Kuredu Island Resort

What more could you want from a holiday or honeymoon. We stayed for a couple of weeks and had the most wonderful time.
The island has 2 seasons, Eastern & Western Monsoons. June is the Western Monsoon season and you're more likely to see cloud and have rain, but it's still hot and tropical and the storms although spectacular tend to last for a short while and blow over.
We traveled out with Emirates, fantastic flight and service, well worth the extra money to have some leg space! On arrival at Male we got across the runway to the Seaplane terminal and only had a couple of hours wait, but be prepared for longer. If you are going to the Northern Atolls, don't take a sea transfer even if it does save money. Firstly the sights you see when traveling in the air are spectacular, and secondly it could take up to 8 hours in a boat...and you don't get to see anything as you're stuck inside.
On arrival you are greeted by some of the staff with drums etc and then taken to reception. We had booked an over water bungalow and were taken straight to the Sangu reception area, offered ice cream and a cool towel, and then taken to our room. You can walk from Sangu to the main reception area in about 10 minutes, and around the island in about an hour, so no matter where you stay you are close to everything.
The water villas are fantastic, so nice to wake up to just see the sea, be able to swim from your own private balcony and watch the fish feeding at night. They're extremely comfortable, with all the facilities you need, although they do not have a Jacuzzi...but not sure we needed one of those.
The food was fantastic, you are assigned a waiter for the entire stay and you really get to know them (and they you as well). All the other staff are also friendly though, and especially the chefs who are very knowledgeable on their food and will even start to tell you what you'll have by the end of the stay! Lots of choice means lots of eating, breakfast, lunch and dinner meant the need to do a lot of walking after each meal to ensure pounds weren't piled on!
Diving - superb! We cannot fault Pro-divers on that one. We part qualified for our Open Water in the UK and then went out to finish off, who can argue with learning to dive in the Indian Ocean. We were treated really well with the dive masters ensuring we were looked after and they even laid on Manta & Turtles for our qualifying dives! The House reef has suffered from the tsunami, but there's still an abundance of fish and plant life around.
Excursions - excellent. We did Dream Island, a sand bar that is constantly changing, where you are left for either half or full day. The crew will drop you off in the morning, arrange when to bring lunch if you're there for the whole day and then ask what time you want to be picked up again (before Sundown!). It's a real Robinson Crusoe moment as there are only the two of you there! Alternatively, you can book an overnight excursion to the next uninhabited island, the real Crusoe experience.
The main area where everyone eats outside of Sangu can be quite busy and the pool does tend to fill up, but you don't have the impression that the island is full, especially on the beach because there's so much of it! Entertainment is laid on by the staff and you can either attend or not, the choice is yours. There are plenty of areas where you can get away from the crowds if you need to, so Ibiza it certainly isn't.
Leaving tugs at even the hardest person's heart strings, it's one place I would certainly visit time and again (and certainly will do).
The last word - go, you'll only be missing out!

We often dreamt of going to some exotic tropical island for a well deserved rest from a hectic working lifestyle. Well we got the best holiday ever....once we got to the islands that is.
The Kuredu Island resort is spread out over an area of 1.5km by 600m and in that very small space we found excellent accommodation (if you stick to the villas because the bungalows are not very well located on the grotty side of the island). We were fortunate because we booked a villa. We had a 1km walk to breakfast, lunch and dinner from the villa and back again, unless we made a night of it at the very poorly entertained bar and lounge. But what the hell, the weather is gorgeous (unless it buckets down, as it did for a few days), the surrounding jungle was interesting (snakes, lizards, fruit bats the size of golden eagles and other animals) and after having so much excellent food it was a good way of getting rid of the calories. Oh, by the way, take a torch with you because once it is dark the lighting is rather primitive and sometimes the electric goes off!!!
The sea wildlife was spectacular with sharks, turtles and all manner of fish (I have never seen so many different types and sizes). We thoroughly enjoyed snorkelling off the beach by our villa, it was fantastic. One piece of advice: Don't forget to take your snorkelling gear with you because to buy something on the island you will need significant cash resources. We bought reasonable gear in the UK and it cost no more than £9.99 for mask and pipe. The same equipment of the same standard was US$75 at the holiday shopping centre (2 shops) or US$40 to hire it for one week from the diving school.
My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our time in Kuredu. The locals, including the houseboys, waiters and bar staff were absolutely charming, well mannered and efficient. One thing, if you are on all-inclusive don't expect all to be included. A bottle of water, which you may want for a coffee in your accommodation, costs you US$1.50 for 2 ltrs. The mini bar is very expensive and you are not allowed to take drinks back to your villa/bungalow.
Getting to and from the island. The seaplane trip was a little hairy getting there (there was a monsoon hitting the islands so we had to ditch in the sea and get a Dhoni boat the rest of the way (very adventurous we thought at the time!!! well we were tired after 18 hours travelling or waiting) but it was beautiful to see the various islands and reefs as we flew back to Male to catch our plane home.
Now, First Choice. Not impressed by their part of the holiday I'm afraid. There was a 5 hour delay in flying out with First Choice, apparently there was a problem with a plane somewhere else and we were the unfortunates who got the end of it. Coming back from Male, guess what, we were 2 hours delayed, ah well! The service aboard the aircraft was appalling, both ways. The First Choice rep at the island was less than useless. Didn't see her/him at all!!!
All we can say about our holiday is that the Maldives are all they say they are. Beautiful and well managed (to say that they are unspoilt would be wrong, they do have erosion problems) and the people make it their business to make you feel welcome. However, be prepared and don't use a tour operator that offers you bigger aircraft seats but absolutely nothing else by way of service.
We would recommend Kuredu to everyone, if you can put up with a little inconvenience that is.

