Social Innovation
A sublime experience: Luxury travel reaches new depths
A new luxury underwater passenger vehicle takes the concept of ‘ocean view’ to new depths
When Dutchman Cornelis Drebbel navigated the world’s first submarine in the River Thames in 1620, he couldn’t have imagined the deep-sea adventure his grease-covered wooden “diving boat” would inspire. Four centuries later, in 2005, his fellow countryman Bert Houtman went on to launch U-Boat Worx, a Netherlands-based personal submarine manufacturer, pushing the boundaries of high-tech underwater tourism. This year, it announced the Nexus, the most luxurious multi-passenger submarine to come to market.
The state-of-the-art submersible can spend up to 18 hours 200m below the surface, navigating ocean currents thanks to eight thrusters. Inside, up to nine passengers can luxuriate in leather seats while admiring their subaquatic surroundings through a 360-degree elliptical glass bubble. “You are completely submerged in a whole different world. Once you go deeper than five feet [of water], the reflection of the dome disappears. You can’t see where it ends and the ocean begins. It’s an experience of total freedom,” says Roy Heijdra, U-Boat Worx marketing manager.
With a pilot in control and champagne chilled by optional built-in wine coolers, there is no more relaxing way to watch marine life up close. “At least 79 percent of the oceans are unexplored and there are still creatures down there that haven't yet been discovered,” Heijdra says. “By venturing down in one of these vessels, you get to go somewhere most people have never been before.”
Curaçao, a Caribbean island off Venezuela, is Heijdra’s favourite submarine diving destination. “It’s one of the most amazing places,” he says. “Just 100m off the coast, there are drop-offs down to 300m, filled with shipwrecks, beautiful coral and crystal-clear waters.” Its also where U-Boat Worx runs a pilot training camp for cruise staff and private owners.
Our goal has always been to make the underwater world accessible for everybody.
Though owning a Nexus – price tag from US$5.5m – is a pipe dream for the average ocean enthusiast, you can book a trip as part of a expedition cruise, through operators such as Seabourn and Crystal Cruises, to destinations including the Antarctic and the Indian Ocean.
And, while the Nexus is still in the conceptual design phase, U-Boat Worx launched the UWEP (Underwater Entertainment Platform) in May, a 120-person capacity submarine with 150m2 of deck space that can be used as a restaurant, casino or even a wedding venue. “Our goal,” says Heijdra, “has always been to make the underwater world accessible for everybody.”