Kuramathi Maldives — a dream resort for those who are passionate about the underwater world.

Kuramathi Maldives — a vast exhibition of the island museum

The Kuramathi Maldives resort island is the largest island resort in the Maldives. The island is an hour and a half away by speedboat from the international airport in Male. However, it is also possible to reach the island much faster. By seaplane.

The length of the island is over a kilometer. It is not surprising that Kuramathi Maldives is one of the few in the Maldives where there is "public transport," a multi-seater buggy "bus" that can accommodate up to 12 passengers — guests of the island resort.

A special attraction of Kuramathi Maldives is the museum with a quite extensive exhibition. The museum features exhibits that tell about the history of the Maldives, the characteristics of its flora and fauna. The exhibits narrate the difficult life of the islanders before the era of tourism arrived on the islands.

Today, the Maldives is experiencing a civilizational boom. There is stable communication, television. There are no problems with drinking water on the islands. Most islands with native populations even have electricity. It is hard to imagine how Maldivians lived just 30-40 years ago. The Kuramathi Maldives museum displays simple household items of the residents, showcasing the ingenuity of people cut off by the ocean not only from the continent but also from neighboring islands. Just a quarter of a century ago, a 5-6 kilometer trip between the islands took half a day, as the islanders predominantly traveled by boats with weak diesel engines.

Guests of the Kuramathi Maldives hotel are surprised that the era of television and mobile communication came to the Maldives just ten years ago. About the same time, Maldivians learned to desalinate water industrially. But even now, in remote Maldivian atolls, the only means of communication is radio.

The Kuramathi Maldives museum is never empty. Typically, hotel guests visit the museum on the second day of their stay. The museum features a gigantic skeleton of a whale, over 10 meters long.

In the Kuramathi Maldives museum, most of the exhibition is dedicated to the modern environmental programs carried out by the hotel's team to maintain the home reefs and their inhabitants. Engaging educational activities are conducted here with hotel guests, where staff from the island's Eco Center explain how beautiful and fragile the nature of the Maldivian atolls is.

Submarine in Kuramathi Maldives

Recently, the Kuramathi Maldives hotel prepared a surprise for its guests. Now, from the main dock of the island hotel, a real bright red submarine will depart twice a week, where up to 12 hotel guests can enjoy exhausting underwater excursions, diving to the coral reefs of the Indian Ocean. The ten-meter submarine meets all safety standards.

The team at Kuramathi Maldives believes that not all hotel guests will be able to embark on an extreme journey to the coral gardens located near the hotel, as part of a team of divers. And not all hotel guests feel confident enough in the water to observe the life of coral reef inhabitants armed only with a mask and snorkel. Among the guests at Kuramathi Maldives are many families with children. Therefore, for safe excursions on the submarine, the most beautiful spots of the atoll are chosen — the same "points" that are used for diving and snorkeling. Now even the smallest traveler can meet a real shark, mantas, and huge oceanic turtles while sitting by the porthole with their mother.

It is worth noting that Kuramathi Maldives offers a rich children's program for its little guests. First snorkeling lessons, coral planting, pirate games. The hotel's children's club is adjacent to a large enclosure with parrots.

Ocean safari at Kuramathi Maldives

An exciting two-hour ocean snorkeling excursion at the Kuramathi Maldives resort will now take place around the coral reefs of the Madivaru and Rasdhoo islands. The Maldivians often refer to these islands as picnic islands. Here, there are turquoise lagoons, excellent underwater coral gardens, and a multitude of marine inhabitants.

Schools of colorful fish scatter into thousands of clusters as stingrays and oceanic turtles approach. Guests of Kuramathi Maldives can observe schools of small reef sharks. Experienced marine biologist instructors will show hotel guests the habitats of lobsters and moray eels. All excursion participants will be introduced to stingrays and mantas. The main attractions of the coral reefs are giant schools of sea bass, parrotfish, angelfish, and Napoleon wrasse. And of course, hundreds of colorful clownfish guard their corals.

The island diving club has increased the number of biologists. Recently, hotel guests have become very curious and often stray from the main group in the open ocean. Therefore, the number of biologist instructors has been increased based on one instructor for every five guests of Kuramathi Maldives participating in snorkeling excursions. The instructor always brings up the rear of the group and is ready to answer any questions posed directly in the water.