The only down side to the Maldives …..
Once you go the Maldives nowhere is ever good enough to go again.
As with most reviews, our holiday in Kuredu was simply a slice of heaven. It was the only 2 week holiday where I did not want to go home.
If you’re on a budget, or maybe a honeymoon and you can afford to go here then book it now. Being an AI resort everything is included so you won’t need to worry about spending any more dosh, this is with exception of the Spa. My wife and I did use the Spa for an all over body massage, my first experience in doing so and it was the most relaxing experience.
If you’re the sort of person who takes you suit case to your room and then gets told by a member of staff that it’s not for you to do such a chore then you'll love everything about kuredu, some people can be a little more critical of the certain aspects of service, but in my experience it was top-notch.
After speaking to many guests on the island who seemed to be very well travelled they all seemed to say that Kuredu was their favourite, and I think that’s really saying something, Most of Kuredu’s guests are repeat visitors.
The only word of warning about the flights .......
Most flights to the Maldives fly on Sunday, which in turn means Male Airport is at its busiest on Monday, the knock on effect means the Air taxi's basically can't cope with the amount of transfers to each island, we had to wait 4 hours before we could fly to kuredu, and that’s too much when you consider it took 12 hrs to fly to Male Airport.
If you can book a flight make sure its not a Sunday or early Monday morning UK departure. This way you’re more likely to get air taxi transfer within the hour.
Air Taxis won’t fly when it starts to get dark, you may have to stay in a local hotel until the following day or travel by boat.

Our Honeymoon on the Kuredu Island Resort was fantastic. The Island was beautiful the people were friendly the food was great and our beach villa was lovely.
The only thing that was disappointing was our flight. We went with Monarch and I would never fly with them again.
We were delayed 18 hours. With no one telling us exactly what was going on. To top it off we had a young girl sitting there telling us that we had no one else to blame except ourselves as we booked the holiday.

If you are an experienced diver going to the Maldives to dive, do NOT go to this island. The Pro Divers dive shop although impressive in size and website content, is THE WORST experience my husband and I have had in our 20 years of diving.
We were treated as new divers with no experience and were improperly instructed on various items and told to dive with misadjusted gear. Since the reefs in the Maldives are fantastic it was a great disappointment that even the manager of the dive shop did nothing to improve the situation after he was informed.
The island, resort and other employees related to Kuredu (not the dive shop), were fantastic. However, since the diving is key to many people traveling to the Maldives, we would have never chosen this island if we knew how badly the shop was run and that it would result in us diving only one day in 12.
The diving is incredible at other islands which have dive shops with a degree of professionalism which will allow you to enjoy your diving.

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 accommodation is Water villas or Jacuzzi beach villas) or the Kuredu island area where the accommodation 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 four-poster 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 in the 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.
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. Snorkeling trips also take place daily to various sites off the island. We only snorkeled but saw a multitude of fish from moray eels to trigger fish to beautiful angel fish to cow fish and even baby sharks.
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 service 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.
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 snorkeling, learning to windsurf and kayaking to just wandering around the island. Kuredu Island is well worth a visit.

3 readers found this review helpful

Not a typical tranquil paradise island. Most guests seem to visit this island to party Ibiza style.
Although having plenty of activities to choose from, it gave the island more of a hectic feel than a relaxed feel which you would expect.
The hotel accommodation standard overall was quite good.
we upgraded to Jacuzzi villa, but it was not any better than standard beach villas.
Staff were generally happy and helpful.
The sea plane transfer was a highlight to the holiday and far quicker than going it by boat.

