Best of the Maldives: Tented Beach Villa – Sirru Fen Fushi

Sirru Fen Fushi - tented villas 1

A couple of resorts (Madifushi, Hakura Huraa) have the “tented” style villas, but none so extensive nor beachfronty as Sirru Fen Fushi’s new Beach Tented Villa with Private Pool:

  • “Set on their own private pocket of beach, the new villas are designed provide a safari-style stay whilst mirroring the beauty and diversity of the island’s verdant flora and fauna. Natural wooden frames are swathed in white fabric, which can be rolled up completely to offer unparalleled views of the turquoise ocean beyond from floor-to-ceiling windows.”

There is something about the soft, flowing textures of the cloth crown that is so suited to the natural aesthetic of the Maldives especially the soothing undulation of the ocean right next to it.

Sirru Fen Fushi - tented villas 2

Sirru Fen Fushi - tented villas 3

Best of the Maldives: Electric Transport – Sirru Fen Fushi

Sirru Fen Fushi - electric transport

The on-island of default has been electric buggies since the very outset of the Maldives resort industry, but getting to the island was a different story. All manner of petrol driven buses and cars transferred people from the main international terminal to the domestic terminal, sea plane terminal or other further transfer. But Sirru Fen Fushi has introduced a fully electric fleet of transfer vehicles:

  • “Fairmont Maldives, Sirru Fen Fushi private island has partners with electric car brand, Polestar, to offer sustainable airport transfers. Guests will be transports from Male Airport to the seaplane lounge in a Polestar 2, before embarking on the seaplane journey to the island.”

Our most recent car is a fully electric – the MG ZS EV. It was not too expensive (£20,000), cheap to charge (on overnight off-peak rates), very low maintenance (hardly any moving parts and the parts that are there are no subject to little, dirty gas explosions constantly), not to mention the eco-friendly lack of exhaust.

Best of the Maldives: Sustainability Lab – Sirru Fen Fushi

Fairmont - Sustainability Lab

The investment in sustainability by Maldives resorts keeps building to new highs, and Sirru Fen Fushi has recently introduced an ambitious Sustainability Lab to provide a range of activities and services for the island, its guests and the environment:

  • “Fairmont Maldives Sirru Fen Fushi, a private island in the remote Shaviyani atoll, has unveiled the latest in a series of pioneering environmental projects – the Sustainability Lab – the first of its kind in the archipelago. A hub of eco-education, the Sustainability Lab will turn plastic waste into bespoke souvenirs and unique products, educate guests and empower local communities. With the launch of our Sustainability Lab project, we aspire to be as close to zero waste as we can using current and future technology improvements to allow us to find better ways to reduce, reuse, recycle and upcycle our waste, whilst inspiring others globally to help secure a better future for our oceans and communities.”

Best of the Maldives: Longest Spa Pool – Sirru Fen Fushi

Sirru Fen Fushi - spa pool 1

Most spa pools are little plunge affairs. Sometimes resorts will put in extensive water features, but they are ornamental ponds for fish to swim in not guests. Sirru Fen Fushi’s Willow Stream Spa includes a serenity pool that is longer than many property’s main pools:

  • “A dedicated Olympic size Jacuzzi pool is provided for Spa Guests for pre or post treatment immersion. Our 50-meter long serenity pool is enhanced by natural sounds and light, soothing aromatherapy scent, and water temperatures varying from tropical warm to refreshing cool.”
  • “After your rejuvenating treatment, enjoy wellness refreshments and freshly-prepared herbal teas in our sea view relaxation lounges. Our 25-meter long serenity pool is enhanced by natural sounds and light, soothing aromatherapy scent, and water temperatures varying from tropical warm to refreshing cool. Nestled in a total of 2000sqm wellness area, it enables guests to rediscover their energy, providing indoor and outdoor spaces to reconnect you beyond the treatment experience.”

Sirru Fen Fushi - spa pool 2

Best of the Maldives: Coral Reef Art – Sirru Fen Fushi

Sirru Fen Fushi - coral frame 2

I rarely visit the same island twice (there’s just too much great stuff left to discover) much less write about the same feature twice. But islands get revamped and become entirely different properties which warrant taking an entirely fresh look. And the same is true with Sirru Fen Fushi’sCorallarium” which started life as a surf-breaking art installation, but is now morphing into a reef regeneration project:

  • The Coralarium structure, and the sculptures within, act as an artificial reef, encouraging local marine life to make it a home. Up to 5m tall, each one of the soaring sculptures is constructed of more than 500 ceramic ‘starfish’ that have been specifically designed to attract a variety of fish and crustaceans – the hard shells catch and hold biomass, or ‘fish food’, which encourage coral larvae to attach and thrive, while nooks and dark cubbyholes in the structures provide a hiding place for a variety of fish and shellfish. Each sculpture is brought to life through its union with the life that attaches to it, transforming them from concrete to textured, living organisms.”

Great to see the second life to this installation giving the coral reef new life.

Sirru Fen Fushi - coral frame

Best of the Maldives: Tented Jungle Villas – Sirru Fen Fushi

Sirru Fen Fushi - tented villas 1

With the new year, it’s time for out with the old and in with the new. The gingerbread hued tented villas were introduced by the old Madivaru resort, but it has been defunct for a while, but in its place the new Sirru Fen Fushi has introduced its own tented villas. The “tents” make the structures seem all the more natural and intimate with the surroundings. A tented safari in Africa (ideally on the Zambezi) is on our bucket list, but at Sirru Fen Fushi you can do a tented snorkel safari!

Sirru Fen Fushi - tented villas 2

Sirru Fen Fushi - tented villas 3

Best of the Maldives: Longest Pool – Sirru Fen Fushi

Sirru Fen Fushi - longest pool

If you are looking for pool big enough to fit the fashionista flotilla of floats, then your best bet is Sirru Fen Fushi with its 200 metre long chlorinated lake. That’s the length of 4 Olympic sized swimming pools laid end to end and pips the previous champion by a similar amount (thanks Paola). It extends from one side of the island pretty much complete to the other side almost like a dissecting canal (see below).

Sirru Fen Fushi - pool aerial

Best of the Maldives: Underwater Sculpture Gallery – Sirru Fen Fushi

Sirru Fen Fushi - sculpture 1

International Sculpture Day today. And new resort Sirru Fen Fushi is launching a world class sculpture exhibit with the most distinctively Maldivian twist – it is underwater.

  • “The sculptural installation on Sirru Fen Fushi will offer visitors a unique, cultural eco-art attraction whilst creating the foundations of an artificial reef to enhance the underwater ecosystem. The centre piece will be the Coral Cube, the worlds first semi submerged art space, a portal to the underwater realm offering visitors ephemeral encounters with the natural beauty beneath the water’s surface, delivering an other worldly experience that illustrates the connectivity of man with nature, a hybrid organic form in harmony with its surroundings, a seamless link between the land and the ocean, combining two disparate wonders, one created by man and one designed by nature.”

This creative installation is another gratifying “Finally Seen” for me as I first suggested such an exhibition 4 years ago with Part 4 of my “Not Seen Yet” series (#7).

Sirru Fen Fushi - sculpture 3

Sirru Fen Fushi - sculpture 2