June 2011
Sometime in early 2011, the boyfriend decided we’ll head to Maldives for my birthday. What a brilliant idea! And a super-generous birthday present!
We spent a good 2 months researching the numerous resorts, had endless debates on location, facilities, pricing. And then we finally found our Goldilocks Maldives Resort: not too big an establishment, not too rustic, varied dining options, decent array of activities, and one of the main draw was an underwater spa – the only one in Maldives.
And so that was how we came to know and love Huvafen Fushi.
The resort is a 30-minute speed boat ride from Male. Upon arrival, we were relieved that it looked exactly like the it did on the website. Phew!
The resort manager and your assigned Thakuru greet you the moment you step off the speed boat. The Thakuru is your personal butler assigned to you during your entire stay. Ours was Didi and when we arrived at our villa, the first thing he did was to put his number on speed dial.
Our bungalow/villa over the water included an endless view of the Indian Ocean.
Sea Activities
We were on the beach, and on the jet ski within an hour of our arrival. The water was choppy that afternoon, but it was a lot of fun being out on the ocean and just jetting about real fast outside the lagoon area. The resort makes sure there’s a boat that heads out with the jet skis, for safety reasons and the staff on the boat would keep track of time for you.
Also spent a fair amount of time snorkeling. We were exploring the house reef around the resort one morning. And we also had a guided snorkeling tour, to explore the waters about 20 minute boat ride away from the resort.
Stingrays would come near the shoreline at a particular part of the resort every evening just before sunset, and the resort would feed them. These things are monstrous!
The BF went deep sea fishing twice, setting out just before sunset and back at the resort at 11am. I opted out, as choppy waters usually make me sea sick.
Birthday: Huvafen Fushi Style
Oh yea, the reason we went on this trip. Started the day with a lovely room service breakfast, served out on the deck.
Went snorkeling for a bit, then had lunch at Raw. Where yes, everything was raw and surprisingly delicious. It was a healthy but also tasty and filling meal. BF had butternut gyoza stuffed with cashew & herb feta. For dessert, we shared a pineapple carpaccio served with 25-year old balsamic vinegar & ice-cream.
After a bit of a rest, we trooped down to the spa. And we had our treatments at the underwater spa, the only one in Maldives. It’s really cool how the sea view you get is actually that of the Indian Ocean, not an aquarium. Pretty unnerving, but really cool at the same time.
Capped off the evening with dinner, which was a private affair on their Rock Island. Just the 2 of us and Didi was our server. The photo below shows what the island looks like in the daytime. Our table was set-up on the left side. The chef had my lamb on the grill about 100 meters away from us. It was heavenly, dining under the stars.
Huvafen Evenings: UMBar & Salt
We found ourselves heading to the bar just about every evening, for sunset drinks. UMBar is an open area, with spacious and comfy loungers. After a day out in the sea – snorkeling, jet ski and kayaking, it was a real treat to unwind there with a drink in hand, and listening to the waves.
We had dinner at Salt a couple of nights, that’s like their fine-dining restaurant, open only for dinner. One evening, I had for starters, oysters with coconut milk, kaffir lime leaf & salmon roe. Pretty dish, and delicious too.
On another night, I decided to give in to my crab craving, and ordered their Black Pepper and Lime Lagoon Crab. That dish, for one, could actually serve about 5 people. Maybe they caught too many crabs that day, hence the overly generous portion?
Huvafen In-Villa Dining
We booked to dine in on our last night, and the chef dropped in at the villa to prepare our meal out on the deck. There was sashimi, followed by a grilled seafood platter comprising lobster, prawns and local reef fish. And for vegetarian BF, there was ratatouille with sweet potato mash.
The Corona Story
One afternoon after being in the sun and on the jetski, we headed back to the villa and decided to have beers. So we were chilling out on the deck, having a Corona each. It was the best Corona I’d ever tasted, there was something about the super cold beer, after being in the sea, and then just gazing into the endless Indian Ocean.
The next afternoon, we wanted the same thing, only to realize the mini-bar had not been re-stocked. We checked with Didi, only to be told they’d run out of Corona on the resort. Yikes! That evening during another round of sunset drinks at UMBar, we jokingly mentioned to the staff, to send any Coronas they find from checked out villas, to our mini bar. And lo and behold, the next day, our fridge was super well-stocked with Corona. How’s that for service, eh?
Da Plane! Da Plane!
The BF was heavily toying with the idea of heading back to Male via air taxi on our departure day. After much deliberation and some help from Didi, we booked ourselves a seaplane, private charter, to take us back to Male – instead of heading back to the mainland via the resort’s speedboat.
We’ll Be Back!
We spent the last day of the trip musing over when we’ll return to this paradise on earth. And we decided that even if we stayed at another resort, we’d still fit in Huvafen Fushi into the itinerary as well. That’s how much we enjoyed this dreamy atoll hideaway.
Always Pack Heels 