Undersea Restaurant

The Maldives,15th of April marks the day that the first ever all-glass undersea restaurant in the world opens its doors for business at the Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa.

Ithaa will sit 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."We have used aquarium technology to put diners face-to-face with the stunning underwater environment of the Maldives", says Carsten Schieck, General Manager of Hilton Maldives Resort & Spa. "Our guests always comment on being blown away by the colour, clarity, and beauty of the underwater world in the Maldives, so it seemed the perfect idea to build a restaurant where diners can experience fine cuisine and take time to enjoy the views without ever getting their feet wet."

The restaurant is created by MJ Murphy Ltd, a design consultancy based in New Zealand, Ithaa's distinctive feature is the use of curved transparent acrylic walls and roof, similar to those used in aquarium attractions. "The fact that the entire restaurant except for the floor is made of clear acrylic makes this unique in the world," continues Schieck, "We are currently planting a coral garden on the reef to add to the spectacular views of the rays, sharks and many colourful fish that live around the ocean.

The restaurant is 9m long that is made up of three 5 metre transparent arches made from acrylic 125mm thick and sits under a couple of metres of water at high tide. Also, The restaurant's total weight when it was lowered into the sea was 175 tons and 85 more tons of sand have been placed inside the belly of the structure to sink it into the sea.

The cuisine is more of western food items with a Maldivian flavor, the wine concept is equally exciting, offering diners the perfect opportunity to discover the wines of the prestigious Champagne house Louis Roederer.

Ithaa is reached by a wooden walkway from the nearby over-water Sunset Grill Restaurant. Diners begin their meal with drinks on a specially constructed deck over the ocean and then descend to the restaurant via a spiral staircase where the a la carte menu is served. Seating only 14 people, Ithaa offers one of the most intimate and exclusive dining experiences in the world.

It costs $ 5 millions to built this resturant. The cost of each meal, per person will be between $187 to $22o. I would like to go there one day. I would like to experience eating under the sea and the great animals surounded by me.