A holiday on Octopus, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s former yacht, is the most expensive at sea

Check out a $200m superyacht built for the co-founder of Microsoft. Photo / Supplied

Take a private helicopter to lunch in Greenland before bedding down in a $200m superyacht built for the co-founder of Microsoft, writes Amanda Hyde

Wave goodbye to the captain’s table and coach-party shore excursions aboard the Octopus, where the super-rich enjoy a very different kind of boating holiday on one of the world’s most expensive yachts. Famous enough to have its own Wikipedia entry, Octopus was originally built for Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen – at a cost of around $200 million.

With two helicopter pads, a glass-bottomed observation deck and a heated pool with retractable glass floor (as well as a spa, gym and basketball court), it costs a lot to keep it afloat and running: about $20 million a year. After Allen’s death, Octopus was bought and refurbished before opening to paying guests this year, and luxury travel company Cookson Adventures was the first company to arrange a charter.

The superyacht's heated pool boasts a retractable glass floor. Photo / Supplied

Neal Bateman, head of yachting, went along to ensure things ran smoothly. “The experience confirmed to me why Octopus is so highly regarded in the yachting industry. She fully deserves her reputation as the quintessential explorer yacht,” he says. In short, this is the best boat in the world to charter, on one proviso – you’ll need to find the £2.6 million ($5m) per week fee.

In return, guests have the privilege of joining the handful of travellers who’ve seen Octopus in all its glory (and there’s a lot of it: the yacht is one of the largest in the world with eight decks and seven support vessels). While Allen was alive, the boat remained an enigma. Its original designers allegedly signed early NDAs and only invited guests were allowed on board (including Mick Jagger’s supergroup SuperHeavy who recorded parts of its album in the yacht’s studio).

Because of its serious technical equipment, Allen also lent the boat to scientific expeditions while his own research team uncovered two important World War II wreckages: the Japanese warship Musashi, which sank off the coast of the Philippines in 1944, as well as the bell from the Royal Navy’s HMS Hood.

Like her many-tentacled namesake, Octopus can also reach parts that others can’t, tackling the icy conditions of Antarctica with aplomb – which explains why Bateman thinks that eastern Greenland, which is so remote that it can only be explored by private yacht, makes the perfect destination. “It’s easy to fly there privately but the only way to explore deep into the wilderness and access its otherwise inaccessible fiords is by explorer yacht,” he says.

Octopus hosts a maximum of 12 guests to a crew of 42. Photo / Supplied

He's devised a rough itinerary accordingly, though every Cookson trip is specially tailored to suit its guests (and those with pockets this deep can expect the kind of access-all-areas holidays that take up to a year to get the necessary permits for).

Conservationists and expedition guides will be on hand to point out polar bears, narwhals, walruses and Arctic foxes and there’s also the chance to indulge in a spot of super-rich sightseeing – “flightseeing” aboard a private helicopter that can whiz guests to the largest ice sheet outside Antarctica for lunch. More adventurous sailors can even become record-breakers, sinking under the sea on the first-ever underwater exploration of the region by submersible (though this costs extra).

Back on board, a maximum of 12 guests will have a crew of 42 catering to their every whim. The yacht has an embarrassment of “toys” (that’s boat speak for gadgets and gizmos) – from wakeboards to fishing equipment – and a fully equipped dive centre. If you think they couldn’t possibly ask for more, you’d be wrong: Cookson’s sometimes demanding clientele have made some interesting requests in the past.

“We once built a luxury expedition camp deep in the African bush and, at the last minute, the client requested a golden bathtub to be added. We managed to source, transport and link up one so they could soak under the stars upon arrival,” says Cookson. “And on a recent group retreat on a private island off Panama, our team trekked waist-deep up a river at midnight in order to position kayaks and set up a surprise lunch in the jungle for the following day.”

Octopus is one of the largest superyachts in the world. Photo / Supplied