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Watch out for Peeping Fish

Where: Bahamas

For those not content to vacation on the beach or even just off the beach, another option is on the way. We've seen too many movies featuring underwater complexes plagued by sharks and giant squid to line up for this one, but it looks like the world's first real undersea hotel is about to become a reality.

Poseidon Undersea Resort will open in early 2006 off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. A $40 million development by submarine expert Bruce Jones, the resort will offer 22 $1500/night rooms 50 feet under the surface of the sea. Predictably, it will be made of clear acrylic, so you can feed the tropical fish in the surrounding coral garden, and ostensibly to give you a better view of any approaching sea monsters.

Unlike other, geekier undersea destinations, the Poseidon will require no scuba diving to enter; the seafloor complex will be connected via acrylic walkways to a dive shop, swimming pool, tennis courts and cafe onshore. 22 rooms will also be available shoreside, for those who'd rather not go the Jacques Cousteau route.

Jones is going to have to move fast: A competing higher-budget and yet more sci-fi project off the coast of Dubai is also in the works. (Click here for artist's renderings.) Hydropolis Underwater Resort Hotel will cost a projected $550 million and guests will fork over $5,500 a night.