Luxury Insider

Picture the scene: you’ve just moored your yacht in the open ocean. You’re relaxing on your deck chair, enjoying the sun. The breeze is perfect. Then without warning, dark clouds appear on the horizon. And you only just got here. What do you do? Why, you dive your vessel under the surface, and wait for the choppy weather to pass. Simple, if your yacht were also a submarine.

US Submarines, a Florida-based company, are experts in luxury submarines. Forget the claustrophobic submersibles you may have seen in movies. Civilian luxury submarines are ultra-comfortable underwater cruisers.

The company makes a variety of luxury underwater craft, including the 118-foot Seattle 1000 and the 65-foot Nomad 1000. These allow one to cruise silently through the world’s great oceans, exploring earth’s lesser known frontiers. With their beautifully-trimmed interiors and extra-long underwater cruising ability, they are truly the place to get away from it all.

What really gets us excited however is the proposed Phoenix 1000. Originally commissioned by an undisclosed client, the design remains something of a fascinating technical marvel, as yet unrealized. At over 210 feet (65 meters) in length - megayacht territory - this would be the world's largest and most luxurious submersible craft.

Capable of traversing the Atlantic Ocean, and of descending to 1000 feet below the surface, the Phoenix is big for a reason. Much of the available space is devoted to the many energy and life-support systems, whose oxygen reserves are enough for it to spend more than a month underwater. Its surface range, running on fuel, is in excess of 3500 nautical miles, or almost 6500 km.

An owner can cruise on the surface of the ocean, enjoying the open sea breeze, as the Phoenix 1000 has a flying bridge similar to that of a yacht. If he tires of the scenery (say, his same old boring private island, for example), he can get into the interior of the vessel and press the big red “DIVE” button.

And what an interior it is. Two lavishly furnished passenger decks each over 100 feet long and 20 feet wide (30 by 6 meters), housing a full crew, two large living rooms, and enough space left over for an extended family's worth of staterooms. Customizable to the customer's specific requirements, the only difference between this and a full-on megayacht would be the view from the windows.

For the truly intrepid undersea adventurer, the Phoenix is supplied with a docking mini-sub that can take passengers to an even more extreme 2000 feet below the surface. The sub also serves as a lifeboat to the surface, or even to transport guests from the surface to view your latest acquisition.

Most can only imagine the experience that must be. At an estimated cost of US$80 million, the Phoenix 1000 costs as much as the largest megayachts in the world. Not something one picks up over the weekend, it also takes an estimated 3 years to complete after the order is received.

For someone eager to try the luxury submarine experience but can’t wait as long, the company offers smaller but equally luxurious craft,  the best sellers being the  Nomad 1000 and smaller, yacht-dockable Discovery 1000 craft.

Indeed the Discovery 1000 might be a welcome addition to your yacht, giving you a chance to take underwater excursions and familiarize yourself with the deep blue sea while your Phoenix 1000 is being built to your exact specifications.

We might have made up the big red “Dive” button earlier, but there’s no denying that luxury submarining is one of the most exciting ideas in civilian nautical activities today. For the billionaire who has always wanted to play Captain Nemo, there is truly no better way to submerge yourself in luxury.