Maldives Live aboard: Underwater restaurants

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Maldives Live aboard: Underwater restaurants

Just can’t get enough of the underwater world? Even after a day of non-stop scuba, do you still find yourself dying to descend again? Underwater restaurants offer the opportunity to stay on the seabed, even after you’ve maxed-out your bottom time.

Genuine underwater restaurants are few and far between. You’ll find plenty of aquariums offering ‘underwater dining’, but what they actually mean is sitting at a table surrounded by giant fish tanks. To really get down with the fishes, head to the Red Sea or book yourself a Maldives Diving holiday and experience a surreal supper…

Ithaa Underwater Restaurant, Maldives
If you’re trying to find the ultimate dining experience to accompany your Maldives Diving holiday, then look no further. Ithaa – the world’s first underwater restaurant – opened back in 2005 at the Conrad Maldives Rangali Island Resort and still holds the number one spot as the best underwater dining experience.

This almost totally transparent capsule affords 270-degree panoramic views of the surrounding marine life and, sitting just 14 people, allows for an intimate and surreal dining experience.

Serving contemporary Maldivian cuisine with a European and Asian twist, diners can access the restaurant via a wooden walkway, before descending almost five metres below the surface of the Indian Ocean.

Did you know…The 2004 tsunami actually travelled over the restaurant whilst it was in the final stages of construction? It topped out at 0.31 below the entrance to the restaurant but no damage was caused!

The Red Sea Star, Israel
At the northern tip of the Gulf of Aquaba is the Red Sea’s only underwater restaurant. Located just seventy metres off-shore from the Israeli city of Eilat, you certainly won’t need a Red Sea Liveaboard to get here!

Five metres below sea level, sea-life is viewed through the 62 amorphous windows, with oceanesque interiors adding to the ambience – expect sand floors, sea urchin cushions and atmospheric underwater lighting. This eco-friendly innovation has been designed and managed by a team of divers and marine experts, with aims to preserve, reconstruct and enhance the surrounding reef, and The Red Sea Star has a 90-seat lecture theatre where environmental talks are delivered.

Serving ‘exotic seafood and meat dishes’, diners can observe the friends and families of the fishes they’re eating, before surfacing to the ‘Metro Bar’ to party on the over-water dance floor. Nighttime dining comes highly recommended.

What they say… The Red Sea Star enables you to “sense the sea” through a “dry diving experience”.

Kihavah, Maldives
The Sea. Fire. Salt. Sky dining complex is found at the luxury Anantara Kihavah Villas resort, based on Kihavah Huravalhi Island, an hour and half by seaplane from Male. An all-senses dining experience, the restaurant appeals to four concepts: Sea – a fine dining restaurant and underwater cellar, with sea-floor to ceiling windows, dine with the Indian ocean on all four sides; Fire – expect ‘acrobatic cooking skills’ in the Teppanyaki Lounge; Salt – order roast lamb or red snapper baked on a Himalayan salt block; Sky – start (and finish) the evening with cocktails on the rooftop bar.

They say… Dining in this unforgettable aquatic setting promises a definite island highlight.

Tags: Red Sea Liveaboards, Red Sea Live Aboards, Maldives Liveaboards, Maldives Live Aboards, Red Sea Diving, Maldives Diving, Egypt Diving, Egypt Dive