Looking for designer and builder for glass bottom charter boat

That Looker boat is fascinating for a lot of reasons, mitchgrunes. Where did you come across it?
I still think putting the glass behind the step of a Caymas might be workable and give you a boat with some seakeeping ability.

 

There is a sistership to the Looker in this advert currently languishing in a boatyard in Barbados - she has been sitting there for the last few years. The inboard diesel has been removed, and I am sure that the owner of the yard would dearly love to get it out of his yard.
https://phuket.boatshed.com/paritetboat_looker_320-boat-140627.html

 

Definitely in Barbados, not Thailand? There are people in Trinidad I could talk to about putting a project together.

 

The vessel here in Barbados is a sistership to the one advertised for sale in Thailand.

I am sure that A & T Marine here would be happy to build a(nother) glass bottom boat for the OP Fisher.
And yes, there are also folk in Trinidad who would love to have a job like this.

 

I haven't come across it. I just did an Internet search for "glass bottom boat" and "v-hull".

I'm betting the Looker is very expensive, since they list no price - and it has a pretty limited window size, for 6 tourists. And since you need shallow water, it would be nice if the pilot could see a clear view too, though maybe a depth finder would be good enough. Also, there is a somewhat smaller Looker available too.

I was also looking online for a transparent submersible, which would give tourists a better view - and companies like Triton make them - but for amazingly high prices.

I guess transparent materials behind a step in a boat like that might work. Looking at it as a theoretical intuitive physics problem, the water surface wouldn't be completely smooth, so it would be somewhat hard to see much, especially if you are moving. And you still have the total internal reflection problem, that you can only see fairly close to directions at right angles to the transparent surfaces. But in shallow water, say, over a reef, it might work pretty well (as long as you don't run into the reef). Ideally you might want to coat the top and underside of the transparent surface with an anti-reflection coating, but compared to the cost of a customized boat, that's not a big deal.

Can a one-off custom tourist-certifiable boat like that be affordable enough for the o.p. to make a profit? Would it be cheaper to build a wave break, and use one of the commercially available flat bottom boats?

 

$95,000.00
30FT LOOKER GLASS BOTTOM BOAT BY PARATECH BOATS for Sale in Key Largo, FL 33037 - iboats.com https://boats.iboats.com/30ft-looker-glass-bottom-boat-by-paratech-boats/2313879.html
In Key Largo, FL

-Will

 

Interesting transparent material candidate discussed at The Arkema Ocean Fifty | Arkema Global https://www.arkema.com/global/en/arkema-group/sponsoring/arkema-sailing/multi50-arkema-4/
Scroll down to "2. Deckhouse / Cockpit".

Curved glass (or other transparent material) is notably stronger than flat.

 

That's pretty cool. It could use some serious clean up and some new upholstery and touch up. But that's quite the inverted fish bowl.

Fun to see how other folks use boats.