool and a 24-hour butler. The resort is also home to the famous underwater restaurant Ithaa.

6. Lovers Deep, Caribbean Sea

A luxury submarine for couples that was offered for hire off the island of Saint Lucia. It can move between locations, so guests wake up to a new underwater view each night.

The offer is exclusive, so check its availability before planning.

7. InterContinental Shanghai Wonderland, China

The hotel is built into a flooded quarry about 88 metres deep near Shanghai. Its two lowest floors are underwater, and the rooms there look into a fish aquarium.

On the surface guests can enjoy restaurants, a spa, pools and activities on the quarry cliffs.