12 Underwater Restaurants You Have to See to Believe
Imagine eating a gourmet meal while sitting only a couple of feet from schools of beautiful fish, gliding sting rays, or sharks swimming past your table.
Luxury dining undergoes a reimagination through the conflation of culinary art with the magic of marine life to present a new form of underwater restaurants. These awe-inspiring venues bring guests right into the beauty of the ocean while relishing world-class cuisine.
In this listicle, discover 12 excellent underwater restaurants worldwide that will provide you with an out-of-this-world culinary experience underwater. No more sea crab treat, but a proper dining experience where you can taste the unique flavors found underwater or provide yourself with a truly exceptional traveling experience.
Ithaa Undersea Restaurant – Conrad Maldives
Quench your thirst with the World’s first underwater restaurant, Ithaa, lying 16 feet beneath the Indian Ocean, 16 feet below sea level, with a glass dome encompassing the diners at 360 degrees, and dressed with views of colored coral gardens.
Imagine eating in an enormous aquarium without the threat of water. Ithaa is perfect for an unforgettable dining experience, and its multi-course gourmet menu could easily rival the stars above the Indian Ocean.
Shark Underwater Grill – Orlando, Florida
The Shark Underwater Grill provides a fantastic encounter in a unique setting among nature’s most fascinating creatures!
You’ll be inches away from various shark species as they gracefully glide by when its floor-to-ceiling aquarium walls strike your eyes. All lovingly prepared, the OK dining menu offers beautifully created fresh seafood, prime cuts of meat, and chef-inspired entrees.
Dining here is more than a meal; it’s an excellent opportunity to learn about marine conservation and why sharks are so important in our ocean ecosystem.
SEA – Anantara Kihavah, Maldives
Imagine walking into a little restaurant with an exclusive 16 chairs for a private afterparty. Look through stunning glass walls 5.8 meters below to watch mesmerizing sea turtles glide.
You can indulge without a set clock with fine wines, mouthwatering seafood dishes, and marine life that will capture your imagination. It is a meal and an unforgettable experience you will never forget!
Under – Lindesnes, Norway
Under is home to the largest underwater restaurant in the World, eighteen feet below. It is one of Forbes’s “most incredible places to dine,” offering locally sourced, seasonal Nordic cuisine and innovative tasting menus.
Picture Nordic gourmet meals produced with hyper-local seafood whilst perched 5.5 meters beneath the pounds of ice layering the North Sea. Although Sanibel can be visited year-round, it is a beautiful spot from April through September – visit during a storm for dramatic underwater waves.
Su Va Na Phuket – Thailand
According to a Bangkok Post report, this gem in Phuket was crowned the World’s best underwater restaurant in 2024. This gem offers a 13-course tasting menu that blends Thai flavors with European flair.
Surrounded by over 25,000 sea creatures, between courses, enjoy a mermaid show—yes, a literal mermaid show—surrounded by coral reefs in this wonderland under the waves. The fussiest fish won’t have anything to complain about here.
Ossiano – Atlantis The Palm, Dubai
Ossiano is the kind of place that screams opulence. You step into a billionaire’s private aquarium. Dining here is like being in the middle of an enormous tank full of stingrays and reef sharks.
The menu, similarly, is a work of art, with creative seafood dishes designed like edible works of art.
Subsix – Niyama Private Islands, Maldives
The way there is half the fun; you’ll take a speedboat ride and a dramatic descent down a grand staircase to this stylish dining venue. Located about 20 feet underwater.
According to the BBC, Subsix is the World’s first underwater nightclub. Its floor-to-ceiling windows feature the ocean’s inhabitants. Oh yes, there was dinner and dancing, and we all ate parrotfish. How’s that for nightlife?
H2O by Chef Andrea Berton – You & Me Maldives
H2O by Chef Andrea Berton is a fully submerged underwater restaurant that elevates the experience by setting the yacht table 20 feet below the surface.
Enjoy gourmet dishes made from local ingredients under their water. Their Michelin-level quality will leave you stuffed and content to ski for the rest of your life.
L’Oceanografic Submarine Restaurant – Valencia, Spain
Want some science with your dining? The flavors are Mediterranean and creative. This restaurant, which can seat 750 people, is part of Valencia’s famous aquarium complex and serves seasonal delicacies from the sea. Vibrant marine ecosystems surround it.
What a way to educate—taste these good delicacies while enjoying the magical view!
Al Mahara – Burj Al Arab, Dubai
Al Mahara is an underwater dining experience and a feast for the senses. Its floor-to-ceiling glass walls offer an unrivaled view of the World’s maritime inhabitants.
A floor-to-ceiling aquarium sits smack dab in the middle of the restaurant, providing an incredible backdrop that transports your tastebuds and allows you to get lost in a sea of marine life.
With its opulent décor and world-class service, dining here merges elegance with the magic of a world beneath the sea. Of course, you can’t miss the signature golden caviar with smoked salmon and crème fraîche!
Deep Blue Dinner – Two Oceans Aquarium, Cape Town, South Africa
The Two Oceans Aquarium is home to an exciting Deep Blue Dinner amid South Africa’s amazing marine life. But you’ll enjoy food to an enchanting defeat by graceful stingrays, playful turtles, and glistening schools of fish gliding gracefully through the water offered with the stunning aquarium exhibits as your backdrop.
It provides a unique menu with great-tasting, sustainable seafood sourced from local offerings. Everything, from the food to the wine, is impeccable and kind to our planet.
Jules’ Undersea Lodge – Key Largo, Florida
.Do you need a diving certification to dine underwater? Surprisingly, no! At Jules’ Undersea Lodge, you can experience the magic of underwater living without any prior certification.
According to its official website, this unique destination is the World’s only underwater hotel, where guests scuba dive to their rooms for an unforgettable stay.
While enjoying splendid gourmet dinner dishes, you can peer through large windows at the loverly underwater World and colored fish and other sea creatures swimming by. Jules’ Undersea Lodge is a perfect balance of excitement and serenity, and it offers a rare chance to connect to the ocean in an amazingly intimate way.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information.