Kuredu Island Resort

7 readers found this review helpful

Island as you would expect - white sands, clear blue sea but accommodation very disappointing. We booked into a beach bungalow which was really run down and very basic. We tried to upgrade but the island was full and so stayed away from the bungalow as much as possible. Other guests staying in the bungalows also felt the same but some were lucky enough to upgrade and then raved about their accommodation. Do not stay in a beach bungalow! I'm sure if you pay for an upgrade before you go, your experience will be so much better.
The buffet restaurants were ok. Pretty standard but we paid to eat at the Italian a couple of times which was fantastic food.
Dive school very well organised and extremely professional. Would love to have had the time to do a PADI course here as would trust them entirely.
Sunset cruise is free with stay and is a must whatever the weather as we had a pod of dolphins swimming around us!
We did a turtle snorkelling trip with the island's dive centre which was amazing but not for weak swimmers. The tide was very strong when we were there and tired you completely out.
Building work is going on at one end of the island so hopefully you won't be near that as I imagine it to be a bit noisy.
Would go back but only if I could stay in far better accommodation and receive a better package. Even 'All Inclusive' isn't as it seems when you are staying in a cheap bungalow!
Spa also amazing and approx half the price of what you could expect to pay at home. Went twice and both times, fantastic.
The coffee bar at the end of the jetty also a must at night. They light up the sea so you'll by hypnotized by the fish all night!

5 readers found this review helpful

This is a very busy resort for the Maldives and more suited to families than couples. We were surprised to see a minibus having never even found hard standing at other Maldivian islands.
Some rooms are a bit ropey and have only a view of the back of the water villas so beware if booking basic accommodation.
Lots to do and the tree planting garden is a nice touch. To busy for us though.

5 readers found this review helpful

Anyone who does not give this resort 10 out of 10 is either extremely picky or has been unlucky in their experience.
The island is absolutely beautiful - white sands (raked daily to perfection!), crystal clear waters (where marine life is hectic!) and beautiful flora (the flowers look like they have been painted, they are such radiant colours!).
The Maldivian/Sri lankan/Indian people are the friendliest, most hard-working people I have ever met - always wanting to please.
The food was wonderful, and that comes from a fussy vegetarian!
This holiday was responsible for my husbands ensuing golf addiction - although the course was fairly small (only 6 holes), it is plenty big enough in the Maldivian heat. We were sweating after two holes!
The bar/restaurant staff are very friendly and speak very good English.
We went for our honeymoon because we thought it looked like paradise and we wanted to experience a 'once in a lifetime' dream-holiday, but we were mistaken - we will simply have to go there again...and again...and again...

4 readers found this review helpful

This island is outstanding! We upgraded to the jacuzzi beach villas and the accommodation is unbelievable. The resort has the most amazing beaches and the water was the best we have ever swam in.
The upgraded villas had their own restaurant and the food was fresh and very very tasty! The decking outside of the restaurant was metres away from the ocean and it was very romantic.
We were told to take our shoes off when we arrived on the island to relax more and to be honest we never put them back on as even the restaurants were floored with white powdery sand.
Trips were excellent value. We went snorkelling for a day and also out on a sunset cruise. The best trip was to go to a deserted island for 1/2 day with a large picnic and be left alone there and picked up later. Staff were very friendly and extremely helpful. The resort has a great website which gives an even better insight and the reality is just like the images on this site!
The only thing that was not perfect in our eyes was the flight . In future we would travel with another airline or upgrade as our flight with Monarch was not that great.

