kUREDU resort in the Maldives

[Stuart P]

We are planning a fortnight to Kuredu in November any information on the resort and what vis/diving we can expect would be appreciated.

Stuart

[Iain T]

We went there 2 years agao and had a great time. The viz was good, but we were in March so don't know about Nov. We did meet a lot of people who were making return trips to the resort (some up to 10 times) so it must be fairly good. The currents can be strong in places, but this is also where the big pelagics hang out so is well worth the effort. The walls on the far side of the island are quite good and there are many dive sites to suit a range of experiences.

The dive centre (Pro Divers) was very good and friendly and provided nitrox at no extra cost. You could also pick up a tank and go diving on the house reef any time you wanted.

The island itself isn't huge (you can walk round it in less than an hour at a leisurely pace) and there is not a lot to do other than dive and lie on the beach. The food is good but make sure you get an all-inclusive package as the price of extras (like drinks) can be extortionate otherwise. On the way there, you may have the option of a sea plane or boat trip to get from the airport. Take the plane even if it costs a bit more as the 4-5 hour sea trip was described as being not that much fun after a 10 hours plane journey - especially if you get seasick.

I understand that they have upgraded the accomodation in the last 18 months since we were there, so whether it has changed the character of the resort - which was fairly laid back - I don't know, but I hope not.

Other than that - enjoy your trip.

Iain

[Jeanne]

I went to Kuredu in May 1998, at the height of the devastating effect of El Ni?o's coral bleaching, the water temperature was 31?C. In spite of the hard corals being a deathly white, the soft corals were fabulous, and the fishlife plentiful and varied. The fish were totally unafraid of divers, there were huge playful turtles on most dives. Experience of turtles was made very special on the most memorable night dive I have ever done, on the far side of the island. They were fast asleep on shallow ledges, it was an awesome and peaceful sight. The most exhilarating dive is the 'Kuredu Express', though currents can run from fierce to basically non existent depending on the time of year. This is a deep channel where currents off the face of the reef are quite strong and bring in large pelagic action. We saw several reef and blacktip sharks, some at very close quarters! Mobula and Manta rays are not uncommon, and several were sighted (sadly not by me) by divers just off the house reef, which is a classy shore dive in its own right.

The diving is mostly easy, aside of some issues with currents at times, and there is something for every level of diver ability. There are many dive sites accessible by boat, and in two weeks we never dived the same place twice. The visibility was fine, but not to Red Sea 'gin-clear' standards.

The resort was great but not exactly pretty, with little square bungalow type accommodation bordering the shoreline, all with open air shower and bathroom. Imaging sharing your shower with gheckos, and watching soaring fruitbats from the seat of your loo! If you have a chance, get a bungalow some way away from the main centre, which has many restaurants and bars and can be noisy. I understand that the resort was upgraded about 18 months ago. Friends of mine went last year, and were very pleased with the quality and sensitively designed resort. From what they told me, nothing had changed much at all.

As in all of the Maldives, the islands are not big, but Kuredu is one of the larger ones, in spite of being a leisurely hour round trip. On the unbuilt side, there was a shallow lagoon which was teaming with juvenile sharks, rays and morays, and was a constant source of discovery. The island was large enough, and the accommodation spaced out enough to get the 'no news, no shoes' feeling.

If it's still around, they had a great 'tank delivery and pick up' service. All you needed to do was to sign out a tank, do a dive on the house reef and exit the reef wherever you wanted to, or outside your accommodation (ours was way down the end of the island), and leave the empty tanks at your door for pick up. The dive operation was very slick and very professional, and non-diving and diving staff very friendly.

You'll have a great time. As the other post said, take out all inclusive. The drinks are extortionately priced. The food in the main restaurant was very good, and for a little extra you could trade your all-inclusive priviledges for a subsidised meal at one of the other restaurants (there was an Italian and a Japanese restaurant too at the time) There was also a drinking water tap in the main square, which was purified and safe to drink, and saved us a lot of money on bottled water, which surprisingly, was not included in the all-inclusive. That may have changed of course.

The sea plane transfer is a must. The boat transfer is not comfortable, is very long, and across some pretty lumpy seas. The views from the seaplane are breathtaking. And, you'll be sipping your cocktails way ahead of the incoming crowds several hours later. Note however your bags may come by boat. Remember to pack your cozzie and a change of clothes in your hand baggage!

Good luck!

Jeanne

[Mark Harding]

We are planning a fortnight to Kuredu in November any information on the resort and what vis/diving we can expect would be appreciated.

Stuart
I agree with everything said to date still rated as our best diving holiday. We did Xmas and New Year absoloute knockout. One small word of caution had our camera nicked whilst snorkelling and 3 masks from the divebag. The baggage is placed in reception the night before departure, you are on the plane your gear in the boat LOCK IT.

[simon_bates]

I was there at the end of Novemeber/begining of December last year and had an excellent two weeks! The staff are friendly, we particulary enjoyed the hospitallity of the Pool bar staff in the evenings.

Although the food was good the choice was limited and after two weeks you found the same dishes occuring over and over again, I was dissapointed that the menu was very 'Western'.

We chose Kuredu because it is a larger and more lively island than most, infact it even has a small golf course although with all the diving I didn't find any time to play. We did watch England win the Rugby World cup from the golf club bar, the only Aussie on the island, Ian, one of the dive instructors took it all in his stride.

As has been said the dive centre is very professional. The system is smooth and works well. Boat dives are booked using boards outside the dive centre. You fill in your name on the morning and/or afternoon boat (somedays there are early morning boats, night dive boats and multi tank boats). You can request a dive site but are not guaranteed to go there, the boats are allocated based on experience and where you have already been. On the few times that we specifically requested sites we got them, but other peope where dissapointed. That said all the diving was good. Visability was good, although one or twice it almost felt like diving at home when it was down to 5-6m. You have to bear in mind that the diving is not cheap and you must take into consideration the additional $10 for the boat added to the cost of each dive.

My favourite sites were Fushivaru Thila for the Mantas, Kuredu Express for the larger fish and close reef shark encounters and Kuredu caves for the turtles.

I hope that helps.

[Richard Perrin]

It's probably too late to choose your room on the island, but the southern rooms are best. Some of rooms at the far extremes are a bit of a pain to walk back and fore to when going for meals and drinks. I suggest the West side as you can watch the sun go down more easily. Depending where your room is walking around at night can be a bit creepy so bring a small torch to avoid tripping over tree roots and the like. The sand can get bloody hot so sandals are must.

The cost of water adds up so dont be embarrassed to take the free bottles provided at lunch time.

Remember to bring your mosi spray and US$ to tip the room boy, porter and possibly your waiter.

The sea plane is a fantastic experience and well worth the money, imagine seeing perfect white islands surrounded by the most perfect blue waters, but dont expect your main luggage to turn up for hours.

Take water onto the doni as the journey's can be quite long and also remember to rinse off your dive camera as there arnt soak buckets on the boats.

PS don?t buy duty free booze as they'll take it off you entering Maldives, unless you hide it real well.

Enjoy

[alex lovell]

If you want any prices for the Kuredu resort then email me the details and I'll reply with a quote

Alex Lovell
First Choice Travel
Burnham on Sea


We are planning a fortnight to Kuredu in November any information on the resort and what vis/diving we can expect would be appreciated.

Stuart