The outside view of the underwater hotel room. PHOTO | AFP
In Summary
- The bathroom and a lounge area are at sea level and finally the bedroom downstairs underwater, where guests can see fish swimming around their room.
- In May, this year, Dubai announced that it would also build an underwater hotel that would have 21 rooms at least 30 feet below the surface in a giant disc. A disc above the water will have recreational facilities – a spa, garden, and a swimming pool.
Designed by Swedish company Genberg
Underwater Hotels, the three storey structure is built by building
materials that allows it to float.
Dar es Salaam.As billionaire Richard Branson invest millions of dollars in the undersea adventure while other global millionaires purchase luxury submarines to sit on the decks of their yachts, Tanzania’s Pemba Island has become the first in Africa to host underwater hotel room.
The move comes as Tanzania, touted as East Africa region’s sleeping giant, overtakes Kenya in tourism revenues, a stakeholder in Pemba Island is taking offering leisure beneath the sea in a bid to cash in more millions of shillings from the rich.
Some call it underwater tourism while others term it adventure in the sea, but it is now here in Pemba, thanks to Manta Resort that finally opened its plush hotel room beneath the Indian Ocean. At the cost of $900(Sh1, 485,000) per night, you can share your world with sea creatures including fish.
But, if your spouse has come along the cost rises to $1,500(Sh2,475,000) per night, according to details gathered by The Citizen.
The Mantra tourist resort Pemba becomes the first in Africa to build a hotel room beneath the sea.
Manta, which operates the 16 bed-room resort, hopes to cash in undersea tourism, which is new in Africa.
The facility has become an important attraction to tourists, especially divers, even as Pemba and Zanzibar islands seek to boost tourism after a series of attacks on foreigners and clerics in recent months.
Designed by Swedish company Genberg Underwater Hotels, the three storey structure is built by building materials that allows it to float. Located about 250 meters offshore, the room is submerged 13 feet below the Indian Ocean.
The room also features plenty of windows so guests can watch fish and other sea creatures swim by. Above the water, two additional floors provide an airier atmosphere, including a terrace perfect for sunbathing by day and stargazing by night.
The bathroom and a lounge area are at sea level and finally the bedroom downstairs underwater, where guests can see fish swimming around their room.
At night, spotlights under the windows attract and illuminate squid and octopus -- a more reclusive crowd than the daytime sea life.
Undersea tourism has garnered attention lately, with plans for underwater hotels popping up in countries like the United Arab Emirates and Fiji. The unique experience lures travellers looking for a totally new type of vacation.
By night, the underwater spotlights beneath each window around the room attract the shyer and more unusual, for instance squid. Coral is already establishing itself on the anchoring lines and around the underwater structure.
Octopus and even Spanish dancers have been seen attaching themselves to the glass panes. The reef inhabitants can simply not resist attraction, which makes for exciting watching and a truly unique experience.
Efforts to reach the Manta Resort yesterday proved futile but news.com website quoted the management as saying six people have already slept in the room since it was opened on November 1. Manta Resort opened on August 2008 with 16 rooms. The underwater room adds the number to 17.
Underwater rooms do exist in places such as the Maldives and Stockholm but the Pemba is renowned for being a great diving spot with a plethora of sealife found in the surroundings waters, according to observers.
The new accommodation facility has become an important attraction to tourists, especially divers, even as Pemba and Zanzibar islands seeks to boost tourism after a series of attacks on foreigners and clerics in recent months.
Tourism is the largest foreign exchange earner in Zanzibar and Pemba islands. Last year about 168,223 tourists visited the two islands a decline from 175,067 tourists who visited the islands in 2011.
The Zanzibar Association of Tourist Investors attributes this to the economic downturn and its effect on southern Europe, particularly the Italian market. Last year, Zanzibar tourism receipts stood at $156 million (Sh250 billion) according to the Bank of Tanzania.
The entire hotel can also be raised above the water in event of an evacuation or for repairs – and should tourism go south in Dubai, it can be towed somewhere else.
