Below is a diary of my 2 week trip to Kuredu Island Maldives

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MY KUREDU ISLAND TRIP DIARY

DEPART UK 22^nd NOVEMBER 2008 RETURN 7^th DECEMBER 2008

Saturday 22^nd November 2008

Flew out from terminal 4, had good seats thanks to Ollie at Dial-a-flight. The flight was not so good as had screaming baby… The Main flight food was spot on yummy me vegetable korma dinner, for breakfast bacon and potato)

Sunday 23^rd November 2008 Arrived at Male airport at 1pm, got luggage pretty fast, WOW photos of atolls on landing in the Maldives and in sea plane to Kuredu Island were amazing (see photos). In the Sea plane waiting lounge which was very nice and very clean water and wet towels handed were handed out as soon as you walked in, free drinks even the ones in the cooling fridges were free. On the way to the sea plane the Salt spray was blowing against my face (a feeling to remember), got on the sea plane… it was weird taking off and noisy engines (now I see why ear plugs were provided) photos of atolls in sea plane were unimaginable and on landing the photos of the island… I want to live here forever. It truly is paradise. Got off the plane and went into the reception area for a nice cold drink and to get signed in and given destinations to go to, at this point I took the opportunity to squige my feet in the sand, the one thing I have been waiting to do…sand between my toes… drank the complimentary drink at reception and found out about being upgraded to the O villas WOW fab fantastic… private pool/ eating area and no children, (thanks Ollie this will make the holiday just that little bit more special) a nice guy called ‘Shaheef’ showed us to this stunning room, luggage arrived at the room about 10 minutes later, got changed and went to the dive centre to check in with them then walked along the beach back to the O Villa and off to the restaurant for dinner. Wow what a spread, beef, lasagne, everything you could want, then chilled out on the loungers with a cold Carlesburg shandy for about 15mins, I was so tired I was nodding off on the lounger so headed off to the air conditioned room, on the way back I saw these lovely little hermit crabs, loads of them… they are the cutest… and they crawl on your hands (only the big ones do as the little ones are too shy… bless how cute are they) I was so tired I passed out the minute my head hit the pillow, but with the time difference of 6 hours my body has not yet adjusted and I woke up at 2am Maldivian time.	The above photos were taken flying into Male and also on the sea plane from Male to Kuredu The sea plane looking forward & backward
Watched the sun rise (which is where I discovered Hermit Crabs) and watched the sun set too. Stunning…	Monday 24^th November 2008 4am still awake, will probably take advantage of it and watch sun rise… watched the sun sunrise wow it was lovely… very romantic and took some stunning photos of it, lots of pictures taken, went and had breakfast, full English what else to set you up for a full day of activities…went snorkeling and saw beautiful fish, clams etc, a storm was coming in and I made it back to shore just in time, the storm was fabulous, really heavy rains so had a little sleep until it passed, at 2pm went to have the orientation dive. It lasted till 5pm and I think it was well worth it, The orientation dive was on the house reef and well worth it, going to go and dive it tomorrow. I saw my very 1^st wreck cool…. The trip back was a little tough as had to go against the tide and was quite exhausting. On the way back to the villa saw a baby black tip shark in the shallows about 20 meters into the water so went to explore. Very cute. went for diner expecting the same spread as last night but surprise surprise it was a whole new layout, no need for a-la-carte in my opinion and it would seem pointless to me to go gold, again so tired by the time Ingot back to the villa that I just passed out, only about 10pm oh dear I can’t keep up like I used to when I was young….. bring out the zimmer frames…I woke up at about 11.30pm couldn’t get back to sleep so I thought I would write some more, the time difference is messing me around. Need to do dive log book. Will do that now I think.
