Kuredu, Maldives - Sep/Oct
2003
We returned from a wonderful honeymoon in Kuredu, Maldives
on 11th October, and we thought we would share our experiences covering
the positives and negatives, and hopefully answering any common questions...
Firstly, the facts – we stayed in a Sangu Water Villa for 14 nights,
and we flew with Sri Lankan Airlines from London Heathrow with a sea
plane transfer from Male.
Kuredu Photos >>
- All the staff are friendly, although the best staff by far were at
the pool bar. If any of you get chance, please say hello to Sam & Lalith from
us.
- The water villas are excellent, as are the beach villas.
They are cleaned every day to a very high standard, and each night
the staff turn down your bed in a different fancy pattern - nice touch.
- The diving staff are very good and of a very high standard. If you
do want to dive, but are very nervous, we highly recommend them!
- The a-la-carte restaurant is excellent, very high quality
of food, but very expensive.
- If you can, go by seaplane. Not only is the flight exhilarating
and an experience you will never forget, but it only takes 40
mins. The boat journey will take anywhere between 4 and 8 hours
(depending upon the weather). People that we spoke with
who had had
to suffer
the boat journey, told us it was awful! Lots of green faces:(
- Definitely, definitely, definitely take the free Sunset Cruise - the
sunset is fabulous but the real reason to go is that a large school
of dolphins often put in an appearance, and they really like
to show off to the boats, jumping out of the water - lots of somersaults - fantastic.
- Leave your shoes at home! You won't need them...
- Although water visibility was poor, we still saw teams and teams
of all types of fish, turtles, eagle rays, stingrays, moray eels,
trigger fish & sharks (friendly little ones, don't panic) - fabulous!
- If you are staying in a Sangu water villa, you don't get any mozzies or bugs of any kind in the villa.
- The crab racing is a lot of fun:) Tip: if you take part, be sure
to bid on the first race, as the prices get higher and higher
as the races go on - people were bidding $50US - $60US for a crab!
- If you are staying at Sangu, you can sit where you like in the restaurant.
The 'yellow-band' restaurants require you to sit at the same table throughout your stay.
- Don't take lots of cash! You will settle up for everything at the
end of your stay - cash is not used anywhere on the island. There
are no cash tills or coin operated machinery. The only cash you require
is for tips (and we do recommend tipping!),
budget around $100 for a 2 weeks stay. The receptions will be
able to change large bills into smaller ones for you.
- Take a small torch with you, a Mini Maglite will do just fine. You won't need it to get around at night, the
moon is bright, and anyway, it's fun to stumble in the sand in the twilight. However, if you do
have a torch, you can watch the sand crabs and hermit crabs scurrying around in the sand at night, which is a lot of fun.
You might not see them without a torch.
- The Diving Centre although excellent is very expensive. A full
PADI open water dive course will set you back $500US, referral
course is still nearly $300US.
- Cocktails are not all inclusive, even if they are made with house
spirits which would be otherwise free. A single shot
of Jack Daniels will cost you $9.50US, and the simplest of cocktails
will set you back $7.50US.
- Even when going All Inclusive, all food eaten outside of the buffet restaurants will cost you, and yes, it is expensive!
- Although in general the food is good, we found the meat to be poor, in particular the
chicken which was always full of bones and gristle. Desserts were pretty naff as well, although the
fresh fruit was very good.
- The Sangu staff whilst friendly proved ineffective, often giving wrong information and making promises
that they did not keep.
- Make sure you check every receipt that you are asked to sign for, and
double check your bill at the end of your holiday. We found a number
of mistakes made, including being asked to pay for receipts that didn't
even have our names or room number on.
- If you decide to go on any snorkelling trips, make sure you are well
protected with suncream, t-shirts, hats etc. as some of the boats
provide no shelter.
- If you plan on using the Duniye Spa (which is excellent!)
you may need to book an appointment 3-4 days in advance of when you want
your massage as it gets booked up very quickly.
- Mosquito's are rife, so make sure you take plenty of repellant and
in particular, cover your feet and legs with it. Most of the mozzies
seemed to fly around close to the sand, particularly after the rain
where
you could
get eaten alive:(
- There's not much to do after dark (which was around 7.30pm in October).
Night time entertainment is rarely provided, so much so that a simple
30 minute slide show by the diving centre was packed out! Be prepared
to spend a lot of time (and money) sitting at the bar:)
- I'm sure you've seen those scenes of divers with sharks and rays swimming
around them in gin clear water on tv holiday shows - well, they don't
film those in the rainy season! Visibility was terrible - lots of
sediment and plankton. For both diving and snorkelling, the visibility
is poor this time of year. Most days we could only see 2 metres (6
feet). The best visibility was perhaps 7 or 8 metres in a sheltered
dive site, but that was just on one dive out of 20. Apparently visibility
is at its best January to March, where it can
be 50 metres+, and will look every bit like the reports on tv:)
- Avoid buying bottled water from the bar, especially if you are not staying at Sangu as it will prove expensive.
The best way to get bottled water is to ask for it with your meal, then take the bottle away with you - this way it's free!
We were downgraded
from a water villa to a beach villa on our first night with no explanation
or apology, which we were both really upset over. There's nothing wrong
with the beach villas, in fact they are beautiful, it was just their
overall attitude which upset
us.
Whereas the Sangu staff were often nonchalant, unapologetic and disinterested, our
Hayes and Jarvis rep was fantastic, and arranged free excursions
and spa sessions for us both to make up for our first nights disappointment.
From the moment we stepped into our water villa on the second day, we
were in heaven:) The island is every bit as good as others have said,
and in most cases it is even better! From the bird song to the fire
plankton which washes up on the beach at night (leaving a fluorescent
blue trail along the water line), you'll be spellbound.
Our advice is not to wait a moment longer. If you still haven't booked
your honeymoon yet, look no further! Go and book your honeymoon
for Kuredu
NOW!
We both totally fell in love with the place, it really is a paradise
island, and you will almost certainly want to go back.
The 'negatives' we mentioned earlier are all just little things which
Kuredu could improve upon to make your time there even better - but
even with these minor problems, Kuredu rocks!
Have fun you lucky people!
Kuredu Photos >>
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