Kuredu Island is an ideal location for anyone looking for tranquility and relaxation. It is perfect for celebrating special occasions such as honeymoons, wedding anniversaries or birthdays or simply for visiting if you feel like treating yourself. We went to Kuredu Island for 14 nights for our honeymoon and loved every minute. Kuredu is one of the larger Maldivian islands and is 45 mins from Male by seaplane or 5 hours by boat. I would recommend taking the seaplane, not only do you get fantastic views over the Maldives, the boat can be quite rough and apparently is not very pleasant.
On arrival in resort you are greeted by hotel staff who sing and play drums as you walk down the jetty. You can either stay in the Sangu area (where the accomodation is Water villas or jacuzzi beach villas) or the Kuredu island area where the accomodation is beach villas or beach bungalows with beach bungalows being the least luxurious (and are quite basic). We stayed in a beach villa which had an open air bathroom, a large decked area with chairs outside, a fourposter bed and a CD player. We felt that this was the best option for us as: 1.
It was not too expensive compared to the jacuzzi villas and the water villas 2. We could put our chairs directly onto the beach in front of our villa rather than having to walk quite a way to the sand from the water villas. 3. We would not have used a jacuzzi very much. 4. Food served in the Sangu area was just the same as food served in the Kuredu area but was served on different nights. 5. The only area you could not use if you did not go inthe Sangu was the Sangu restaurant.
Every night the room boy came and made up our bed into different patterns, sometimes it was also decorated with flowers. As honeymooners we received a t shirt and a fruit plate. We tipped the room boy each week as they are not paid very well.
The facilities of the resort were fabulous, there is a spa (that you have to pay extra for) and we had the couples massage as well as an aloe-vera body experience. It is certainly well worth a visit and prices are very reasonable. You can learn to windsurf, catamaran, kite surf (although while we were there it was not windy enough), hire a kayak (from which we saw turtles swimming right next to us) and much more. There is even a 6 hole golf course with a pro shop and a driving range, the grass does not grow too well there and so you carry round an astroturf strip to hit your ball from. There are regular competitions arranged at the golf club. There is also a football pitch and a volleyball pitch as well a beautiful pool with decking all around, sun loungers that never get too busy and towels all provided. There is also a couple of table tennis tables, table football tables and darts boards. If diving is your thing there is a large dive centre and some amazing dive sites, they offer a PADI training course. Snorkelling trips also take place daily to various sites off the island. We only snorkelled but saw a multitude of fish from moray eels to trigger fish to beautiful angel fish to cow fish and even baby sharks. Facilities included in the all inclusive are kayaking, windsurfing (although lessons in windsurfing are not), towels at the pool, table tennis, tablefootball, darts. Other activities detailed (diving, hire of snorkel equipment, golf) are not included in the all inclusive option but are all priced reasonably.
There are 2 buffet restaurants to eat at for Kuredu guests and you get given a table to sit at, at the beginning of your stay. If you are in the Sangu area you can eat at these two restaurants or at the Sangu restaurant which is only for people in this area. The food is very varied with evening meals following themes that work around a two week rota. for example there is a maldivian night with very traditional foods, a mexican night, Indian night, and so on. Even if you do not like these types of food there is such a large selection that you will find something to eat. There is always at least one main vegetarian option, served from a grill and another grill serves different grilled meats and fish.
In addition to the buffet restaurants there are some a la carte restaurants that are not included in the all inclusive deal. they are the Far East restaurant which serves a vast array of asian foods. I must recommend the tiger prawns in tempura batter to start - they were the largest prawns I've ever seen. There is also the beach restaurant which serves various fish dishes - we had surf and turf which was half a lobster and fillet steak and was delicious. Both of these restaurants allowed you to eat either on the beach, on a decked area overlooking the beach or in a small indoor area. if you want to eat on the beach it is worth booking a table as these tables do get taken first. There is also an Italian restaurant which we weren't so impresses with although other people who we spoke to who had been there said they had had good meals. Although not included in the all inclusive option these restaurants were very reasonable. We had 3 courses (and a sorbet course) at the Beach restaurant for $60-70 (approx £35-40) and that included 2 lobster meals. We also ordered room serice one night which came quickly and was delicious.
On the island there were also a variety of trips that you could take (all of which you had to pay for except for the sunset cruise). We took the sunset cruise which came as part of our holiday and lasted for approx an hour. The highlight was the dolphins which swam around our boat for ages. Other trips include a day on your own private island (book immediately as it gets booked up), night fishing, big game fishing, trips to neighbouring islands, a trip to a tuna factory.
There are several bars on the island - the Sangu bar for sangu guests, the babuna bar where most entertainment took place, the pool bar where a happy hour took place and cocktails were half price (all inclusive did not include cocktails or branded spirits) and the akiri bar near the reception. There was also a bar at the golf club. All of the barmen were wonderful and would do anything to help. They work for 10 solid months of the year without a day off and so we tipped them quite heavily.
We saw lots of wildlife in addition to that already mentioned including, rabbits, fruit bats, sea cucumbers, lizards, flying fish, a heron.
My husband had initially been concerned about going to the Maldives for 2 weeks as he thought he may get bored. This is an island where is would be quite difficult to get bored. We had so much to do, from visiting the spa, to playing golf, to snorkelling, learning to windsurf and kayaking to just wandering around the island. Kuredu Island is well worth a visit. I would however like to say that it is not really the place to take children, there are no children's clubs and there are not many children on the island and so making friends is hard.
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