Tuesday 25^th November 2008 Woke up nice and late (8.15am) went for full English again, headed to the dive centre and discussed the underwater wedding tomorrow and booked a boat dive for this afternoon at 2.30pm, went back to the villa to chill out until then. At 2 pm went on the boat dive, boats name was Olivia and dive leader was Petra who was a lovely German lady with a fantastic sense of humour we went to a perfect dive spot (dive site number 18 called Nakolhu Giri, took some stunning pictures and I enjoyed this dive very much, a lot better than the orientation dive that I had to do yesterday. Got back to the boat and got coffee and banana bread and coconut pieces. When we got back to the dive centre we discussed the details of the wedding dive in more detail and the pick-up times for the morning and how it will all go, this will be wonderful and I/we can’t wait. went for a quick swim in the O villa pool and headed back to the villa to get washed and changed for dinner which again was something completely different to the 2 nights before and just as stunning. Went to watch the dive centre movie night at the Babuna bar, stunning shots and a fab intro to the dive centre crew. Back to the villa to try and get a good night sleep for the big day tomorrow, I/we are VERY excited, hope I will be able to fall asleep
On the boat everything was decorated with flowers, beautifully. The dive was the most romantic amazing thing I have ever experienced. And when we got back to our room they had decorated that too and left us some champagne and a stunning cake My just married flip flops and decoration on the beach.	Wednesday 26^th November 2008 (THE WEDDING DIVE) (Sadly Divorce Now) Had breakfast (got full English again) at a decent hour and got ourselves ready to be collected for the underwater wedding ceremony. It was as if the weather knew it was our day and remained sunny and warm all through the day. We were picked up at 11am, the camera man (Darren) filmed us leaving our rooms and being taken to our dive boat called Hanna. Wow wow wow, the bout had been all laid out with palm leaves, it looked beautiful, stunning, perfect… we climbed on board and the inside was decorated too, with flowers on our laid out fins and other diving equipment… this was the most amazingly romantic thing I think I have ever seen or experienced, how perfect….. our ‘priest’/dive leader (Mark) was waiting on board to welcome us and the photographer (Darren) followed, we had some pictures taken for their web page, they took some photos of the ‘garter’ and then we were off, 15 minutes on the boat to our spot. We got to our dive location which was Bodu Giri (no 27)(which apparently means large reef)we descended and knelt on the bottom (about 5 metres) which was actually on the top of the reef, the priest did his bit and we says our ‘OK’s’, kissed had a few more pictures taken, and all the while the videographer (Darren) was filming… we then continued with an after wedding dive, I HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH AN AMAZING DIVE… the fish were plentiful and very colourful, WOW WOW WOW is all I can say to this entire experience so far. The dive lasted for 61 minutes, and we then got back on the boat and were offered a coconut drink (coconut milk) in a coconut and some cake. But apparently the day was not over yet, we got back to the jetty and were taken back to our room, where the room boy had decorated the whole room out, the bed was beautifully done with patterns out of flowers and palm leaves, there was a bottle of champagne on ice and a lovely chocolate cake with writing on it just for us. How amazing and kind of these wonderful people in the hotel and PRODIVE dive centre to have gone to all this trouble, they were fabulous, friendly and very thoughtful with every detail of our special day. THANKS PRODIVER TEAM FOR ALL YOU DID FOR US ON OUR SPECIAL DAY. We will never forget this day and we will be picking up the DVD in a couple of days to help us remember every wonderful moment. For the rest of the day we decided to have a glass of champagne and head off to do some snorkeling… well the day just kept getting better and better, while snorkeling we came across a baby eagle ray gliding like an angel through the water, Andy got some wonderful footage of it and to top it all off along comes this beautiful turtle, he swam around and surfaced a few times letting us get near enough to him to be able to touch him. This was just the perfect day in paradise, I could not imagine a more wonderful wedding day IT WAS PERFECT… we finished snorkeling and went back to the villa and got ready to go to dinner… Another change in the menu… this time it was Indian night… and if I do say so it was sooooo much better than the Indian down the high street in the UK…;) we had a lovely meal and went back to the villa to download pictures and reflect on our very very special day. Big smiles at the end of this day… Unfortunately although this was the most romantic thing I have ever done and I would recommend it to anyone and I would definitely get married this way again should the opportunity present itself to me, on 28^th January 2010 myself and my now ex-husband have parted and got divorced, Sad but true.
