Your next adventure holiday could be along the ocean floor
For a very select few, the idea of rocketing into orbit is ridiculous when you can
descend into the depths of the world’s oceans – you are more likely to spot aliens (or at least, alien-looking creatures) in the ocean than in outer space
In 2012, film director James Cameron descended nearly 11,000 metres into the sea, to the deepest place in the world’s oceans, The Challenger Deep, located in the Marianas Trench near Guam. Cameron was already known for films about the sea and the ocean depths. His dive in a custom-built submersible was only the second manned trip to the deepest part of the ocean. The first was in 1960.
Cameron’s dive marked the end of a competition to return to the bottom of the ocean. Two other companies, Triton Submarines and Doer Marine, were also planning super-deep diving submersibles of their own. A team funded by Virgin founder Richard Branson was also in the mix.
After Cameron’s dive and significant attention around the feat, the interest in super-deep diving submersibles tailed off. Thanks to the release of BBC nature series Blue Planet 2, which has an episode featuring footage that was taken thousands of feet below, the race to visit the deepest parts of the ocean seems to have been reignited.
The growing popularity and availability of recreational submersibles have also helped. In the past decade, submersibles have become collector’s items on some of the world’s most famous superyachts. Dutch builder Uboatworx pioneered stylish, brightly coloured submersibles that can descend to 200 metres – already a substantial depth.
Submersibles can now be found on yachts as small as 40 metres in length overall. And cruise ships, including Hong Kong-based Dream Cruises, are using them for guest experiences. Uboatworx is now a regular exhibitor at the Monaco Yacht Show.
But a daring few, such as Cameron, as well as Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Richard Branson, Eric Schmidt of Google and Ray Dalio, the hedge fund manager who is said to have a fleet of submersibles, are keen to go as deep as possible. Branson was among the competitors to get to the bottom back in 2012.