Best of the Maldives: Surf Shack – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa

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Four Seasons Kuda Huraa surf shack 1

Plenty of great surf spots in the Maldives (even more if you do kite surfing), and a number of resorts offer surfing equipment and instruction, but there is only one ‘Surf Shack’ around – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa’s TropicSurf.

The Surf Shack sells a whole range of surf gear. It also provides video analysis as part of its instruction offerings. But it really just has a whole surfing vibe to it.

A great example of its surfing vibe and great offerings is its recently announced its ‘Champion Trophy Package’. Maldives.Net reports…

“The Maldives is set to host the world’s most exclusive surfing event this August. The event organized by Four Seasons Resorts Maldives, will feature six world champions, a leading five-star surfing resort, a luxurious 39-metre three-deck catamaran, and the perfect reef break waves. Conceived in conjunction with luxury surf pioneers Tropicsurf, the Four Seasons Resorts Maldives Surfing Champions Trophy will see the sport’s biggest legends such as four-time world champion Mark Richards compete across three disciplines that showcase the evolution of modern surfing.”

So if you are a hang-ten pro or a even bit clueless on the surfing front (like this lot), then head over to the Surf Shack.

Four Seasons Kuda Huraa surf shack 2

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Best of the Maldives: Cricket – Kuramathi

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Kuramathi cricket 2

 

Maldives may not be a ‘Test Status’ cricket nation, but they love their wickets as much as their Subcontinent neighbours. Their closest Indian Ocean neighbour Sri Lanka is right in the middle of a Test Match with England at this very moment.

If you fancy a few overs, either watching or playing, then Kuramthi is the pitch you want. Their staff have an active team that competes across the country and they welcome resort guests to join in or simply sip their G&T’s from the side.

Asma Rasheed of the resort describes…

“At Kuramathi we have a football pitch with doubles up as a cricket pitch as well. 4 days the team plays futsal and 2 days they play cricket. Guests are welcome to join if they wish (and often we will have a couple of guys joining, but mostly for the futsal than cricket I have to say).

We also hold tournaments, at least once a year. This is exclusively for our team. In March we had our futsal tournament and most recently we had the cricket tournament.

We also have occasional friendly matches between other islands. Over the last 3 weeks we have held a friendly match against Dhiraagu (Telecom Company of the Maldives), islanders of Rasdhoo (our neighbouring local island) and today, we had a match against Veligandu team (another resort in Rasdhoo atoll).”

The pictures here are just a few taken from Kuramathi’s Facebook album of one of their recent tournaments.

 

Kuramathi cricket

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Best of the Maldives: Running – Shangri-La

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running on beach

The epic London Marathon takes place tomorrow so which resort is the best place for entrants to get their training in. Once you have carbo-loaded at Kuramathi, head to Shangri-La Vilingili for your training runs. Most Maldive islands would have you running laps being little larger than your typical running track in circumference anyway. Vilingili has 3 jogging trails for a total of a four kilometre route. A luxuriously long patch of ground in the terrain challenged Maldives.

Soneva Fushi also offers ‘hidden’ jogging trails and is a much larger island, but Villingili offers an eight-minute speedboat ride away ‘a 17-kilometre road, which is the longest in the Maldives’ which connects 5 neighbouring islands.

Good luck to my friend Mark Deakin who will be one of the 6000+ runners and he is raising money for the Oxford John Radcliffe Hospital if you want to lend support.

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Best of the Maldives: Kite Surfing – Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru

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Sakis Dreaming of Maldives kite surfing

March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb. As such it is classic kite flying season. The seasons are a bit different in equatorial Maldives, but we are heading into the half of the year with a bit more precipitation and breezes from the southwest trade winds. Not much too much to fret about since most of this time is still sunny, tropical paradise. But if you want to embrace the breezes when they blow, then Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru is the place for you. They have 9 boards and kites varying from 2 to 17 metres. And if you needed any further inspiration, Sakis just posted the dazzling masterpiece on his site last week. If you want to find other resorts with kite surfing, it is one of the activities noted in the Maldives Complete profiles.

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Best of the Maldives: Basketball – Hulhule

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Hulhule Basketball

 

The ‘Ides of March’ marks the opening jump ball to ‘March Madness’ in the sport of basketball. The world’s biggest university sports tournament kicked off yesterday with game one of the NCAA Div I Basketball Championship Clemson vs. UAB.

If you want to celebrate the spirit of March Madness and keep your foul shooting up to scratch or maybe run a bit of one-on-one on holiday, then several resorts claim to have a hoop – Paradise Island, Sun, Holiday Island, Royal, and Diva. But only Hulhule has a confirmed, bona fide court. I checked it out during my last visit and the basket is regulation height, the backboard in fine shape and the court itself level and even. The hotel has basketballs on hand for guests to use. Swish!

