Dubai to build floating Venice resort with underwater deck

The Floating Venice resort is scheduled for completion in 2020

Dubai is trying its hand at creating a magnificent Venice-like resort which would have an underwater twist.

The plan that the Emirate has is to build a floating replica of the stunning Italian city which is complete with gondolas and canals -- with an underwater twist. The resort will be split over four decks, one of which will be submerged under the sea, CNN reported.



The Floating Venice is earmarked for Dubai's The World development -- an artificial group of islands constructed four kilometers offshore in the shape of a global map.

Visionary of the project, Kleindients proposes a subaquatic deck featuring an underwater lobby, 180 undersea bedroom cabins and three subaquatic restaurants which offers a spectacular view of marine life in the Persian Gulf. The Floating Venice will technically be classified as a boat. Developers plan to use the same technology as the Floating Seahorse, another Kleindienst-designed underwater living experience currently under development in Dubai.

Underwater tourism has proved quite popular across the world from Ithaa Undersea Restaurant in the Maldives to the underwater suites at Atlantis in the Palm Dubai.

The Floating Venice resort, which is scheduled for completion in 2020 if plans are approved and building gets under way in 2018, has an estimated price tag of $680 million.



Dubai's The World archipelago has yet to become the hot ticket prospectors hoped for when work began in 2003. Most of the 300 islands were sold off to contractors to build private residences, but the majority remain unoccupied.

Developers hope the proposed Venice replica can help improve its fortunes. "I am extremely excited and proud of The Floating Venice," company chairman Josef Kleindienst, said in a statement.