The Underwater Room

September 28, 2015, In: Africa, Pemba, Travel

Ahhhhh. The famous “underwater room” that captured my heart on Pinterest and put Pemba Island and the Manta Resort on my radar as a honeymoon option.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

We decided to go to Africa for our honeymoon because of this room… and I’m pretty sure when people ask about our trip, all they really want to know is: “What was the underwater room like??”

So in today’s post, I am going to do my best to tell you.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

The Manta Resort has one Underwater Room, which is actually a three leveled structure, built about 250 meters off shore. It’s situated in the “Blue Hole” surrounded by a beautiful reef. Since being built in 2013, coral has started forming on the sides of the room and on the ropes that anchor it, which has attracted a loyal bunch of curious fish. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

We’d been at Manta for about a week, when they told us that the next night would be a good night for the Underwater Room. The staff at Manta keeps an eye on sea conditions, and makes sure that they schedule guests for the best times. That morning we packed up just enough for 24 hours away, leaving everything else safely in our villa. I was relieved to discover that we didn’t have to check out of our bungalow to stay in the underwater room. We took a boat out there around 2 p.m. with a cooler stocked with drinks and snacks. A fruit platter awaited us, as did a few board games and all of our snorkeling gear. Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

Our wodnerful service fundi gave us the full tour. The sea-level platform has a toilet, open air shower and refrigerator in the back. In the front it has a U-shaped couch surrounding a table, where we set up the chess board and played for hours that night.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

You take a set of stairs up to the top level where a daybed, lined with shells, makes for the world’s best sun worshipping spot. And then, after you have fallen in love with the top two decks… they take you down to see “The Underwater Room”.

There are no stairs. No. Instead, you climb down a ladder. As soon as your feet pass the five-foot down mark, they start glowing turquoise. A few more feet down and suddenly your whole world is glowing. And then: you are there. IN the famous Underwater Room. Our fundi handed us a cell phone with numbers to call back to the resort if we needed anything and then he ascended the ladder and left us to enjoy our own private reverse-aquarium.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

We spent the first hour or so marveling that it really isn’t so bad to be in a fish bowl, as schools of redfish, barracuda and bat fish swam circles around us. A curious little lion fish was never more than a few feet away from the glass.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

After a while, we emerged and headed up to the roof top to enjoy a drink and get a little sun. That lasted about 15 minutes before Dane decided he needed to get in the water to fully explore the underwater room from the outside too.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

We’d heard that some people get dreadfully seasick during their Underwater Room stay. Both of us have spent a lot of time on boats and never really had a problem, but we happily took some of the dramamine Amanda offered us– just in case! We got lucky. I actually found the rocking of the structure soothing.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

 

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

We had sunset drinks on the main deck, and just after the sun went down, we had dinner delivered to us: a fabulous seafood feast complete with lobster, squid and large filets of fresh fish. When it was good and dark out there, we turned the lights on around our room. Suddenly the whole sea seemed to glow and fish were coming from every corner of the reef to check us out. We finished our last game of chess, spent about an hour on the rooftop looking at the stars, and then descended into our reverse little aquarium to sleep.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

The next morning we emerged from our aquarium to find a bottle of champagne delivered with our breakfast.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland The waters were choppier that morning than they had been the night before, and waves lapped at the sides of the main level, every once in a while rolling across the deck. We ate breakfast, then went back downstairs to sip mimosas in bed.

Underwater Room_-35

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

Later that morning we saw all of our friends out for a dive, and I was thrilled when David, the dive master, offered to take some pictures for us from the outside looking in. I’d told him earlier that week that I would love a few shots like that and he was happy to oblige, although normally the divers give you a respectable distance.

Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

Part of me wished we had one more day, although, another part was ready to get back to the resort. The massages. The diving. The pool. The friends we’d made. One can only play so much chess with one’s spouse alone at sea. Manta Resort Underwater Room | Walking Through Wonderland

Manta is a small resort, so you get to know your neighbors. We were there for 10 days, and during that time there were only two other couples who had arrived there before us and stayed longer: Amanda and Alan and a nice German couple. Everyone else that came and went stayed for anywhere from two to five nights. I would say about 1/3 of the couples that came through stayed one night in the underwater room. One couple spent two nights out there.

In my opinion, (and the opinions of every one else who stayed out there), one night is just about enough. It’s a once in a life time experience, but once in a life time leaves you feeling like you can put a check mark on your bucket list. I’d recommend Manta’s Underwater Room to anyone who doesn’t get seasick easily, but I’d also remind them that if you are expecting bling, bling: you will be disappointed. It’s amazing and unforgettable and well worth the cost- for one night. But once you’ve slept surrounded by fish, it’s nice to take in the view back at the Manta Resort.

    • Thalisa
    • July 19, 2016
    Reply

    Hello! I just discovered your blog and I’m now addicted. Have you considered giving a budget on how much you spend on your trips? At the risk of being rude, how much did you spend on this trip to Africa? I see you were there for long. I want to introduce this to my husband and I would like to follow your route :) Thank you!

    • Reply

      Our Africa trip was definitely a bit more expensive than any of our normal trips. One night in the underwater room is 1500, although they move that down to 1200 if you are staying at the resort for a week. I don’t have an exact breakdown… but I should do better about keeping that. I do know that all in all (flights from Japan, food, tips, etc.) it was over 10,000 and less than 15,000 USD. I can go back and do a little more research. Feel free to email me too. I’d love to give you more details. melindybek <@> gmail.com

        • Thalisa
        • November 9, 2016
        Reply

        Thank you so much!

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  4. Reply

    This is pretty much the coolest thing ever! I would have thought a few of your photos were from their brochure or something. :) So neat.

      • Mindy
      • November 16, 2015
      Reply

      We kind of felt like we were living in a brochure… It was awesome!

  5. Reply

    Here from the link-up! OMG, I wish I knew about this place when I went to Zanzibar years ago…! Absolutely love it down there… These pics are amazing!!

      • Mindy
      • November 16, 2015
      Reply

      Oh hi!!! Yeah it was so much fun! We just LOVED it. The underwater room is pretty new… I believe they took their first guests in 2013- so I’d say it’s as good a reason as any to get back!!

  6. Reply

    What an amazing experience!! And it’s so cool that you managed to find a diver to take photos from the outside!

      • Mindy
      • November 16, 2015
      Reply

      One of the first things I asked our dive master that week was if he would mind taking them for us… and I was thrilled that he did. Looking back now I wish we’d had the gopro dome accessory so we could have taken split photos half in and half out of the water- oh well, a reason to go back I guess!

    • mickelle
    • October 3, 2015
    Reply

    what a dream!

  7. Reply

    I am so torn about this underwater room! The top deck looks amazing and that I could do any day but actually sleeping underwater with fish ‘watching’ me kind of scares me a little!

    • Reply

      I’m usually pretty claustrophobic… but I didn’t feel that, even for a second, down there. It was probably one of the coolest experiences of my life! But yeah… there are no curtains. So you just kind of have to tell yourself the fish aren’t really watching ;)

    • Laura
    • September 29, 2015
    Reply

    I am living vicuriously through these blogposts!!! What an amazing experience!!! I bet it felt soo good to check that off the ol’ bucket list!

      • Mindy
      • September 29, 2015
      Reply

      Yes, it really really did! Now I just have to get around to checking more off of my Oki bucket list! (as soon as I can walk again!)

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