Undersea room, Zanzibar

This item appears on page 77 of the April 2014 issue.

A guest room lying 13 feet below the surface of the Indian Ocean is part of a structure floating over a clearing in a coral reef 250 meters from Pemba Island in the Zanzibar Archipelago, off the coast of Tanzania.

Spotlights outside the room’s eight windows illuminate any sea life swimming by. Guests can climb a ladder to a lounge and bathroom at water level and continue up to the roof to sunbathe or stargaze.

Per-night rates are $1,200 for two people or $720, single, or, after June 30, $1,500 or $900, respectively. Book through the proximate Manta Resort (phone +255 776 718 852) on Pemba. Rates in the 5-star, 16-room, PADI dive resort run $247-$372 per person, double, and $300-$450 single.

The underwater room opened on Nov. 1, 2013. Swedish artist Mikael Genberg designed it and other, similar rooms, including the Utter Inn in Lake Mälaren, Västerås, Sweden.