Four Seasons Kuda Huraa in the Maldives

We weren’t planning on a trip to the Maldives this year as we’d had a holiday at the fabulous Reethi Rah the year before, however with restrictions on where we could travel this year, the Maldives was an easy option for Winter sun. We booked everything very last minute and ended up booking the Four Seasons Kuda Huraa, which is less than a 30 minute speedboat ride from Velana International airport in Male.

The resort

Situated in the North Male Atoll, the Four Seasons Kuda Huraa is a small island with beaches on both sides, four restaurants, two bars, two pools and an island spa. You can walk around the island in about 15 to 20 minutes and although it’s small, it doesn’t feel it.

The beaches are just stunning with crystal clear water and white sand. The best part of having beaches on both side of the island was that if it was windy on one side, it wasn’t on the other. One day the weather wasn’t great, however we moved to the other side of the island and it was remarkably better!

There are two pools at Kuda Huraa to lounge around and we had our own pool in our villa. One pool is an infinity pool by the main restaurant, Cafe Huraa where breakfast is served.

There is also a small children’s pool as it’s next to the kids club. When we stayed however, we saw very few children there. This pool also has a swim up bar where you can enjoy a cocktail.

The second pool is called the Serenity pool and is located at the Reef Club, where you can see the overwater villas from here. It also has a jacuzzi at the end which has a rainwater shower in it too.

The jacuzzi is under the thatched roof and the Serenity pool is only for those aged 16 and over.

There’s also a little island you can visit by walking past the overwater villas and following the boardwalk. It takes about 15 to 20 mins, which is a nice walk if you fancy stretching your legs. The beach itself isn’t that great but there are a few hammocks if you want to just rest for a bit.

The resort has a Marine Discovery Centre where you can learn about how they are helping to protect the marine ecosystem. They also rescue and rehabilitate turtles. When we visited there had been a number of baby turtles born on the beach just a few weeks before so we got to visit them. They were so adorable! There were also some adult turtles too, some which had sadly lost a leg but they were being helped to learn to swim and dive again.

We did a Turtle Safari experience whilst were there and we were taken by boat to a diving spot where we got to snorkel and spot turtles. We saw at least four turtles as well as a few different species of ray and some black tip sharks. Not to mention so many beautiful, colourful fish. It was fantastic!

If you love to relax and have a spa experience, there is a fabulous spa, which is on it’s own island. But I’ll talk about that later in this post!

The resort is over 20 years old and does show its age in some of the resort design. However, the rooms are totally modern and luxurious!

The room

We’ve visited the Maldives twice before, staying at Reethi Rah and Huvafen Fushi and both times we stayed in over water villas. This time we decided to stay in a Sunrise Beach Bungalow and we loved it! The room was incredibly spacious, with a huge, comfy bed and luxurious bedding. We were given a lovely handwritten card, fresh fruit and a bottle of wine as a welcome gift, which was a lovely touch.

The design of the room and outdoor space was very similar to the Four Seasons Desroches in the Seychelles, although that resort is fairly new. The room comes with a huge bathroom with his and her sinks, a gorgeous bathtub as well as indoor and outdoor showers.

I do love his and her sinks as there’s no fighting for space when brushing your teeth! Plus there’s plenty of space for toiletries. There was also plenty of space under the sink for my make-up bag.

We didn’t actually use the outdoor shower but it was nice to have one!

Our Bungalow room came with an outdoor pool, which was really lovely and a good size. There were also two sun loungers as well as a beach cabana that was perfect for an afternoon nap as it provided good shade.

The restaurants

As the resort is fairly small, there isn’t a huge amount of choice when it comes to restaurants but there is at least always two options when dining. Cafe Huraa is where breakfast is served and overlooks the main pool. Obviously this year they were unable to have a buffet so everything was served to our table and there was a good selection of hot dishes such as waffles and eggs benedict.

Baraabaru is an award-winning restaurant serving Indian food and is situated next to Cafe Huraa. Unfortunately as our holiday was cut short due to our flight home being disrupted, we didn’t get to eat here. We ate lunch on our first day, and dinner on our third night, at Reef Club, which is an Italian restaurant situated by the Serenity Pool. The food was really delicious, especially the tuna tartare.

You can also organise private dining on the beach. This wasn’t our table but it was some lucky couple’s. How romantic…. dining under the stars!

On our last night we had a semi-private dining experience at the Kandu Grill. They decorated a gazebo for us next to the main pool and it was magical. The food that night was absolutely delicious too.

As well as the restaurants, there are two bars where you can enjoy drinks before or after dinner. There is a bar at the Reef Club as well as one at the Sunset Lounge which is near the reception. If you go to the Sunset Lounge you obviously have a great view of the sun going down but it’s also where the black tip sharks come to be fed!

Every evening at around 7:15pm they feed the black tip sharks who know that dinner is coming as they start arriving about 30 minutes beforehand. It’s amazing to see so many of them! They are totally harmless although I definitely wouldn’t want to dive in at feeding time! It reminded me of Huvafen Fushi where the stingrays come every evening at 6:30 to be fed by the marine conservation staff.

If the weather isn’t great, you can always enjoy your cocktails inside. There’s also a bunch of games, such as snooker, if you fancy playing. Every evening there is an event on, such as crab racing or a special cocktail to enjoy.

We were very impressed with the standard of food and drink at Kuda Huraa. We didn’t have a bad meal at all in our four days and nights. I think our favourite meal was probably on our last night in our beautifully decorated gazebo.

The spa

The Island Spa at Kuda Huraa is exactly that – on a very small island. A traditional Dhoni takes you across the crystal clear waters to where the spa staff await your arrival.

The spa is beautifully decorated with Moorish influences. Upon arrival you are seated in the reception area, which is very calming as it’s in shades of white, and you’re given a delicious drink with ginger to enjoy whilst you fill out the necessary forms.

Once we had finished our drink, we were taken through to our private changing area to get undressed for our full body massage treatment. The entrance to the changing area was stunning and reminded me of Morocco .

After getting changed, we headed through to the overwater treatment room for our couples full body massage. We had been asked in advance what our preference was in terms of a male or female masseuse; we both said we didn’t mind and I had a male masseuse and my husband had a female one. We were talked through the different essential oils to choose one for our massage and asked which level of pressure we wanted.

The massage was around an hour and it was really relaxing. I loved how you could watch the fish swimming by underneath you – and I even spotted a stingray!

The spa also offers a unique night spa ritual which sounded amazing. Perhaps we’ll do that if we visit again!

The verdict

We really enjoyed our stay at the Four Seasons Kuda Huraa. Despite showing its age in some places, the rooms are spacious, modern and beautifully appointed. There are a good number of restaurants and bars given the size of the resort and the food was excellent. With excursions, a gym and a spa, there’s lots to do apart from just lazing on a beach (although that’s pretty good too!). Most of all, the staff were absolutely lovely and made our stay very special.

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