At Home Beneath the Waves

This article is part of our latest special report on Waterfront Homes.

Every generation has had its own fixation with the deep, expressed in film, book or television: “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” by Jules Verne; “The Undersea World of Jacques Cousteau”; Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”; and “SpongeBob SquarePants,” to name just a few.

Beneath the waves lies a place of mystery and adventure well beyond a run-of-the-mill existence. As Verne once wrote, “The sea is only the embodiment of a supernatural and wonderful existence.”

But now, thanks to advances in underwater construction and plucky entrepreneurs, it is possible to spend the night (or at least several hours) inside underwater hotels, restaurants and even homes.

Undersea offerings range from no-frills base stations for scuba enthusiasts to five-star private villas. Some revel in the dazzle of being underwater, others accentuate ocean habitats and a few even contain scientific facilities for researchers.

Captain Nemo would approve. Experience-obsessed travelers and social media influencers already do.

Under

Located along the southernmost tip of the Norwegian coastline — where the dark waters of the North Sea meet the tranquil, clearer ones of the Baltic Sea — Under is one of the world’s most unique restaurants. Half-sunk into the sea, the 34-foot-long concrete and wood building­ — resembling a high-concept subway car — features a 36-foot-wide acrylic window that offers views of the craggy seabed, its remarkably varied plant and animal life, and the area’s notoriously erratic weather.

In contrast with the mercurial conditions and industrial exterior, visitors pass through an intimate wood- and fabric-clad entrance and progress down into a cavernous dining room, where surfaces become more minimalist and the ocean casts its greenish-blue glow over everything.

“There’s a directness, an honesty to the project,” said Craig Dykers, a principal at Snohetta, the architecture firm that designed Under. He noted that all the materials used in the project were natural and that nothing was hidden behind a false surface.

The seasonal menu, too, is unadorned. The food is clearly presented, not refashioned or smothered in sauces. There is one exception to Under’s spare presentation: Warm spotlights illuminate the food, so the same greenish-blue tint that pervades the room doesn’t lessen the appeal of the dishes.

Under, which was craned into place by a team specializing in underwater…