Atlantis-Themed Underwater Theme Park 'Pearl Of Dubai' Announced

Dubai is the place where things you never thought were possible get built. First it was a real life robotic Jurassic Park, and now it has been announced Dubai will be home to the first underwater theme park. Reef Worlds, a Los Angeles-based reef developer, plans the underwater tourism site to look like an ancient abandoned lost city. Pearl of Dubai is being designed by some of the art team behind the 2009's Avatar and the five Pirates of the Caribbean, although no specific key creatives have been mentioned by name.

According to TravelWeekly:

The five-acre site, located in the shallow waters off the World Islands development, will look like a lost ancient city and will be accessible to scuba divers and snorkelers, according to Los Angeles-based Reef Worlds, an underwater tourism design company that is handling the project.

Travel Daily News adds:

Reef Worlds underwater tourism design company has recently completed designing a completely revolutionary five acre tourism site that will allow select waterfront resort development partners the ability to create new habitat in the Gulf one iconic tourism site at a time.

The goal of this park is not just tourism, but environmental. Reports have found that coral content in Arabian Gulf reefs has declined by up to 50 per cent, posing a threat to fish stocks and marine habitats.  The new artificial reef will be built in shallow waters of The World islands, where they hope to foster marine life with colonies of algae and soft corals.

No word on when Pearl of Dubai will begin construction or be open for business, but I'm sure it will take some time to create. The same company also has hopes to create more underwater theme parks in other countries, including the Philippines.