Red Sea Star - World's first and only underwater restaurant in Israel

Red Sea Star is a underwater restaurant, bar and observatory situated in Eilat, Israel. In-fact it's the fist underwater restaurant. This amazingly designed restaurant is 5 meter (16 ft.) below the surface of the Red Sea. The thick Plexiglas windows gives an octopus-eye view of the surrounding fish, corals, and other creatures. The safety of restaurant is duly considered. The sight from the restaurant is unique with carols, fishes and deep sea water. Interiors are so well detailed that one's attention get divided between the wonderful picturesque outside the windows and the interior view. The wall, the floor, the seating, the fixtures all contribute to the fantasy ocean like view. The food here is not that great but the basic charm here is the experience of eating under the sea. Denise, a Red Sea fish, is one of the jewels of menu, however to some it does feel awkward while eating a fish when the others (sea creatures) pass the window. The Decor is well acknowledged by both the underage and adults, but the service here often test the patience of the customers.



It took approximately 4 years in planning the "Star", forming the concept, attaining all required permits etc. and the actual building of the site took an additional four years. The windows here are 8.5 cm to 13.5 cm thick depending on it's size. There is an additional 6mm thick special glass layer that covers both sides of each window for protection. The internal layer protects the acrylic panel from the visitors inside the Red Sea Star and the external layer protects the window from divers, fish etc. The total weight of all windows is over 12 tons. In order to prevent negative consequences of rusting they have installed a state of the art cathodic protection system, that releases ions to the water, which in turn prevents the oxidation of the steel structure i.e. rusting. To prevent any possibility of the structure sliding into the sea there are two added precautions - First, at the base of the structure there is a "load cell" with 4000 cubes of concrete that anchor the whole structure to the seabed. Second, the structure was additionally anchored to the seabed with 34 steel piles with a 20 inch diameter, which were driven through the structural base into the seabed to a depth of 15 meters, literally nailing the structure to the sea. This is the only restaurant in the world in which a team of trained divers clean its windows. The team of divers of the Red Sea Star, in addition to its preservation and cultivation tasks, is also responsible for the daily task of cleaning the external side of the windows while diving.








The lampshades are made of a metal construction covered by silk with a polioritenic layer which is for it's protection. One of the great things about this place is it's flooring. The floor of the Red Sea Star is not made of glass although it sometimes may appear so. The floor is made of hardened real sand on which a layer of transparent thick epoxy glue was poured in order to simulate the extraordinary feeling of walking on wet sand.


The amazing fact is that not only this structure has been developed but also the underwater sea-bed was developed by the "Star" team. The expert divers established an underwater plant nursery at a depth of 20 meters below sea level, where they looked after the cultivation of the corals. With much love they set them at the proper angles with respect to the sun, cleaned them of predators, separated aggressive from passive coral species and created optimum conditions for their growth, so that their rate of growth was several-fold that of natural growth. Just before the opening of the project to the public, the corals were transferred from the nursery to the area around the underwater building level at the site. Then the "Star's" divers brought rocks and colonies of damaged corals from other parts of the Red Sea, where the chance for survival of those corals was extremely poor, thus saving them from extinction. The corals were glued by the "Star" team using special medical glue imported from Florida.








The coral reef surrounding the "Star" is softly lit by special lighting, allowing to observe the underwater life at night, without disturbing its natural inhabitants. At first, underwater lighting illuminated the reef, but the results were not satisfactory. Therefore, the lighting was changed to an overhead lighting - above sea level. The special purple light succeeds in supplying sufficient light, without damaging the reef due to its specific color and length of waves. The result is amazing! It is important to remember that this is the only place in the world in which it is possible to observe fish and corals at night. Since the sight at night is different from the sight during daytime, as different sea creatures are active during different hours, it is recommended to visit the Red Sea Star during daytime as well as at night, in order to enjoy a greater number and variety of sea animals. This light does not penetrate the water so it is not felt by the fish and other creatures and therefore does not interrupt the day-night balance of the sea creatures. the corals are continuing to develop amazingly. The light is in use only during part of the night and due to its specific color and length of waves does not interrupt life around the "Star". The evidence to that is the fact that the fish and corals are constantly continuing to live, grow, multiply and develop.



It is impossible to dive around the structure of the Red Sea Star since it is a private area and the restored coral garden is very delicate, and divers who are not experts in raising and preserving corals may hurt and damage the development of the corals. The well trained expert team of divers of the Red Sea Star has years of experience in taking care of corals and sea creatures and take special precautions in order to avoid hurting the underwater life, for example by diving without flippers.

The kitchen is located in the entrance level of the Red Sea Star, about 6.5 meter above sea level and about 12 meters above the floor of the restaurant. The prepared dishes descend to the underwater floor in a special service elevator and are served to the guests covered by metal bells shaped covers that help keep the food hot and fresh and prevent any contact of it with the external environment (keeping it sterile).

All in all this is one of the must-experience must-visit places of the world.

Source -
1. The Red Sea Star
2. The Red Sea Star FAQs

PS - All the images are stored on Flickr.com.

Cheers :)