Atlantica - 01.12.2006, Page 23

AT L A N T I CA 21
70 percent of which will be made from transparent
acrylic, offering panoramic views of the aquamarine
world. These modular staterooms (33ft/10m x 17ft/5m
with 550 square ft/51square m of floor space) will be
as posh as any other five-star resort, but with private
views of coral gardens, a fish feeder and safety pod.
The resort will also feature the world’s first underwater
restaurant (it rotates!), a bar, a library, conference
room, even a wedding chapel and an underwater spa.
The rooms are promised to be ultra-luxurious, and to
include Jacuzzis.
Imagine bubbling away in a Jacuzzi 40 feet (12m)
below the surface of the sea. Has this space age,
underwater dream been difficult to develop into a
reality?
“There aren’t that many problems – none
insurmountable,” Jones says. “We had to develop our
own acrylic post-processing facility for the windows.
Otherwise, the only things are the logistic issues.”
The underwater resort consists of two main units,
one roughly 3,000 square feet (279 square m), the
other 1,200 square feet (112 square m), plus the 24
modular suites. Currently, the structures are being
assembled in two shipyards in Portland, Oregon.
Once completed, Jones says they will be shipped to
the private island in Fiji (purchased from a private
developer based and chosen on surrounding water
quality, storm surge protection, etc.), where the
structures will be submerged.
“They bolt them, hook them up to the umbilical,
and we’re good to go in 48 hours.”
Dropping such large platforms into a pristine
m a r i n e e n v i r o n m e n t m i g h t m a k e s o m e
environmentalists cringe, but Jones is certain the
environmental impact is negligible.
“We’ve engineered the structure to be very low
impact. There is no pollution. In fact, it will have a
net positive effect. Marine life will grow on the resort
except for the view ports.”
To ensure marine life doesn’t grow over the guests’
USD 15,000 view, automatic power washing devices
will clean the windows twice a day.
COMING UP FOR AIR
The underwater suites are a part of a larger, land-based
resort on the private 225-acre island surrounded by a
5,000-acre lagoon that drops to depths of 90 feet
(27 m), and has a roughly 200-foot (61 m) visibility.
The beachfront resort will have 48 private bungalows,
each with private plunge pools. Of course, there’s a
nine-hole golf course, tennis courts, a health club
and three restaurants, two bars, and two spas (and a
partridge in a pear tree).
The maximum stay at the five-star resort will be
one week. Guests spend four nights above sea, and
two nights underwater in what are one-atmosphere
rooms, meaning, like a submarine, guests are at
surface-level atmosphere regardless of depth, so there
is no need to worry about the bends, or spending
days in a decompression chamber after your two
nights underwater.
If two nights gazing out the acrylic windows into
the mysterious depths of the ocean doesn’t sound like
enough time, don’t despair. Guests can learn to pilot a
submarine in the lagoon, and take a submergible craft
down 1,000 feet (305 m).
Poseidon Undersea Resort sounds like a fairy tale,
but will anyone actually fork over the down payment
on a small house to visit? Jones says yes, mentioning
that the website has had millions of hits, and the
resort’s been covered in over 140 different magazines.
Interest is so great, they raised over USD 100 million to
build Poseidon, of which about USD 37 million was for
the underwater structure.
If and when Poseidon opens and it turns out to be
a wild success, should we expect another mini-Atlantis
to spring up in another tropical octopus’s garden?
Jones says the resort in Fiji definitely isn’t the end
for his resort line. They’re looking at possible sites in
Asia, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean. “We’re
looking for different variations on the theme,” he says.
Maybe even “an underwater casino in Vegas.”
Keno, anyone?
For more information on Poseidon Undersea
Resorts, log on to poseidonresorts.com. a
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But today’s jet-setters want more
bang for their buck. Ocean
views and infinity pools
are no longer luxurious
enough for the rich
and famous.
009 airmail Atlantica 606.indd 21 18.10.2006 21:11:35