ROLLING DEEP

The best luxury experiences beneath the waves, from the South Pacific to the Maldives and the Middle East

- SI SI PENALOZA

Terrestrial exploration is so last century. Card-carrying members of the Travelers’ Century Club— globetrotters who have visited 100 or more countries—have increasingly been drawn underwater, where a growing array of next-level experiences await. There’s a roving luxury submarine on our radar called Lover’s Deep, considered the most expensive ultra luxe hotel suite in the world. We’ve tapped a few more waiver-free ways (let’s at least keep it to a one-pager) to channel your inner Jacques Cousteau communing with oceanic wildlife, or just live it up in the deep like no generation of man has done before—a luxury life aquatic in living color.

We never see the true state of our neurosis complex until it is illustrated to us in contrast. Underwater, we cannot breathe without mental discipline. This has long been the appeal of deep-sea diving in my mind. It lies in the extreme contrast between swimming with whales in the archipelago of Bora Bora, and swimming with sharks in a banal landlocked home base.

The Brando’s backyard of the Tetiaroa atoll is the kind of place that can make you feel as if anything beyond this coveted sapphire necklace corner of the South Pacific ceases to exist. 30 miles northeast of Tahiti, Tetiaroa is composed of a dozen small islands surrounding a sparkling azure lagoon. There are few places on earth where you can check off every box on your underwater adventure bucket list, and this is certainly one of the most chic.