Triton Submarines - The World's Finest Submersibles
Imagine owning your own aircraft, but flying it without ever landing. Circling over cities, mountains, deserts, and rainforests, glimpsing them occasionally through the clouds, yet never experiencing life at ground level. Never taking in the sights, sounds and smells of Hong Kong, Paris, or New York. Admiring the expanse of the Amazon from above, but without really seeing a tree, or soaring over the Serengeti without experiencing big game in its natural habitat. One could argue that having a yacht without a submersible onboard is like that. Without delving into the deep, one is merely touching the surface of what the ocean truly offers.
The personal submersible is gaining popularity among yacht owners all over the world. It is being used for everything from scientific research, documentary filming, archaeology and record-breaking exploration to unique, wonderful adventures shared with friends and family. With each dive likely to show you something nobody else has ever laid eyes on before, it is an experience that is hard to describe, and even harder to beat.
Your adventure begins as you climb inside the acrylic dome through the large hatch. You’ve just had the safety briefing, distinctly similar to that of an aircraft pre-take-off. In fact, the analogy is not far off the mark; with a fully trained pilot at the helm (extensive training is provided by most if not all personal submersible manufacturers out there for crew and owners), as a passenger you simply sit back in your comfortable chair, relax, sip a glass of something cold and enjoy the dive. Any pre-dive nerves you may have will be washed away by the first splash of ocean against the thick transparent hull surrounding you.
The descent is surprisingly serene. With the faintest of whirs from the electrical thrusters the sub gently slips below the surface and into the deep blue. Behind the crystal-clear plexiglass pressure hull, exploring this extreme environment is a uniquely tranquil experience; choose your soundtrack, sit back and let stunning views unfurl around you in glorious panoramic Technicolor. A hammerhead shark circles the sub curiously and a nurse shark glides by as you descend through the water column. You spot a feathery lionfish stalking his territory amongst lace delicate corals of breath-taking intricacy. As the corals wave hypnotically in the slow current, rainbows of bright sparks shimmer from the tiny reef fish darting among them.
Diving deeper, one by one, colors fade. Your new world seems blue and grey. When the pilot snaps on the exterior spotlights however, the world outside explodes into a riot of pastel hues. Between the clarity of the pressure hull and the slight foreshortening of vision it creates – plus the sub’s incredible agility and manoeuvrability – everything feels so close one unconsciously reaches out to touch it. The experience really is that tactile.
The most successful series-built acrylic-hulled submersible in the world is the three-person, 1,000m rated TRITON 3300/3, built by the same company, Triton Submarines, that created the TRITON 36000/2 “LF” - the submersible that has been repeatedly diving the deepest part of our oceans since 2018, holding the world record for the deepest manned dive in the Mariana Trench. These technological wonders, and their shallower rated, sometimes larger-capacity “siblings”, have opened the oceans to humanity. Electrically powered with rechargeable batteries, these subs are non-polluting and virtually silent, allowing close observation of marine life without disturbing it. For the first time in our history, we can reach every part of the deep sea, experience the wonders below the surface with our own eyes, learn about them and figure out how to protect them.
As you relax in your seat, cocooned by the air-conditioned comfort of the submersible, it is easy to forget the immensely advanced technology enveloping you, leaving you to get fully enthralled by the scenery outside instead. This is exactly as it should be. With more than 1 million passengers a year exploring the underwater world within the tourist submersible industry for the last three decades, and not even a single serious injury recorded, submersibles are listed as the safest vehicles operated by humankind.
As the dive is drawing to a close, and the pilot initiates return to surface, you lean forward to catch as much of the disappearing world below you as possible, before looking up towards the approaching surface. The beams of sunlight getting increasingly bright, you breach the surface and return to the world above, no doubt already longing for your next extraordinary experience taking your submersible diving again.
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