3 readers found this review helpful

We have recently returned from a holiday in the Maldives, staying at Kuredu.
We had a fantastic time and thoroughly recommend this resort. It is approx. 40 mins sea plane transfer from Male, the capital of the Maldives.
We stayed in a beach bungalow (lowest grade of accommodation) numbered in the 600's. The bungalow was right on the beach - we just had to walk about 10 steps, through a gap in the "hedge" and then we were right in front of the sea.
This is one of the bigger Maldivian resorts and has a couple of bars, swimming pool, watersports, diving centre, and entertainment most evenings.
The food is served in one of 2 restaurants if you are the lowest level of all inclusive. It's all buffet service, and you sit at the same table and have the same table for your whole holiday.
There's a good range of food, with about 5 choices of main meal, as well as a salad bar and side dishes. If you stay in one of the water villas, you eat in the Sangu restaurant.
All inclusive at a minimum (yellow wrist band) covers soft drinks, some juices, some spirits (e.g. whisky, brandy, vodka, campari, gin), beers, and wines. You can upgrade to a blue / gold wristband for more money and you get cocktails and afternoon snacks included in the gold (top option).
Entertainment was quite good, and the DJ's there do a lot of guest request nights, which are fun. Communal bar areas are very nice, and are of a high standard. The beach bungalows are perfectly adequate and comfortable and get cleaned 3 times a day.
The other accommodation options (beach villa / Jacuzzi villa / water villa) are all very nice too, but quite a lot more expensive. My husband completed a wind surfing course (3 lessons, over 2 days, for $95) and could then use the windsurfs whenever he wanted to.
Also available are kayaks / canoes / parasailing / banana boats / dolphin safari / catamarans / etc all for extra cost.
We had a really great honeymoon on Kuredu and would recommend it to anyone.
There is some building work going on which has put quite a few people off. We did wander into the building work when we got lost near the start of the holiday, but apart from seeing a few vans occasionally during the two weeks, we were completely undisturbed, and you can get quite a few good bargains at the moment!

We went to Kuredu for our honeymoon in Feb 06 and it was amazing.
We stayed in a water bungalow which was lovely, it was cleaned every day as well as the beds being made whilst we were out in the evening.
The sheets were arranged in fancy patterns with flower petals scattered on them and we also received a fruit basket and a bottle of bubbly.
The beach is beautiful and the sea is clear. You can see an abundance of marine life in the sea as you swim or walk along the deck.
The service is brilliant and the food really nice. I would recommend Kuredu to anyone. We loved it!