Thursday 27^th November 2008 Woke up early and off for some breakfast, couldn’t do the full English today so just had bacon and toast (lots of bacon tho… and then headed off for the Morning dive, headed out to a dive site called Latheef Reef (No 24) on the boat called Linnea, another beautiful dive, (I have a strange feeling I will be saying this about all our dives.) Got some fabulous photos and the dive lasted 52 minutes, back up to the boat for hot coffee and banana bread… went back to the villa and chilled out enjoying the beach and sea right out the front of the villa. I think we have been given the best villa on the island, it is the honeymoon villa, but I think it is the nicest one here as it has a little enclosed area leading straight into the sea… very romantic. In the Afternoon we dived on our own with no leader, able to do what we want at our own pace, the dive was the Kuredu House reef, off the Jetty, it is at least a 5 foot drop into the water and what an amazing feeling striding into that. Stepping off dry land into the water with all this heavy kit on and hoping half way down that you remembered to inflate your BCD… giggle. The reef dive with no leader or other divers was something special, took it at our own pace and got some good photos of fish, coral reef, I took some around the wreck. This dive lasted 57 minutes and came up by navigating back to the shore for this one, my first ‘end of dive’ on the shore… got our kit back to the dive centre and headed back to the villa to go for dinner and go back and get some rest.	The dive was stunning, the wreck was interesting and back on land the bats were huge and so cute, the roots on the trees were the longest I have ever seen and the sunset was amazing.
	Friday 28^th November 2008 Another early morning and off to dive the Aquarium (No 23) again on the Linnea, not so many huge fish, hence the name of the dive site ‘Aquarium’ however did see 2 turtles and a rather large wrasse. This dive lasted 52 minutes and well worth every one of them. On the boat again coffee and banana bread, I love banana bread….. headed back to the dive centre sorted out the kit, Darren called us in to have a look at the DVD of our wedding… fantastic what a stunning video, We both had a tear in our eye when we finished watching it, Darren you are a star, I will treasure this forever, he arranged to create it on disk and to come and collect either tomorrow or Sunday. Headed back to the villa for some rest, but wanting to get back in the water headed off to do some snorkeling and I am so glad I did I used my 5mm wetsuits so I would float more and not get shredded on the corals in the shallower waters it was fantastic… what a lovely relaxing thing to do in the afternoon, saw a turtle and lots of amazing lovely creatures of the sea… In the Afternoon went again to dive the house reef, went a little further out this time and saw a lot more, the water was very choppy and it was very tough getting back in to shore but it was done perfectly if I do say so myself… I have not had to fight the sea as much as we did that day, but funny enough I was not scared, just eager and excited at the challenge. Got back to shore and got tanks off and deposited them behind one of the huts no 213 and headed back to the dive centre to sign back in. Took a little walk around the island after dinner and went to look in one of the 3 or 4 gift shops they have on the island. Headed back to the room to look at some of the photos taken during the day and on the dives, but couldn’t stay awake and I passed out about 5 minutes into this little activity.
Saturday 29^th November 2008 Woke up a little late Morning… therefore had no breakfast, got to the boat again on the Linnea and off to the Kuredu express with Martin, which is normally a very fast dive with a strong current however today it would seem it was a little mild drift not hard at all saw 2 sharks 1 turtle and 1 large eagle ray, all caught on camera except for the eagle ray. Lovely dive and back up to the boat for… yes you got it coffee and banana bread, I think this is becoming the highlight of my diving in the Maldives…giggle. Decided not to have an afternoon dive but to chill out and have a snorkel day seeing as the one yesterday was so lovely, and I am so glad I did, I saw 3 lovely turtles 2 of them really up close and a shark which got to within 4 metres of me, I tried to catch up to him to get a little closer, but he was just way to fast, what a lovely experience, saw an octopuss who was very shy, and right at the end of the snorkel on the way in to shore I saw and caught on camera the biggest stingray I have ever seen, he was huge, at least 1.2m I would have said larger, but removing the magnification of the water his realistic size was probably 1.2m, he glided beautifully and gracefully. Another wonderful day in paradise, came back to the villa and looked at all the photos and video taken throughout the days diving and snorkel activities, got dressed and went for dinner, then back to the villa for some R&R.
