Maldives Trip Recap Part 2

If you missed Part 1 of my Maldives Trip Recap, click here. To continue my Maldives recap with our first official day in the Maldives…

I don’t think anyone slept through the first night… because jet lag is tough. And whenever I don’t get a good night’s sleep, I tend to try sleeping longer and thus I almost missed grabbing my first breakfast at Cafe Huraa! I was able to eat a few bites of scrambled eggs and toast however, before rushing off to our Intro to Surfing class which is taught by a luxury surfing company called Tropicsurf.

I took an intro to surfing class in Hawaii many years ago and I felt like I did well enough, but salty sea water in my eyes is not my favorite thing. I was glad no one else seemed to bent on getting to any real waves, so we basically went over how to get on our boards and spent the rest of the hour getting to know our AWESSIE (awesome + Aussie) instructors 🙂

Next we had lunch at Cafe Huraa before heading to the Marine Discovery Center to learn about sharks before snorkeling. The shark presentation was really a delight to watch and very informative. In one part of the presentation, we learned that black tip reef sharks, are “basically” vegetarian! It made us feel way safer in the water, especially knowing how commonly sharks are spotted in the Maldives. We saw at least four of them when we went out snorkeling right after the presentation and I even captured one on video with my (rented) Gro Pro Hero 8! You can see the video on my Instagram page 🙂

Dinner was again seafood, but this time at the Kandu Grill. We got to know Randy Shimabuku, the Kuda Huraa General Manager and his wife, Atsuko. They make a lovely couple, and he is really such a wonderful host and so fun to chat with. He reminds me a lot of my dad who quite adept at keeping the conversation alive and enjoyable.

Day three at Kuda Huraa, and actually our last day at this resort before our stay at Four Seasons Landa Giraavaruu. We started with a very early session of stand up paddle board yoga in the bright and beautiful morning sun.  I already love stand up paddle boarding but had never thought of trying yoga on a SUP board. It turned out to be a fun and easy challenge for all of us. Afterward, I ate breakfast at Cafe Huraa and since this is like a breakfast buffet, Irene and I made sure to flavor a few different booths each day. On this day, Irene and I had more time than usual to explore breakfast so we tried their ramen and dumplings for breakfast and I daresay it was my favorite breakfast yet!

A few hours after breakfast, I had a massage! The spa is only accessible by boat. And it is the cutest little boat! This was hands down, the BEST massage I ever, ever, ever had. I requested deep pressure and it was just what I needed. I felt like I was in the clouds after 🙂

On day four, we had our (sadly) last breakfast at Cafe Huraa before packing up for the seaplane to Four Seasons Landaa Giravaaruu. Unfortunately we woke up to torrents of rain and it really put a literal damper on the day as we were all hoping to get some last minute shooting done at the stunning Kura Huraa resort. The downpour lasted a few hours and our plane was delayed, but not by long. Soon enough we were on our way and if you ever get the chance to fly via seaplane in the Maldives, make sure to keep an eye on the view, because it is magical!

We were able to fly on the famous Four Seasons Triggerfish seaplane which only took around half an hour from Four Seasons Kuda Huraa to Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru.  For those wondering about the cost of a seaplane transfer between Kuda Huraa and Landaa Giraavaru, it is is US$690 + per adult , subject to 12%GST. The cost is the same from Landaa Giraavaru to the Airport.

Once we arrived at Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru, we were given a short introduction to the resort before being brought to our rooms via buggy. Upon our first impression, Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru seemed rather massive and green after being at cozy Four Seasons Kuda Huraa! It was a bit of a shock but we quickly got used to it.

Our room here was not over the water (which was actually better for me since I am a light sleeper and the waves hitting the water villa at Kuda Huraa often woke me up) but instead we had our own private access to the beach! I believe we had the Oceanfront Bungalow with Pool – specifically room 202. Inside we had a living room, king bed with netting, an indoor shower as well as outdoor shower, a gigantic bath, a vanity area. Outside, we had an infinity pool, lounge beds, an upstairs loft with hammock and direct access to the beach.

I highly, highly, highly recommend bringing and wearing mosquito repellent at Landaa Giraavaru. The resort does provide complimentary mosquito repellent, but I have reason to believe the repellent I personally brought, is way better 🙂 You see, basically my whole life, in any case I have been with a group of people and “we” get attacked by mosquitos… you can bet I got allllll the bites. Not only am I used to being the only one bit, my bites are usually the only ones to swell as well. Weird but anyways, on this trip, everyone actually got bit around 10 times and I only got one tiny one on my wrist which is the only place I forgot to apply the repellent 🙂

Since we were at the Four Seasons Landaa Giraavaru during festive season we had a party to attend! After our arrival, we spent a few hours relaxing and refreshing before heading out to the social distance “Fly Fly Butterfly” party with bodu beru drummers, color-changing Butterfly Pea Flower cocktails and soaring butterfly kites. I had so much fun watching the drummers and dancers! It was great because Haley and Rafael even joined in on the dancing 🙂

Dinner was at my favorite restaurant of the whole trip! Al Barakat is not only gorgeous in architectural and interior design but their Lebanon and Moroccan flavours just blew me away. We got to know Guia Sciortino, the assistant director of Public Relations for Four Seasons Landa Giraavaru and she was even able to provide me with the Al Barakat hummus and tabbouleh recipes after! I am super excited to recreate these 🙂

That’s it for today! The 3rd and last part of my trip recap will be up tomorrow!

XOXO