A 40-Million-Dollar Underwater Hotel Is Being Planned in the Bahamas

Bruce Jones, a Florida entrepreneur, is ready to invest 40 million dollars to build a five star hotel on the bottom of the ocean in the Bahamas, in which anyone willing to dish out 1,500 dollars a night will have the chance to come face to face with sharks from the comfort of his/her undersea room.

The projected Poseidon resort, located off the Bahamian island of Eleuthera at a depth of 15 meters (50 feet), will be connected to the mainland through two tunnels and an escalator, and pressure will be the same as at the surface.

The underwater property will have its own restaurant, a bar and 20 large suites with transparent acrylic walls facing coral gardens that can be lit up at night.

To date, there is only one such underwater hotel, a small refitted marine lab located in somewhat murky waters just off the coast of Key Largo, Florida, Travel Weekly has indicated.

Guests can expect to see a large variety of tropical fish, tuna and turtles, and with a bit of luck, sharks, from the comfort of their rooms, or even from their private jacuzzis, says Jones.

The planner, who has spent 17 years designing, refitting and selling submarines, is confident the planned resort will become reality, probably sometime in 2006, even though a number of similar projects have foundered in the past.

There’s another underwater hotel being planned: the Hydropolis resort, a 220-suite hotel planned off the coast of Dubai.