Dubai previously planned to build the $300 million Hydropolis – a 250-suite underwater resort. But that project collapsed during the economic downturn. This current proposal, backed by Dubai construction company Drydocks World, Swiss brokerage firm BIG Invest Consult, and designed by Poland’s Deep Ocean Technology, will cost between just $50 and $120 million. It’s the first of many planned for the region.
Dar es Salaam.As billionaire Richard Branson invest millions of dollars in the undersea adventure while other global millionaires purchase luxury submarines to sit on the decks of their yachts, Tanzania’s Pemba Island has become the first in Africa to host underwater hotel room.
The move comes as Tanzania, touted as East Africa region’s sleeping giant, overtakes Kenya in tourism revenues, a stakeholder in Pemba Island is taking offering leisure beneath the sea in a bid to cash in more millions of shillings from the rich.
Some call it underwater tourism while others term it adventure in the sea, but it is now here in Pemba, thanks to Manta Resort that finally opened its plush hotel room beneath the Indian Ocean. At the cost of $900(Sh1, 485,000) per night, you can share your world with sea creatures including fish.
But, if your spouse has come along the cost rises to $1,500(Sh2,475,000) per night, according to details gathered by The Citizen.
The Mantra tourist resort Pemba becomes the first in Africa to build a hotel room beneath the sea.
Manta, which operates the 16 bed-room resort, hopes to cash in undersea tourism, which is new in Africa.
The facility has become an important attraction to tourists, especially divers, even as Pemba and Zanzibar islands seek to boost tourism after a series of attacks on foreigners and clerics in recent months.
Designed by Swedish company Genberg Underwater Hotels, the three storey structure is built by building materials that allows it to float. Located about 250 meters offshore, the room is submerged 13 feet below the Indian Ocean.
The room also features plenty of windows so guests can watch fish and other sea creatures swim by. Above the water, two additional floors provide an airier atmosphere, including a terrace perfect for sunbathing by day and stargazing by night.
The bathroom and a lounge area are at sea level and finally the bedroom downstairs underwater, where guests can see fish swimming around their room.
At night, spotlights under the windows attract and illuminate squid and octopus -- a more reclusive crowd than the daytime sea life.
Undersea tourism has garnered attention lately, with plans for underwater hotels popping up in countries like the United Arab Emirates and Fiji. The unique experience lures travellers looking for a totally new type of vacation.
By night, the underwater spotlights beneath each window around the room attract the shyer and more unusual, for instance squid. Coral is already establishing itself on the anchoring lines and around the underwater structure.
Octopus and even Spanish dancers have been seen attaching themselves to the glass panes. The reef inhabitants can simply not resist attraction, which makes for exciting watching and a truly unique experience.
Efforts to reach the Manta Resort yesterday proved futile but news.com website quoted the management as saying six people have already slept in the room since it was opened on November 1. Manta Resort opened on August 2008 with 16 rooms. The underwater room adds the number to 17.
Underwater rooms do exist in places such as the Maldives and Stockholm but the Pemba is renowned for being a great diving spot with a plethora of sealife found in the surroundings waters, according to observers.
The new accommodation facility has become an important attraction to tourists, especially divers, even as Pemba and Zanzibar islands seeks to boost tourism after a series of attacks on foreigners and clerics in recent months.
Tourism is the largest foreign exchange earner in Zanzibar and Pemba islands. Last year about 168,223 tourists visited the two islands a decline from 175,067 tourists who visited the islands in 2011.
The Zanzibar Association of Tourist Investors attributes this to the economic downturn and its effect on southern Europe, particularly the Italian market. Last year, Zanzibar tourism receipts stood at $156 million (Sh250 billion) according to the Bank of Tanzania.
The entire hotel can also be raised above the water in event of an evacuation or for repairs – and should tourism go south in Dubai, it can be towed somewhere else.
Dubai previously planned to build the $300 million Hydropolis – a 250-suite underwater resort. But that project collapsed during the economic downturn. This current proposal, backed by Dubai construction company Drydocks World, Swiss brokerage firm BIG Invest Consult, and designed by Poland’s Deep Ocean Technology, will cost between just $50 and $120 million. It’s the first of many planned for the region.
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