Kurumba Island Resort, Male North Atoll

We've visited Kurumba twice (the first time I proposed and the second time we took our elder daughter).

The island is incredibly beautiful and well managed, and it's clear much of the latter is down to the hard work of the staff at the resort. Great food, lovely cocktails, bags of stuff to do (if you want) and good proximity to Male. What more could you want?

Where do I start.......

Well we arrived at the Kurumba Island Resort and we were initially very happy to be there sending txt messages to friends and family describing our first impressions as 'Paradise'. This did not last for very long............

Our son of 3 years old was not feeling very well and whilst we were having lunch he threw up all over me......not a pleasant sight I agree but its amazing how all the staff in the restaurant literally disapeared from sight. I turned around to look for help in cleaning myself and my son up and realised that the staff had all made a hasty exit. Eventually after standing aorund for aprx 7 mins, they started trickliing back and I was then able to ask for some help and some towels to wipe us up. I must add that the first towel handed to me was a facecloth, hardly adequate, thus adding to my despair and disappointment!.

After this incident, having spoken to the staff member who was apologetic and accpeted that this behaviour was not what would be expected from a 5 star rated hotel, we decided to overlook the incident as my husband and I where determined to enjoy the rest of the two weeks holiday we had booked.

The food was not terrific but decent and unneccesarily expenisve. Staff generally friendly.......Hotel itself definely not a 5 star hotel......maybe 4 Star standard.

Now the reason for the heading to this review is the night we were taken night fishing .......what a nightmare it all turned out to be. As I write this review and recall the events of that evening I must say that I never thought my husband, toddler and I would live to see another day. I must add that I am also 5 months pregnant.

The month of May is the start of the rainy season in the Maldives and when it rains, it is followed by very strong winds and very, very rough seas. Also note that the seas around the Maldives is home to the tiger and the bull shark two of the most aggresive sharks in the world after the great white and you would not want to find yourself in the sea, at night facing any of these terrors!

We went out to sea with 11 other guests and the hotel boat crew to the first spot where we were unsuccessful and the crew decided to move to another spot to continue fishing albeit obvious signs of a heavy storm approaching (they crew should have noticed this and headed back to the hotel immediately). Unfortunately, by the time the crew decided to return to the hotel, the strom was already raging with all of us hanging on to the railings of the boat and praying that we return safetly.

The crew instead of heading for two islands close by decide to take the risk with our lives and head across open sea, into the storm knowing that there was a toddler, pregnant women and other very vunerable guests on board the boat. I must also add that they had tied down the plastic sheeting only on one side if the boat which was a very bad idea as it created a wall which trapped the gusts of wind blowing fiercely around us and resulting in the boat listing to one side.

The boat was tossed from side to side like a toy and four times it almost capsized. All the guest on board were screaming and the crew did not hand out life jackets. In fact, I had to get up despite being 5 months pregnant and struggle to get a jacket to put around my husbands neck as he held my son in his arms. At least 5 fives times I was physically lifted from the seat and slammed back down. Of course I was frightened for my family's life and that of my unborn child.

Eventually after a harrowing 30 mins we arrived battered, shaken and extremely upset and angry at the fact that the crew were not properly trained in health and safety and emergencies in such circumstances. The decsions they took to risk out lives and ride into the storm instead of heading for the safety of a neighbouring island was difficult for us to deal with. They had not used any radio on board to contact the coast guard to let them know what was happening neither did they have any flares which would have been useful if the boat had capsized. Also, if they had been adequately trained they would have realised that the storm was approaching and that it would be potentially dangerous for us to be out at sea and headed back immediatly............most of the guests had expressed some concern on the darkening clouds building up prior to the storm picking up.

The Food isn't cheap but it was amazing and worth every penny!

Watch out for the dolphins, we spent an hour watching them jumping and playing - they were literally yards from the jetty!!

Take some bread rolls from breakfast and feed the fish off the jetty, there were literally hundreds of them in all shapes, sizes and colours...

We're definitely planning on going back!!

I've been to the Maldives a few times before and the one thing that can happen is that you can be a little bored by the end of the week. This was simply not the case at Kurumba. You can chose from doing nothing or being active which is fantastic. The massive choice of restaurants means that you are not limited at dinner so from japanese to Italian, or dining on the beach eating freshly cooked seafood, the choice is great. For my husband deep sea fishing was a must, while I spent hours at the spa (so both of us where happy). I'd thoroughly recommend this resort to anyone.