Kuredu Island Resort, Lhaviyani Atoll Review

Overall Rating

Location, food, weather, service, facilities, beer,

Beach bungalows

My wife and I travelled to Kuredu for our honeymoon. It was a dream come true for us as we had always wanted to go to the Maldives. Before we left I took the time to read some of the reviews on this site and most of the ones I read were fantastic and filled me with confidence, however there were a couple of bad ones which got me thinking. Well now that I have been there and seen it for myself all I can say about the bad ones is that the people that have written them either had an extremely rare bad experience or they are incredibly difficult people to please.

The journey started at Heathrow at 15.00hrs and we landed in Doha at about 12.20am local time. A tip for you here is to try and book into the Oryx lounge (if flying Qatar) it will cost about $25 each but this includes free tea/coffee and soft drinks as well as biscuits and sanwiches and will make your stay infinatly more comfortable as they have lovely big sofa's and arm chairs. We then got our connecting flight to Male, after an hours wait at Male we were on a seaplane heading towards Kuredu. We had to make 2 stop offs at other islands, this is quite rare but it was nice to see the other islands and upon taking off from the first stop we all of a sudden dropped back into the water at the point of take off, we were later told by the pilot that 2 dolphins were in front of us and they had to stop to avoid hitting them!

Upon landing it became apparent that all the pictures and postcards that we had seen were indeed factual, the water really is that Blue and the sand really is that White!
It was a relief to get of the seaplane, they are very hot and extremely loud so earplugs are a must, but they do offer the best views of the various islands that you fly over.
We were met off the plane by a friendly face who escorted us down the jetty where we were greeted by a drum beat reception, although I did comment to my wife that it felt as if we were fresh meat arriving on the island!!! We were taken to the Akiri bar where we were given a soft drink and given a brief talk on the island, it was then off to reception to check in and get our key.
We walked to our room (425) which was a beach bungalow. Now this is the only criticism I have about this island, the bungalows are very basic, they have a double bed in the room, a small table with chairs, and built in wardrobe and a dresser. The bathroom is indoor/outdoor so they are open to the elements and the wildlife.
It was our intention from the start to try and get an upgrade if possible, so within minutes I was on the phone to reception and was told that we could have a water villa for the last 4 nights of our holiday. It would cost us $160 a night but we thought that was a fair price so we booked it there and then. This is something that I strongly reccomend you do, if you are in a bungalow then try for an upgrade straight away if thats what your after. I'll come to the water villa later but it was to prove to be the making of our honeymoon.
We had 4 days of great weather but a nasty storm moved in that was to last for 5 days, even though it was bad weather it didnt stop us enjoying ourselves, when the weather is bad the only thing to do is hit the bar!

Unfortunatly the bad weather led to a few of our trips being cancelled, we had a night fishing trip booked and a half day excursion to another island and a short stay to a deserted island booked and both of these were cancelled due to bad weather, but we did go at the tail end of the monsoon season so it had to be expected.
With the high wind sleep in the bungalows was hard to come by, the noise it makes as it whistles through the palm trees is quite loud and on one particular night all this was compounded by 2 gecko's having a territorial war in our room, so dont throw those ear plugs away! Also another tip is to not leave your bathroom light on at night when you go out, we had huge red ants all over our toilet as a result of not switching the light off, a quick call to reception and the problem was better but not quite solved, you will get a few ants without the light on but make a habit of checking (ladies escpecially!) before using the toilet.

We upgraded to our watervilla on the thursday before our departure on monday 11th. And what a change it was, they really are beautiful, all wooden with a four poster bed, a INDOOR bathroom, lovely decking balcony with steps that lead down into the lovely clear water. And best of all no wildlife in the bathroom, this pleased my wife no end. All of the watervillas offer a sunset view (cloud cover permitting) this makes for amazing snorkelling, we saw more fish within 5 minutes of being there than we did in the 7 previous days. We saw big Rays, Triggerfish, Black tip reef Sharks, Unicorn fish, and god knows what else so I was in my element.

When you move down to the Sangu end of the island you have a different restaraunt where you can have your own table. In the other restaraunts you have to share a table with another couple and you have the same table for the duration of your stay, this is ok but it was nice to have more of an intimate meal with just the two of us. The food is very good, there was always plenty to choose from and its always freshly cooked, I dont think they have had a case of food poisoning in the Maldives for over 2 years, but the food is quite rich so if you have a weak stomach then it may be worth taking the appropiate medication.

I would probably reccomend that you take your own snorkeling gear, we hired our from the pro dive shop, it cost us a total of $90 for mask's and snorkels but whatever you decide to do just make sure you get some in as the snorkeling is fantastic. Dont do it on your own, always make sure that you partner does it with you as it is very easy to get carried away and drift away, so make sure you use common sense and keep popping up to check your bearings.

Well I hope i've painted a good picture for you. It was without a doubt the most amazing holiday we have ever been on and it will take some beating. Kuredu really has it all, you can have slendid isolation during the day and if like us you want a bit of a socialising in the evening then it is there for you. If you are reading these reviews and have a holiday booked at Kuredu then I am truly envious.

Mr and Mrs Marangos-McEntee.