DivePro - Info

I remember seeing a picture of a restaurant that was underwater and surrounded by tropical fish, with what looked like glass walls and ceiling. Do you know where it is please? Sharne Forester, Scarborough

Sunday Times travel expert, Richard Green, responds:

Chances are that you¹ve seen a photograph of Ithaa - an audacious undersea restaurant in the Maldives, just off Rangali Island. It looks like a large glass cylinder that¹s been lowered onto the seabed, and that¹s pretty much what it is. Actually it¹s 16 feet below the surface, and as there are no internal pillars or frames, the views of passing rays and fish are incredible. It¹s a terrific place, where the décor has been sensibly kept to a minimum; a wooden floor with modern styled tables and chairs. It¹s part of the Hilton Rangali (0870 5909090, www.hilton.co.uk/maldives) and serves good light lunches, with more substantial contemporary seafood dishes in the evening.

Or perhaps it was the Red Sea Star (00 972 8 634 7777, www.redseastar.com) restaurant and bar, which juts 230 feet from the shore in Eilat, Israel. It has a substantial decked area floating on the surface, with a bar and restaurant under the water. The ocean-themed décor is wacky, with brightly coloured stools that look like jelly fish, sand on the floor, and pillars in the form of giant sea cucumbers; and there are 64 large viewing windows so you can look out onto the real thing, on surrounding reef conservation project.

Then again, you might have seen a picture of the Al Mahara restaurant in the Burj Al Arab (00 971 4 3017777, www.burj-al-arab.com) hotel in Dubai. You get two it via a three-minute ride on a simulated submarine. The dining area is incredibly ostentatious, with lots of gold and red, and in the centre, behind floor to ceiling glass, is a vast area of sea, packed with coral and fish. However, if apart from the menu and the views, something feels decidedly fishy, it¹s because you aren¹t really underwater at all. In fact the centrepiece million litre aquarium is on the same level as the hotel lobby, but don¹t tell any of the kids in there.

Source - Times, UK