God Lives Underwater

The first-ever undersea restaurant in the world has been introduced at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. It sits five meters below the waves of the Indian Ocean, surrounded by a vibrant coral reef and encased in clear acrylic, offering diners 270 degrees of panoramic underwater views.




You know it is just a matter of time before someone swims by naked while people are having their dinner.




This innovative restaurant is the first of its kind in the world, and is part of a US $5 million re-build of Rangalifinolhu Island, one of the twin islands that make up Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa.

In case you are thinking that this is the only attraction you will find at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa, I wanted to show you a picture of one of the rooms where you might be sleeping.




This new restaurant is just the latest example of a growing trend that is occurring within the resort industry. This trend is to place tourists in, or very close to, a pure underwater environment.

In Bora Bora, for years, some of the more exclusive resorts have offered bungalows that sit directly on the unspoiled clear blue water. Many of them also feature glass bottom floors.

In Dubai, United Arab Emirates there is an underwater hotel currently under construction called Hydropolis. This aquatic hotel will join a growing number of ambitious construction projects that have been borne in Dubai. Among them are the man made Palm Islands, and the Jumeirah Hotel.

Can you imagine if this was the view from your hotel room?




There is a saying that “God lives underwater”. I cannot agree with this statement more. I have had the great privilege of hiking down the steep walls of the Grand Canyon, and have visited many land based wonders, but NOTHING compares to what resides below the waves. There is a pristine beauty there, which you cannot find anywhere else. In many places in the world, you can still find water visibility that exceeds 200 feet. Fortunately, It is still ones of the things on this planet we have not been able to completely fuck up.

I have had the great honor to swim with a pod of wild dolphins, and the priviledge to glide through the water with a sea turtle bigger than a coffee table. Unfortunately, you can also find gift shops that will sell you a sea turtle AS a coffee table.

Since I was a little boy, I have always loved the color blue, and the promise of the ocean. There is no place that I would rather be. As a result, I learned to scuba dive in the West Indies at a very early age. If you are able to do it, I cannot recommend it enough. When you master your buoyancy control, you will be able to glide through the water like a god.

Many people feel that sharks make the sport of diving too dangerous, but there is nothing further from the truth. If you are going to see a shark while diving, it is likely that you will have to actively seek one out.

One of the best scuba diver-writers I have come across was Anton Segal. He was a fully certified dive master, and he wrote many magazine articles about his numerous travels and scuba diving experiences in the Red Sea. This article, from 1998, is entitled Nice to meet you Mr. Carcharhinus Longimanus. It is an extremely well written piece about a close encounter he had with a curious oceanic whitetip shark, and it is one of my favorites.

Anton Segal was tragically killed in late November of this very same year. In the end, it was a sadistic animal from a more dangerous species that took his life from him. That species was homo sapien.

If you have ever wanted to try scuba diving, please do so. It is much easier than you think. It can also be done at a pace, and safety level, that you feel comfortable with. I am a PADI diver, but you can also obtain a certification from an organization called NAUI.

Life is too short to not follow your heart and your dreams.