5 readers found this review helpful

I wish we could be back rather enjoying our trip still! Be prepared, I think this might be a long one, but I don’t know where to start…
Flying:
We flew with Monarch having booked through Cosmos. I have no complaints about Cosmos, but Monarch are definitely not the nicest airline! The food on the way there was quite good considering it was a charter flight but the seats were so terrible uncomfortable. Food on the way back, should rather not have eaten it. The entertainment was quite poor considering how long the flight was but I guess something’s better than nothing. We waited in queue to go through to duty free for more than an hour! I will never travel on a Sunday night to the Maldives again.
Seaplane and arrival:
The flight there was only 10 hours or something and 11.5 or something back. We arrived on time and waited an hour in a queue again to get through passport control. (Again, avoid landing on a Monday if you can!) Once we were through, we got our stuff pretty quickly, there was a rep to meet us and we were on our way. We checked in for the sea plane and didn’t wait longer than maybe half an hour. This flew by watching the seaplanes take off, us getting changed etc. No complaints. The views are amazing, plane very noisy but I felt no need for earplugs which are free at the airport.
When we landed we were given a fruit cocktail, a form to fill in, a chilled lemon grass towel and given our key to our room. Those in Sangu area were whisked off in a taxi to their reception.
Accommodation:
We were booked into a BB and I was very torn on whether or not to request a room number. I decided against it, potluck, and we were extremely lucky! We ended up in the 400’s and it was simply awesome. It was just perfect. The beach in front of ours and a few to both sides were very sandy, no coral washed up as on a lot of the rest of the island, so much so that you definitely needed shoes to get to the waters edge. We weren’t directly behind the water villas but we were on that side of the island. The beach was perfect to lie on, not many people around except a few neighbours doing the same thing some times. If I had to go back I would request the same room again. We weren’t far from the facilities but far enough to have a little bit of a walk form dinner and to be away from anything that felt busy.
The room was clean; only 2 huge cockroaches made it in when I opened the bathroom door but we chucked them out and had no other problems. Comes with the territory I guess!
We didn’t need more water than the bottle given per day, as we got plenty with our meals and at the bar anyway. We did take tabs from boots though to purify the water to drink and didn’t even use them.
Food:
We ate mainly at the main restaurants, which were included in our AI. We did however decide to try Francos since it came to highly recommend by everyone and were instantly hooked. I could not fault the food or service one little bit. It was a lovely setting, the food was more than perfectly done, the portions great, the prices even better. For a 2 course (and our drinks being AI) for the 2 of us was about $45, it converted to about £23 or so for 2 course for the 2 of us. You get a big breadbasket selection, the set up is lovely, I loved the little lamps connected to the menus… We had to go back again! We had no room for dessert so I cant say, but it sounded good! We loved it so much we had to go again.
We also tried The Beach. We skimmed the menu once and not eating seafood and being fussy myself, we didn’t really consider it. It is a little pricier – our 2 course was about $90, but once our dive instructor recommended it, we went back for a second glance. I’m so pleased we did go, and looking more carefully at the menu, there was more I would like to eat. The portions are HUGE – I had the mixed grill type dish, don’t remember what it was called, but there was SOOOO much on the plate. Lamb, beef, pork, chicken, veg, chips, a fried egg, sauce… I couldn’t finish it. We had starters and the same breadbasket again, with a sorbet pallet cleanser course too. Worth every penny but again we had no space for dessert. We didn’t try any of the other restaurants like the Far East, but I’ve heard it’s good.
The food in the main restaurant was ok. Preparing things in bulk I know being a chef myself, isn’t always what ends up being the nicest, but it was by no means bad. There was a big selection and I myself didn’t find it repetitive. I know a lot of people said it was and we found the same set up in Egypt repetitive but I didn’t here and we were there for longer. I’m also very very fussy so I thought if anyone, I’d be the first to complain.
There is a live cooking station for pasta, every day a different kind. Then there was the meat / grill section which did steaks from lamb to beef to fish, and other dishes like stir fry and all sorts, changing daily. They had lovely veg – one thing I’m picky about. I hate over cooked food, which tastes bland and that you can tell has been sitting for ages.
Every time I went for the seasonal / mixed veg, the carrots were crunchy and the broccoli nicely buttered and seasoned. I don’t eat salad of any kind but hubby does and he was up there every day. There’s a nice salad selection, which looked like it changed a lot (thought I’m not the best to comment). Every day there was a different soup for lunch and dinner. Desserts I must say were probably the least I can rave about. They weren’t bad, but being a pastry chef I’m a little more picky on the way I like things. I did have some but not every day. I can’t say they were bad, they were also varied and not repetitive much but there’s always only so much you can put out on display in such a hot place. So over all I think they did well for what they have, given the price of imported stuff and how long food can hold on a buffet in that heat etc…
Excursions:
We did… Robinson Crusoe, Dream Island, Night fishing, sunset cruise, diving, island hopping, did parasailing… What else?
Between Robinson Crusoe and Dream Island, I’d do dream island again. I’m glad we did both because I know the difference now. I’d always have wondered. When we booked RC, they said it was booked but they have 2 and they’ll send us to the ‘other one’. I think that could have been Komandoo’s because it was closest there and something was mentioned but I don’t think they wanted us to know. It was ok. The snorkeling was better there than DI. The island is quite densely grown, not a big beach all the way around. We got a brolly but no loungers. There were 2 wooden benches there though. They forgot to pack us our sandwiches but we got the cutlery for the lunch and the tea and coffee. They send out loads to drink – 2 sprites, 2 cokes, and 2 fanta and 2 something else I think (sure there were 8...) and 3L of water. You get loo paper and towels so you don’t have to take (on both). There were some resident chickens and baby chicks, which didn’t pester us. It took about 5 min to walk around the island. At one stage though, (lucky we were dressed!) 2 fishermen from a private island nearby came to collect the chicken’s eggs! They pulled up on their boats and casually came looking in the nests and then left again. There was however, a lot of litter washed up now and then. It’s very sad to see and even more sad that it's the locals that do it! I was horrified to discover and see how they can be so careless sometimes.
Dream Island was perfect. The 2 huts are empty, they don’t have tables or benches or anything in. They put up a brolly, drop off your stuff leave you there. We did half day for both (4.5 hours) which we thought was plenty time in the sun. They took us at 2 and picked us up at 6:30. We got our lunch this time was it was 2 plain dry cheese sandwiches and all the drinks again. We also got a load of cookies and banana cake, which was yummy. The snorkeling was ok. Not much to see but the current was very strong at the time so we were too scared to go out far to look for anything better. We snorkeled a lot though, took up a chunk of the time we were there. There was a star fish washed up, a stingray in 5cm of water and a little reef shark…. Will attach a link for pics… (There’s plenty but we narrowed down from 2 000 pics to what’s on there now!)
The night fishing was not bad. We didn’t catch anything huge but it was fun anyway, and we watched a lovely sunset. There were about 8 people in the boat and it was only about for about 3 hours or so.
Sunset cruise is part of your AI package – 1 trip per stay. Worth going. We saw dolphins! There were 2 boats out. They take about 16 per boat and loads signed up so they sent 2 out. There was a boat of locals out looking for dolphins and beating drums (which seems to attract them!) When we spotted them the 2 boats sped up and rode parallel while the dolphins kept up and jumped out if the water between us! It was lovely!
There’s a number of island hopping excursions and we wanted to see another resort so we picked the one that included Komandoo and a deserted island. Komandoo is the sister resort and only about 20 min away. We only did the half-day and went snorkeling at 2 different locations. Def the best snorkeling we did on our trip at all!
The water sports centre is well set up and even though I’m not into that (I love swimming and everything else in the water but I’ve not had much experience in the motorised sports side). Hubby has done parasailing and suggested I try it – it’s a boat launch, no running on the beach etc, and it was awesome! It really was worth it! You’re attached to a 100m rope and you can see the whole island from up there! One of them advised me not to take the video camera; the other said it would be fine and that I should. I opted for the underwater camera housing in case but wish I had taken the video anyway!
We did 9 dives while there and they were all great. We saw so much and I’d love to go back again and again. We saw loads of turtles! We also snorkelled with one in the lagoon on the right hand side of the jetty, near the Sangu side. That was the best!!
We had wanted to book a lot more dives but there seemed to be a tummy bug that went around (we were told more so than they’ve had before) while we were there and both hubby and I got it at different stages so we didn’t get to do as much as we’d have liked. We were fine though, no vomiting, but decided to starve the bug and not dive, which was fine. There is a resident doctor though who I visited after getting carried away with following the turtle we snorkeled with and got terribly burnt at midday. He charges £10 for consultations and it worth seeing if you have to. (Def take all your own basic tabs though just incase first).
Other stuff:
I don’t know what else to write about… They offered a transfer to 2 different islands where you’re able to go and stay at another place (one being Royal Island), on the same board as you are on at Kuredu. We wanted to do this to see something different but weren’t able to get a transfer due to demand. So when we went to Komandoo on Island hopping, they had a room available and we heard they were trying to transfer guests elsewhere due to overbooking and lack of rooms. We decided we’d go to Komandoo for our last 3 nights since we’d done all we wanted to do and wanted to dive somewhere else.
I am SO so glad we did change. Kuredu is great and they have a lot to offer but it was also lovely to see a much much smaller island. It’s a lot neater than Kuredu; it gets raked twice every day so there are no leaves even lying around anywhere. They have cute neat little gardens with a hedge behind each villa (there’s no BB). There’s only one restaurant where the food was definitely of a higher standard. There is only one bar which unfortunately has a satellite TV (much to the delight of those watching the sports) but it’s the last thing I wanted to do on holiday! We aren’t big drinkers though and don’t spend much time in the bar anyway so it didn’t bug me at all, but I was quite pleased with the complete break away from reality and not having a TV or radio or PC or anything near by. But, I guess they cater for all sorts too.
There isn’t much to do at Komandoo. There aren’t many excursions and what they do have is not all choice. The diving is a set boat going out to an area and you sign up to go or not. Kuredu you choose a lot more since there’s more staff and more availability for that sort of thing. There’s no motorised water sports (no loss there I thought), and no pool or social area. I didn’t mind this either but then if I were there for the full 14 nights I would have liked there to be. It’s just so completely different in many ways.
It may be neater and more ‘manicured’ but then there’s the lack of social side to it. It’s more a relaxed, private and chilled feel to it. The music is a lot more low key; the service is a lot more personal but then you don’t have a lot to do. It’s great if you’re happy to just snorkel, read, lay on the beach, swim in the lagoon etc. There isn’t much entertainment, which we thought was fantastic for our last few days – forced relaxation. But for 14 nights I think I would have got a little bored.
All in all I cannot say which is better, they were both good for different reasons and I’m very pleased we saw both kinds of resorts for future reference!
So, sad we're gone, wish we could be back and now we're home back in reality missing it already! Happy holidays to all those going or considering it!

