I stayed on Kuredu in October 2005. I chose the seaplane transfer from Male - well worth every penny. It is a fantastic experience - great views and takes about 40 minutes. It is noisy, so take earplugs or pick them up at the seaplane terminus.
Kuredu itself is a lovely island. It takes about 50 minutes to walk all the way around and you can extend your walk by walking along a sand spit into the sea - for what seems likes miles at low tide.
The accomodation is mixed. The beach bungalows are basic - beds, fan, air conditioning, outdoor shower room. While there is hanging space there are no drawers and hardly any shelves, so take plenty of coat hangers - you'll need to hang up your t-shirts!
Food is buffet service unless you pay extra for an a la carte resraurant. There is a wide selection available including freshly cooked meat / fish and pasta dishes. The standard all-inclusive covers drinks by the glass, but not cocktails or bottles of water.
The diving is run by Pro-divers. If you don't speak English make sure you go with an instructor who can explain the dive site in your language. They have boats leaving twice a day (9:30 and 3:30) for a single tank dive and if there is sufficient demand will organise 2-tank dive trips and night dives. There are about 40 dive sites nearby and they never send more than 1 boat at a time to a site. So you can be assured that the site will be uncrowded with only your group of divers. The fish and corals are magnificent - you will want to take or hire a camera! Pro-divers keep a record of which sites you have been to, so unless you request a repeat each dive will be to somewhere new. The boat crews are excellent - very helpful and provide tea/coffee and coconut and cake after the dive. All the kit is transported from the dive school to the jetty next to the boat so you do not have to carry anything very far. They have plenty of equipment for rent if you do not have your own. Maldivean law requires you to dive with a computer, so if you have one take it with you.
Other useful things to take: insect repellent (mainly for sandflies rather than mosqutoes), soap/shower gel, tea/coffee. You get a very small supply of soap/tea/coffee in your room and thenm are expected to buy extra at the very expensive shop. If you like to snack on chocolate/crisps etc you may want to take some with you as again these are very expensive. The food is plentiful and good, so you will not go hungry and do not need to take food with you - just some people like to have their favouritres to hand.
You will need some shoes - flip flops will be fine. The paths are sand over concrete and where the sand has thinned they can be a bit sharp.
All in all and excellent destination with some great diving.
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Booked up for september so was pleased to read your review - did you venture to the spa while you were there??
MALDIVEDIVER 02.01.2006 21:47
Helpful review for me, can you add in what the prices were for diving. and any extra for boat dives?, do they charge service charge on your final diving bill? Some Islands do charge some dont. Which dive sites did you go to? which were the best ones?We stayed on Kuredu before the refurbishment, and at that time did not dive, We are looking to go back to do some diving So as much info as possible would be great.- cheers
Mary
sghawken 02.01.2006 16:44
Very helpful, brief review - If you write more features aout the resort, you'll get rated higher. I may even re-rate myself - Have a great New Year - Spence
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