The Manta Underwater Room

We opened The Manta Resort in August 2008. We have 16 rooms with the underwater room now making it 17. After many years of planning, we finally opened The Manta Underwater Room to guests on the 1st November 2013. The inspiration began as a work of installation art in a Swedish lake has now reached the Indian Ocean island of Pemba. A single underwater room in a Swedish lake near Stockholm. The Utter Inn is the brainchild of Mikael Genberg, an artist and public speaker who has chosen to focus on the “making art for the public”. The single room of the hotel lies 3m below the surface of Lake Mälaren in Västerås, Sweden and contains only twin beds and a table. It opened in June 2000. It has been a great success. Not only did all the untested solutions work, and work to this day, but it also attracted a people from all corners of the world. Genberg Underwater Hotels company, a Swedish company, was formed in 2006 with the express aim of developing the concept and launching more underwater rooms around the world. Living underwater is the essence of the concept, a fascination worldwide. It is an adventure in the truest sense of the word. A uniquely absorbing experience. The Blue Hole is an anomaly in the coral reef clearly visible from The Manta Resort terrace. Approximately 250 meters off shore it falls to 12 meters deep at high tide and is roughly 50 meters wide in diameter. A circular hole inhabited by a number of large coral heads and abundant marine life. A perfectly protected spot for your floating underwater room. Many interesting stories so far with only 6 guests having stayed, only just opened. I would describe the reaction as more in awe of what can happen around the room. For example, huge shoals of silver bait that engulf the room with predators lurking in the background. An action packed event at night with the underwater spotlights on, feeding time. The small stuff is attracted to the light like moths to a flame and the squid, garfish, pipefish and other predators have a feast every night. We have had an octopus crawl over one of the windows. A rare visit from a spanish dancer that also crawled across the glass. It is really something to experience. You can hear dolphin when snorkelling around the room in the evening but we haven’t had a visit yet. It really gives you the feeling of being part of the very special underwater world. I guess the word for it is “privilege”, you certainly do feel privileged to be part of this new world. It also has to be said that our guests love The Manta Resort for what it is. It is not a five star luxury resort, it is unpretentious and a genuine place where the people are real. We have had some very well known people stay with us on Pemba which we keep to ourselves of course. What we do hope is that this kind of tourism will inspire all to make a positive contribution to Pemba Island. Guests that will feel fulfilled by being part of a real, genuine African island experience and communities that will feel fulfilled by sharing their culture and hearts.