As keen divers the reason we chose Kuredu was solely because of the readily available multitude of dive sites within a reasonably short distance of the island.
The dive centre we found to be well run with more than enough friendly staff. They have quite a few systems to get used to for booking various dive options in, but once you get used to them it's easy, and they are there for everyone's benefit and ultimately, safety!
We took our own equipment so can't comment on what’s available for hire, but they do appear to be well stocked.
Unlike most places we've dived before you're usually restricted to following the dive guide. But on Kuredu you're given the dive plan before each dive and then it's up to you and your buddy how you dive it.
There are only 3 criteria they maintain on each dive...no more than 30m depth, no longer than 60min and no decompression diving.
If you've dived other areas of the Maldives before you may, like us, be slightly disappointed by the quality of the reefs around Kuredu. They have a few recovering areas, but there are an awful lot of expanses of dead coral.
Enough of the diving...
You are allocated a restaurant and a table on arrival and if you're a couple, be prepared to table share. The all inclusive food will sustain you, but The Beach restaurant is a must if you want a real treat from the day to day stuff.
Disappointingly there are vehicles on the island which, amongst other reasons, makes it, in our opinion, far from being 'paradise'.
Other islands we have stayed at have waiter service in the bar/s, but Kuredu reminds you of home as you queue at the poorly manned bar for a much needed drink. If people are ordering cocktails you could be stood there for some time.
It may be worth pointing out that we stayed in a beach bungalow so can't speak for the 'private' bar/restaurant at the other end of the island.
But we did make friends with a honeymoon couple staying in a Jacuzzi beach villa who said they had to wait to just get a table at their restaurant.
The beach bungalow's are basic, but we went there to dive so weren't really worried about this side of things.
The beach villa's are nice, but pick the wrong one and you'll be woken at 6am everyday by the moored up seaplanes starting their shift. At least we had peace and quiet at no extra cost!
Within a couple of days of arriving I had an upset stomach, which lasted for more or less the whole of the holiday. We'd forgotten to take tablets so 2 rounds of seeing the doctor and pills cost us $70, so don't forget yours!
The Airtours holiday rep apparently stay's at another island and we didn't see her/him for our entire stay.
The Spa is fantastic and the gym is well equipped, it also has much needed air conditioning. The coffee shop at the end of the jetty is a must as is the local tea shop which does a mean smoothie.
All in all we enjoyed our stay on Kuredu, but our own personal preference is for smaller less commercialised islands that tend to offer that little bit extra slice of real paradise.