4 readers found this review helpful

We left from Gatwick, London on a Monarch Direct flight. The flight took around 12 hours .Food and leg room on Monarch flight was very disapointing. Arrived at Male and were taken by bus a short journey to the Maldivian Air taxi depot a short distance away. Had to wait a few hours on a flight to the island. Flight takes approx 45 mins and is highly recommended. Fantastic breathtaking views of the striking islands and coral reefs. On arrival at Kuredu we were greeted by a member of the guest relations team.
We were welcomed to the paradise island to the sound of drum beats and were each given an iced fruit drink and a damp towel to freshen up with. This was our fourth visit to Kuredu in the last five years. We always stay in a Beach Bungalow. (Best numbers to go for are rooms 101 to 130) which all face the sea and are only about 50feetfrom the beautiful turquoise sea.
The Beach villas are at the rear of the island and while they are comfortable and clean, the beach on the back end of the island is nowhere near as good as the front. Very rocky with lots of sharp coral. You are allocated a table and a waiter in the restaurant and they stay the same the whole visit.
The all inclusive menu is first class and they hold a different theme each night with a different international menu. The choice is excellent with many different choices to choose from and all tastes are catered for. The are five bars on the island and the service is second to none. A room boy cleans your villa everyday and the place is absolutely spotless.
We have already rebooked to return for our fifth visit in Oct 2006!You don't need to take a lot of clothes with you. My wife wore a bikini on the beach and a Sari while in the bars and restaurants. I wear a pair of shorts and a loose shirt. For the two weeks we walked everywhere in our bare feet.
It is definitely no news, no shoes! No traffic. No roads just a service vehicle used by staff and sand track running up the centre of the island which can be walked around in half an hour! No money changes hands as everything is signed for. At the end of the holiday you pay for anything you bought in the shop/bar which was not on the all Inclusive menu. No need to buy travellers cheques as bills can be paid by credit cards.
There is a spa, diving, school, shop, jewellers and gym. You need a small amount of Dollars for tipping the staff at the end of the holiday if you are pleased with the service you received. The people on the island are the nicest, kindest, politest people you will ever meet anywhere on earth. They spoil you rotten and you don't want to leave. Nearly all visitors will return for other holidays!
The seas are 100% safe (nothing bites) and the weather is on average around 32-36 degrees. Electricity is the same as the UK. This is the nearest place to Heaven you will ever visit. But beware! After sampling the Maldivian paradise you will not want to ever go anywhere else again. An ideal place for honeymooners. Highly recommended! A Paradise, an unspoilt beach, everything you need to relax and unwind.

Kuoni - Kuredu Island Resort - When you arrive at Male Airport - be prepared for a long wait for your seaplane...the Moldavians are very laid back - there are places you can buy refreshments there.
This was the holiday I'd always dreamed of - miles of white sand, clear blue sea, and not packed with rows and rows of sunbeds....
The staff are all amazing - mainly from Sri Lanka they treat you like royalty. Would recommend the Sangu Water Villas - four poster beds and your own sundeck and steps direct into the Indian Ocean. The Beach Jacuzzi Villas looked nice also...
The mix of guests comprised alot of Honeymooners, a handful of families and some more mature couples/groups. The majority of guests were Brits, French, German, Swedish
No money is carried on the Island at all - all non-inclusive drinks and purchases from the shops are charged to your bill.
The all-inclusive system for food wasn't explained to us very well to start with, as we thought we could eat wherever we wanted to...the fact is that you are allocated a table at a specific restaurant for the duration of your holiday. You can swap your table for a meal at another restaurant - but you just need to let your waiter know in advance!!
Entertaining yourselves.... windsurfing - you can get a free trial on certain days, you can use the kayaks for free.
Diving - ProDivers were brilliant - especially with kids - they were so patient. Be prepared for a potentially hefty bill at the end of the holiday though! If you don't fancy scuba diving - you can see the most amazing sea life just by snorkelling
Weather - be prepared for the occasional rainstorm - we went the last 2 weeks in August, and arrived to the most amazing electric storm, and while there we had one other day of almost constant rain...
Spa - definitely worth a visit...if you book a few sessions at a time it works out cheaper.
Evenings - Not a great deal to do really - the entertainment a few nights was OK - but def not the highlight of the holiday
Highlight - definitely the Scuba-Diving!!

This was my first trip to the Maldives, and it wont be my last. Kuredu is one of the larger islands - and was full when we were there. However, this was not noticable, in fact we felt a little annoyed if someone came and sat on 'our' beach - it happened so infrequently.
The service was also excellent, as was the food.
The only reason Kuredu does not get 10 out of 10 is because the accommodation (we had a beach bungalow) was a little basic.
Overall though, we had a wonderful holiday, and I'm sure you will too.