	Sunday 30^th November 2008 Woke up early for the morning dive….. had a quick breakfast and off to the dive centre to kit up for the morning dive, went to Kuredu caves with Martin on the boat called Linnea… yippy I have been waiting for this one… it was faster than the Kuredu Express believe it or not, but a fantastic dive, spent ages around a really chilled out turtle, and got loads of photos, I took some of the turtle. I truly enjoyed this dive, thanks Martin… I also spent some time with my favourite fish… the anemone fish watching them darting in and out of the anemone with such fury, they are so cheeky but ever so cute… Went out for a snorkel in the afternoon and as before it was just as fantastic. Got back to the villa and got ready for the sunset cruise… which was something quite spectacular, the weather has become wonderful today and was just perfect for the cruise, very romantic and beautiful, some good photos were taken here. Had a lovely evening meal and then off to bed totally shattered.
Monday 1^st December 2008 Woke up early again today and headed off for breakfast, then off to the dive centre and onto the Linnea with Nico hoping to go to a cleaning station to see some manta rays, but apparently not so good at the moment so off to Zafari Reef…and how grateful I was,… had a great dive with fish playing in my bubbles and dancing around just above my head, literally dancing in the bubble they were shaking through the bubbles and having a whale of a time, I laughed so hard I got water in my mask, I couldn’t stop laughing at these fish and their playfulness and interaction with us humans (first giggle fit under water…), one even came up to me and sucked on my finger, brilliant, absolutely wonderful I will never forget that as long as I live. also saw a large eagle ray in the deep blue and got some good footage of it flying off into the distance. Nice drift towards the end. Came back and headed back to the villa and chilled for a little while, then headed off to do some snorkeling and the to the dive centre for the sunset dive all on our own on the house reef, this was an OK dive, I had a bit of a mask issue so not my favourite dive, but a good experience for seeing fish I would not normally see during the day like scorpion fish and parrot fish in their sleeping areas and 4 Napoleon Wrasse heading for the wreck to find their sleeping spots as this is their sleeping area apparently… came up on shore and walked back to the dive centre for a wrist slapping from Martin as BAD people who forgot to sign out before going out on the dive… I felt really guilty about this… and hope I do not get too much of a telling off in the morning when I go for the morning dive. Got back to the villa and went for dinner which was Texas and Mexican night… yummy… shall get a good night sleep as I am totally exhausted.
	Tuesday 2^nd December 2008 Morning dive was the Kuredu Express again, this time I am hoping it is going to be fast, something to give me a bit of a challenge, well… jumped in and…the current was a bit faster than last time but not by much saw eagle ray, laced moray eel, some anemone fish (my favourite) grey/black & white striped lion fish, however missed the shark. Chilled out during the day and just had a snorkel in the shallows and then chilled out a little more. At about 4pm went for a quick coke and got caught in the bar when the heavens opened and the rain hammered down, it was stunning, warm surroundings with this amazing tropical storm going on, it only lasted 30 minutes or so, but it was quite lovely. In the evening went to the weekly ‘what has happened on land and under the sea in Kuredu’ dive movie night of their new dive premier 20^th anniversary celebration video at the Babuna bar and they had footage of us getting married… they all ooooo’d us. It was a good laugh. Ate at a different restaurant (the Koamas) and it was very yummy, went back to the O’restaurant for night time drinks and off to bed to look forward to tomorrows dive with the whole of the dive centre and all the people they have invited to take part in their underwater photos for their 20^th anniversary.
Wednesday 3^rd December 2008 Morning dive was a 63 minute dive on the house reef mainly looking for the Manta Ray, but sadly nothing… got some more good shots of eagle rays, and some photos on the wreck, came up and had a 3 hour rest before going on the celebration dive which was excellent, all 125 (or so I was told) divers sitting on the oceans floor holding their breath for a photo (and no-one floated off…), and then a little swim around Bodu Giri, it felt a little special as it was our one weeks anniversary and in the exact same spot we got married… there was a group picture taken on land too and some cake and coffee (apparently our wedding and this 20^th anniversary will be on their web site) That evening the dive centre provided some traditional Kuredu entertainment and food the entertainment was fantastic, the food a little too spicy for me so headed off to the Koamas restaurant for some dinner which was very yummy and then off for some chill out time at the O Bar and then headed off to bed. Looking forward to another dive first thing in the morning.
