Snapshot: Dining Under the Sea

Even if you were served plain bread with just butter, you’d still feel that it was a surrealistic dining experience. Picture this- while you’re stuffing your face with food, marine creatures of all shapes and species would wander by you, and all around you is a nice cool blue with faint sun rays shining through.

Submerged 16 feet (5 meters) under the Indian Ocean, Ithaa is the world’s first undersea restaurant. With seating for only 14 at a time, it’ll be almost like your own private dining corner under the sea. The restaurant uses a curved acrylic panel to offer the perception of being surrounded by water, offering a 270-degree panoramic view of the underwater world.

Reached by descending a spiral staircase in a thatched pavilion at the end of a jetty at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island, Ithaa serves up contemporary European cuisine with Asian influences.

Interestingly, the restaurant was left untouched by the tsunami that wrecked the Maldives in 2004. The waves topped at 0.31 meters (1 ft) below the staircase entrance, causing no damage to the restaurant.

Tip: A restaurant like this usually means it’s an expensive dinner venue. However, that’s not to say mere mortals like us can never get to experience the novelty. Ithaa offers drinks in the afternoon, which is an affordable alternative to gawk at the place.

In 2010, to celebrate its 5 year anniversary, Ithaa offers the restaurant as a private bedroom suite for two, even with private champagne dinner and breakfast in bed. Having the ocean as your bedroom, it’s almost as if you can live as Ariel for a night, doesn’t it?