My husband and I spent 2 weeks in Kuredu on our honeymoon. The flight in was ok. seaplane good but a bit smelly! We had to wait at Male airport (sea plane terminal) as it wasn't very organised.
The welcome at Kuredu was good except our accommodation had been mixed up and we were down graded for the 1st night.
We only went into 1 bar. The Akiri and all the staff were fantastic. Our drinks were refilled without being asked - my husband was in heaven! The buffet style food was excellent and varied - plenty of choice at all times.
We would definitely love to go back, but not for a few years as we wouldn't want to be disappointed as I’m sure any other holiday couldn't live up to our memories!
If this is your 1st visit don't listen to all the negative opinions as your holiday is as good as you make it!

Fantastic!
I suppose staying in a water villa helped, some of the beach bungalows were a bit run down.
Staff were excellent nothing ever too much trouble, staying in the water villa you are a top class guest and your restaurant is a lot more flexible.
The sunset cruise included is ideal you see plenty of dolphins, I recommend buying some snorkel gear before you go as its about 1 eighth of the hire or sale price.
If you want a bit of privacy the half day Robinson Crusoe excursion is also great but I think half a day is enough.
My wife is part disabled and the staff could not be any more helpful, a bit annoying at times as we liked a walk to the middle of the island after dinner and the taxi driver would spot us half way and insist on giving us a lift!
They are definitely not DDA compliant and anyone worse off than my wife or wheel chair bound would struggle, but believe me the staff would to their up most to help.
The only fault I can say is DONT FLY MONARCH, cramped conditions and not very helpful staff and wont give you tap water until the over priced bottled water is sold out, if you do dont pay the upgrade the difference is minimal.