Birthday party on Kuredu resort

My alarm blared out at 430am, minutes before the first prayer call for the day.

Pre-dawn dhoni ride

I wasn't getting up specifically to pray this morning. We had arranged a relaxing day on nearby Kuredu resort and the staff dhoni left Naifaru at 515am. It was a big shock to the system being up before the sun and we were all super quiet during the hour long boat trip.

Welcome to Kuredu

Main street

 The sun was just rising as we set foot on Kuredu. We were welcomed like queens and told we had free run to enjoy all the activities, restaurants, pools and beaches the island had to offer.

Beachside huts

A stroll around the island was first up. Most of the guests were still sleeping and the sea grass littering the beaches was being swept up and buried. It felt like we were the only people on the island and so we had uninterrupted views of the sandpit that seemingly stretched out forever into the deep blue sea.
The sand was so soft and combined with the morning sun and solitude made for picture postcard moments.

GIANT stride to get in...

A scuba dive was next up. Kuredu has a reputation for being the safest diving resort in the Maldives, and after a thorough briefing, Tess and I were striding into the balmy, tropical water. The water was 31 degrees which meant I didn't need a wetsuit and only 1 kg of lead (best conditions for diving). It was so nice to be able to stay underwater and really look at everything too, as a pose to snorkelling where I still have to pop up for a breathe after 10 seconds!

No wetsuits! Love it!

It may have only been the house reef right next to the main resort beach we we diving on, but it was teaming with life. All the normal creatures were there...butterfly fish, wrasse, batfish, damsel fish, anemone fish, snapper and unicorn fish. Corals covered every rock face and I had to laugh as I started to identify and name many of them!

Mermaid on the wreck :)

Happy days after a cool dive

A wreck lies on the edge of the reef and is covered in corals, algae and anemones.  As we peered into the hull, schools of hundreds of tiny whitebait-type fish swarmed up near our masks and the dull, inner depths of the inside of the ship were revealed.

A green turtle appeared above us, circled around and then took off again. It was so graceful how it effortlessly propelled itself through the water and turned on dime when it realised we were nearby! Unfortunately it wasn't close enough for any clear pics but I'm sure I'll see another sometime soon.

A 20 minute stroll got us to the end of the island we hadn't yet seen and to a restaurant built over the edge of the ocean. It was buffet style that we all enthusiastically embraced. I think I ended up having 3 servings of salads and greens as these are so hard to come by on Naifaru. 

So excited about lettuce!

Happy Birthday Tess!!!

One of the waiters recognised Collette from Naifaru and before long, several waiters and staff (who were also from Naifaru) had stopped to chat with us. We told them we were there to celebrate Tess's birthday. Just as we were finishing our meals, they brought out a cake and vegetable carved flowers as a happy birthday gift! It was such a lovely gesture and reinforced to me how friendly Maldivian people are.

The afternoon hours were spent lounging around the pools, having a couple of drinks and working on our tans! Thanks Tess's for timing your birthday so well. I loved the relaxing day and the chance to see yet another side of the marvellous Maldives!