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Best of the Maldives: Left-Hand Break Surfing – Adaaran Hudhuranfushi

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Hudhuranfushi Left Hand Break Surfing

 

Once you get going on your surf board and can stay up longer and longer, when you want to go longer still, then you need to head over to Adaraan Hudhuranfushi. Their ‘Lohis’ search break is renowned not just in the Maldives, but the world over. It is the best ‘Left Hand Break’ in the Maldives and the 8th best spot in the world. Enthusiasts report that you can get a 14 second run which is a relative eternity. In fact, you might get coaching tips from the resort General Manager Asim Mohamed himself as he is a regular on the waves there. He has even included some great action shots on his Flickr site. And even if ‘falling off’ is more your forte, you can still enjoy the long runs from the superbly positioned beach bar (where my wife snapped the pic at top).

Hudhuranfushi Lohis surfing

 

Hudhuranfushi Lohis beach bar

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Best of the Maldives: Surf School – Four Seasons Kuda Huraa

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Four Seasons Kuda Huraa surf school

In light of the ASP World Tour which started this week with the Quicksilver Pro event, I thought I would do a few surf pieces. I’ve already covered the Maldives hosting this very same event in June 2009. But you don’t have to be a pro to enjoy surfing in the Maldives. In fact, it would be an ideal place to start. It doesn’t feature the giant rip-curl waves of Hawaii. Instead, the Maldives are famous for long runs of gentle rolls as more modest waves hit the long breakers of extended reefs. If you have never even surfed at all, then the place to go is Four Seasons Kuda Huraa and their Tropic Surf surfing school.

They offer special beginner course for 2 days called the ‘Dream Programme’ where you learn safety, paddling, standing-up and falling-off (I thought that I might be able to skip that last bit seeming well proficient in fall off many things, but the instructor informed me that there is a ‘proper’ way to fall off). They then take beginners to surfing spots that are ideal for novices for guided and supervised outing.

Tropic Surf has a “100% success rate getting people to stand up on the first lesson.” They feature ‘soft boards’ and an instructor is always in the water with the student. I met with the manager Chris Prewitt (see picture above) who described the programme as a “shortcut to success”

For the more ambitious, Kuda Huraa also offer a 4 night ‘Surf’s Up’ package as well as surf cruises on various boats (including the Four Seasons Explorer yacht) to different locales around the Maldives. The Male atoll itself has 8 surf breaks for all levels of skill such as ‘Sultans’, ‘Jails’, and ‘Honkys’. For more information on Maldives surfing check out the Surf in Maldives website or the Maldivian Surfing Association Facebook page

Tropic Surf

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Best of the Maldives: Longest Pool – Anantara Kihavah

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Anantara Kihavah pool

Winner of the ‘Newest Resort’ award goes to Anantara Kihavah which opened this past week. Unfortunately, especially the way Maldives development is going, such a recognition is fleeting at best. So I have had a run through of some of the early glimpses from this glittering new addition for a more enduring accolade.

Actually, a number of innovations and designs have caught my eye and are likely fodder for future posts. The ‘Sky-Fire-Salt-Sea’ restaurant/bar/deck is a creative and ambitious concept with both underwater venue and elevated roof deck. High and low. Unfortunately, this part is about the one piece left not quite finished (it is due to be completed in mid-March). Francisco Negrin is there as this very moment so I await his accounts.

In the meantime, let’s start with something simple. A distinctive that does stand out which is their pool length…

“At 49 metres, Manzaru pool bar boasts the longest swimming pool in the Maldives and Sunshine Butlers are always on hand with fruit skewers and cold face towels to cool sunbathers down. Casual lunches of crisp salads and traditional pastas are served poolside.”

So if doing your morning laps gets tedious in typically diminutive hotel pools, then consider Kihavah.

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Best of the Maldives: Gym Vista – Adaaran Vadoo

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Vadoo Gym vista

 

The worst thing about working out is the dreary, indoor tedium. Some gyms try to add some distractions with a television screen. But how about being uplifted and inspired by one of the most beautiful scenery on the planet?

Many resorts along with upgrading their fitness facilities in general, have also taken them out of the back rooms secluded in the middle of islands and moved them to waterside for some inviting scenery to dull the pain. I’m not sure which is the ‘best view’, but the ‘best vista’ has to be Adaaran Vadoo.

Vadoo combines elevation with view. It’s gymnasium is on the third floor of its main centre. It is rare to find a second story in the Maldives, never mind a third floor. And the view is set out over the villa lagoon and ocean beyond. For this reason, I chose Vadoo over Traders which has a top floor gym 13 stories up. But the windows look out over the which is mostly over the city of Male (the North view from Azur is the great view of the ocean).

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Best of the Maldives: Golf Range – Meeru

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Meeru Golf Driving Range

The number one reason people don’t go to the Maldives…the perception that there is nothing to do. And within that the myth, the number one ‘thing to do’ that is a ‘show stopper’ for many couples…no golf.

Well, you might not find a Jack Nicholas designed 36-hole links in the country, but if it is a deal breaker then there are some fine possibilities.  I’ve already highlighted Kuredu’s 6-hole ‘Executive’ course.  But for those who want a bit more whack in their holiday week, then Meeru offers a driving range. 100 balls for $10 and that includes complementary use of clubs.  The resort also has a spiffy 9-hole chip-and-putt course to boot.  Fore!

Meeru Golf Driving Range 2

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