	Thursday 4^th December 2008 The Morning dive was a 56 minute dive on Fun Giri, lovely stunning relaxing dive with so many interesting things to see, more on the smaller side of the scale, but one of the more stunning dives I have done. I saw 3 different types of puffer fish, lots of anemone and clown fish and the visibility was amazing too. have put my name down for an afternoon dive, will see where we are heading to and if it tops Fun Giri… Well it was different, it was a dive called the Wall, and it was about 15 minutes away from Kuredu, a little dark and not so exciting at the deepest (around 21metres deep) however from 12 metres and above, it was teaming with life, very colourful… saw common stingray and 2 yellow box fish… very cute… the box fish is definitely up there with the clown fish/anemone fish in its percentage for cuteness… got back to the top and sorted dive stuff out, sad as only have one more dive to go… sniff, I want to stay here for the rest of my days, it certainly is paradise. Well off for dinner and the island has got a whole lot of stuff on tonight as it is Kuredus’ 20^th Anniversary too, so lucky being a diver had 2 celebrations… one for the 20^th anniversary of the dive centre and one for the 20^th anniversary of Kuredu. Had a wonderful dinner with a cake decorated and fabulous layout of food. All the restaurants were decorated and had something going on, ate dinner and headed off to the Sangu restaurant as they were having a romantic music night, it was so romantic and relaxing I started to nod off (in a good way tho) so headed back to the villa and got some sleep.
Friday 5^th December 2008 The Morning dive was a little sad as it was the last dive before going home tomorrow, so hoping they go to the Shipyard, however it is not looking likely as they are going tomorrow. Dive was at The peak, nice… very nice. Definitely one to remember, I had a little tear in my eye under the water when I came across my little Nemo fish… I really don’t want to leave this place. The word ‘Paradise’ just does not cover how lovely it is. I will miss it very very much. The rest of the afternoon was spent walking around the island, buying little bits and bobs to take home for the family. Took some lovely photos on the point of the island and on the deck by the O’restaurant looking out into the sea, went and had lunch and dinner and just relaxed and enjoyed what little time was left in this beautiful place.
	Saturday 6^th December 2008 No more dives, spent the morning walking around with the camera and saying goodbye to the dive team, had breakfast where the Heron was standing on the table outside on the deck catching some early morning sun rays…(see pictures it was so funny the pose he was in) then decided to take out a Kayak for half an hour… wanted to film rowing in the kayak and ended up dropping the camera in the sea trying to balance it on the kayak to film…, but that was ok as it had its water housing on, but it sank straight to the bottom and had to dive in with clothes on and retrieve it… giggle hahaha the video that was caught on the camera as it fell overboard and sank to the bottom of the sea (only a couple of metres as still in the shallows) is so funny and diving in fully clothed to get it all caught on video...giggle giggle. Then headed off for the last lunch, (oh my god how sad is this…) where the Heron was sitting on the lunch table as if waiting to say good-bye… yeah right, headed off to the pier and went for a walk along it all the way to the end where there is a little Tea house called the Sai Kotari where the view is lovely and the seating area very artfully done. Then headed back to the main bar area where I saw the shoeless pilots waiting to fly everyone back to Male, so had a quick cool drink, settled the bill and headed off to the sea plane… oh what an experience… He hit the wake of a dhoni boat going by and bounced like a pebble on the water, that was something I will never forget… Waited at Male airport for some time (about 6 hours) before getting to fly home, with a stop in Colombo for 2 hours, then back to the UK. The flight was pretty empty so I could lay across the seats and get some sleep. Oh well end of holiday. I will miss it very very much. Good-Bye Kuredu Island and the Maldives see you soon hopefully. Belinda