If you have a few hundred thousand dollars in spare change just lying around, you can now buy your very own personal submarine to explore the depths of the ocean. Making it’s debut this year at DEMA (Divers Equipment & Marketing Association), a premier trade exhibition for scuba diving, snorkeling, ocean sports and adventure dive travel products, was “U-Boat Worx” with their range of extraordinary compact and so-called affordable (not for me though!) submersibles.
U-Boat Worx, a Dutch company specializing in submersibles, has its own line of the most advanced private submarines, from the single seater C-Explorer to the 2 person C-Quester. They even have models under the same names that can seat 3 or more passengers for the ultimate in private underwater exploration. The cool looking personal submarines look like something out of a James Bond movie and are said to be able to reach astounding depths of 100-1000 meters (330-3300 feet) depending on the model.
The C-Quester 2 (pictured right) is easy to handle and is equipped with a powerful Li-ion battery system of 8 hours endurance, leather seats, an air conditioning unit, 360° acrylics & glass-bottom hull, 7” Touch screen interface and alarm handling system. Its compact size and light weight make just as portable as a small boat and easy to store. Priced at €590,000 for the 100 meter submersible, it’s cheaper than the $2million dollar submarine (pictured below) over at Hammacher Schlemmer. Even more affordable though, at roughly £45,000, is the C-Quester 1 (single seater) personal submarine.
Here’s a look at the host of a Gadget Show test driving U-Boat Worx’s C-Quester 1-
