"It's the beginning of the 21st century," said Bill Brown, president of Nautical Niche and Integrity Submarines. "Nobody had ever conceived that there'd be a demand for people to explore underwater on a personal level. Basically up to now it's been military and research that have utilized the technology of submersibles. Now it's just for the thrill of being underwater."

Brown's Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based company is one of a handful in the business of selling modern-day Nautiluses to wanna-be Nemos.

Brown said he sold a single submarine for $7 million to the fabulously wealthy software magnet.

"Not many people can afford the price of their own submarine," Brown said. "They have to be a bit eccentric, a bit passionate about the ocean, and my market is primarily directed at the super wealthy."

But for their money, submariners will get the best living one could hope for 20,000 leagues under the sea.

The Integrity 65, currently being created by Nautical Niche, will be 64.5 feet long and carry up to 24 passengers to depths of up to 1,000 feet. And it will boast queen-sized beds in its well-appointed staterooms.

"It's just like a private jet, with dining areas and galleys and heads and the whole bit," Brown said.

While owning a sub like these is only possible for the elite, piloting it is another matter entirely. Submarines are considered among the safest modes of transportation and are surprisingly easy to operate.

It might take them longer to learn the regulations they'll have to obey in various countries about submarines as they explore the undersea world in a manner that might have convinced Verne to rewrite his angry Captain Nemo as a life-loving playboy.