The Manta Resort Unveils New Underwater Room on Pemba Island
The redesigned floating suite off Tanzania’s Pemba Island pairs upgraded underwater accommodations with a renewed focus on coral restoration and marine conservation.
Photograph: Courtesy of the Manta Resort
The underwater hotel concept is having another moment—but this time, it comes with a stronger conservation story attached.
The Manta Resort on Tanzania’s Pemba Island has officially unveiled a newly redesigned version of its Underwater Room, the floating accommodation that helped put the remote Zanzibar archipelago on the luxury travel map more than a decade ago.
The new structure is the third generation of the concept from Swedish company Genberg Underwater Hotels, whose original underwater lodging experiments date back to 2001’s Utter Inn in Sweden. The first version of the Manta Underwater Room debuted in 2013 and quickly became one of the Indian Ocean’s most recognizable hospitality experiences: a floating wooden structure anchored offshore with a submerged bedroom sitting roughly three meters below the surface.
The reimagined version builds on more than 12 years of operational experience, with upgrades to materials, systems, and overall guest comfort designed for longer-term marine performance. Guests still sleep surrounded by reef life, with panoramic underwater windows that turn the bedroom into a front-row seat to the Pemba Channel’s marine ecosystem.
Importantly, the original structure wasn’t scrapped. According to the resort, the previous underwater room has now been fully submerged nearby, as part of the protected reef environment, where it will continue to function as an artificial reef within the resort’s marine conservation zone.
Pemba Island remains far quieter and less developed than neighboring Zanzibar, appealing to clients seeking more remote Indian Ocean experiences with a stronger emphasis on diving, nature, and low-density luxury.
The conservation angle is also becoming central to the property’s positioning. Through a partnership with Blue Alliance’s tourism division, proceeds from the Underwater Room are directed toward coral restoration, environmental monitoring, and local fishing-community initiatives.
“The underwater room has shown that a very small footprint can still create meaningful impact,” said Matt Saus, CEO and co-founder of The Manta Resort. “This project has always been about more than just creating a unique place to stay.”
The relaunch also arrives as experiential marine tourism continues to expand across the luxury sector, particularly among high-net-worth travelers increasingly seeking accommodations tied to environmental storytelling and access-driven experiences rather than traditional beach-resort formulas alone.
