Text by Lee Tulloch, Vogue Living
I’m sitting with two friends at a small dining table while a waiter brings menus. We’re chatting about very ordinary things when a monstrous parrot fish, rainbow-coloured and open-mouthed, swims up to our table and seems to be listening to our conversation. Or perhaps he sees us as tasty giant plankton? In any case, we’re very pleased we’re separated by five-inch-thick glass. I bet he is too.
There are a handful underwater restaurants in the world but 5.8 at Hurawalhi Island Resort in the Maldives is the largest that’s entirely covered in a glass dome. Situated 5.8 metresbelow the lagoon’s surface into the reef, hence its name, the fine dining restaurant is one of the major attractions of the country and guests have been known to take the 80-minute round-trip seaplane flight from Male, the capital, just to lunch here.
We’re all staying at Kudadoo, the private island that is Hurawalhi’s sister resort, a glam, five-minute speedboat ride across the lagoon. Once we’ve arrived at the dock, we’re escorted along an illuminated walkway, which leads to the bar of the Kashibo, the open-air Asian-fusion restaurant that sits above 5.8. We have time for a cocktail (watermelon-ginger martini for me) before we descend the depths.
I’m slightly nervous, being a bit claustrophic. Will it feel like a compression chamber? The tube that contains the staircase looks like a mine shaft from afar, but in fact the stairs are wide and quite easy to negotiate, with windows on the landings where beautifully coloured Angel Fish and Banner Fish flutter.
I feel like I’m inside a wave when I reach the restaurant. It’s a single piece of curved glass, very much like the wave’s barrel. Schools of fish of every imaginable colour swarm around, attracted by the light. It’s still bright daylight above, so the ripples in the water, the corals and clams edging the glass, are all visible, the healthy coral waving softly in the current. The hotel’s team planted coral around the structure to create a complete ecosystem around the structure to attract fish. It has also been placed in a strong channel of water that brings fish to the spot.
A team of 13 engineers was responsible for making the structure viable. At 18 x 5 metres, it weighs 400 tonnes. The eight pillars that support it are buried 24 metres into the ocean floor. It was made in Japan, assembled in New Zealand, and shipped to the Maldives. The resort opened two years ago, but it’s estimated the structure will last 20 years before it will have to be brought to the surface for servicing. Twice a day, divers clean the surface so that the view is crystal clear. Despite the curve of the glass and the swirling of the fish, it’s quite serene.
The tasting menu consists of a seven-course set menu, although they’ll happily vary it for different dietary requirements. (I’m dining with a vegan.) There has been a lot of effort put into making the dishes reflect the environment – many of them look like tiny octopus’s gardens, whimsically decorated. The menu is rich in fish and shellfish– tuna tartare, seared scallop, smoke lobster with sea urchin, red mullet and poached lobster. I hope we’re not eating a relative of our amphibian dining companions. There’s a rich wagyu beef tenderloin and mango cheesecake at the conclusion.
As night falls, the room becomes a deeper blue with spotlights illuminating the fish. It has been carefully orchestrated, so that all diners finish their meals at approximately the same time. After dessert, we ascend again. The restaurant lights shimmer from below and we can see why the fish swimming in the current are so attracted to it.
The tasting menu at 5.8 is US$280 per person for dinner and US$225 for lunch.
Two other amazing undersea experiences in the Maldives:
Underwater Spa - Huvafen Fushi
This is one of my favourite experiences in the Maldives. Huvafen Fushi, a small luxe resort a short speedboat ride from the capital Male, was the first resort with the then-crazy idea of burying its spa into the lagoon so that guests could enjoy treatments as if they were inside an aquarium. The Huvafen Spa has been recently updated, with the underwater experience renamed Pearl, featuring Beata Aleksandrowicz’s celebrated combinations of Eastern and Western massage and Teresa Tarmey’s signature TT facials. Otherwordly.
Visit: huvafenfushi.com
Undersea Villa, Conrad, Rangali Island
The Muraka two-level undersea villa with ocean floor bedroom and living room has finally opened in the South Ari Atoll, a 30-minute seaplane ride from Male. The villa has an above-sea level eating, dining and sleeping space as well, in case the idea of sharks swimming above your head while you sleep induces nightmares. It will set you back around US$50,000 a night. If that’s too rich, the hotel also has an underwater dining restaurant, Ithaa, five metres below the lagoon surface. Luckily, the water in the Maldives is crystal clear, teeming with sea life and relatively plastic-free.
Visit: conradmaldives.com
Feature Image: Unsplash