Kuramathi Maldives — exciting excursions to the reef!

The main events in the lives of divers and snorkelers, guests of the Kuramathi Maldives hotel, take place at the island diving club Rasdhoo Divers, next to which is the Eco Centre Kuramathi, dedicated to the study and conservation of corals and oceanic fauna.

During the first introductory lecture at Rasdhoo Divers, the ecologists from the Eco Centre will tell all new guests about the rules of behavior around the corals, introduce them to the main inhabitants of the home reef, and provide instructions on water conduct.

Right from the Rasdhoo Divers diving club, a long pontoon extends into the ocean, where Kuramathi guests, accompanied by ecologists, embark on their first "ocean expedition" to get acquainted with the home coral reef.

Right next to the pontoon at the edge of the coral reef, they will have their first encounter with the yellowfin sharks. The size of each shark is impressive — over one and a half meters. However, during the daytime, the sharks ignore people swimming above them with masks and snorkels. Most sharks rest on the bottom at a depth of about 10 meters.

Thanks to the transparent water of the lagoon, the sharks can be seen well. However, diving down to them and touching the sharks by their tails and fins is not recommended. Sharks may migrate to the other end of the island, where there are fewer swimmers, due to the intrusive attention of guests.

Right at the descent from the pontoon, you can see enormous oceanic turtles swimming quite close to people. Such "bravery" of marine animals is based on the fact that the biologists presenting the first introductory lecture categorically advise against touching the turtles, including their shells, flippers, and heads. There are plenty of turtles at the home reef of Kuramathi. Guests will encounter these massive creatures more than once during their stay at any entry point to the lagoon.

Near the home coral reef, there are many species of small colorful fish. Especially notable are clownfish, which can be observed for hours. Among the larger species are an abundance of parrotfish, napoleons, barracudas, oceanic bass, and tunas. Surgeonfish and schools of squids are also common. Lobsters can often be spotted. Guests at Kuramathi Maldives are particularly attracted to the colorful octopuses and moray eels, which peek their heads out from their daytime underwater shelters in the coral bushes.

All biologist specialists at the Kuramathi diving center work for free. To the delight of guests, there are frequent screenings of films about the inhabitants of the home reef and fascinating stories about the life of representatives of the flora and fauna of the Indian Ocean. Additionally, inquiries about all the types of fish you have just seen while exploring the corals of the Kuramathi home reef can be made at the island's Eco Centre.

In Kuramathi Maldives, the lagoon surrounding the island hotel has been cleaned

At the Maldivian hotel Kuramathi Maldives, a cleanup of the lagoon, which contains the island hotel, has been organized. A team of volunteers made up of hotel guests on kayaks, along with divers from the hotel diving club, undertook the task of cleaning the bottom of the lagoon from oceanic debris carried by seasonal currents in the Indian Ocean.

The event was organized by the Eco Center and Aqua Sports & Fun of the Kuramathi island hotel. The cleanup, which consisted of non-degradable waste such as metal items, plastic bottles and their caps, tin cans, and scraps of fishing nets, took place with striking lighting at 9 feet deep. The volunteers put in great effort and were even able to remove a metal boat frame that lay on the bottom. This operation took them half a day.

Fearless volunteers later celebrated their hard work on the beach of Kuramathi Maldives with toasts made from fresh coconuts. This initiative deserves respect as the Kuramathi hotel team strives to keep the island in pristine condition.

Snorkeling safari in Kuramathi Maldives

Daily, a Maldivian snorkeling safari is conducted for guests of Kuramathi Maldives at the home coral reef and with trips to neighboring islands. The exhausting journey on the boat of the Kuramathi Maldives diving club is full of adventures from the very beginning.

Guests of Kuramathi Maldives are shown by the diving club instructors in the clear water huge schools of colorful fish swimming past the boat. Reef sharks. Pods of dolphins that inhabit near the shoreline of Kuramathi Maldives.

Entering the water is designed for inexperienced swimmers. Hotel guests descend into the water using a convenient ladder that members of the Kuramathi Maldives diving club team set up from the boat. Swimming with masks and snorkels takes place under the supervision of experienced instructors at a ratio of one instructor for every five hotel guests. Instructors recommend that all inexperienced swimmers wear life jackets.

During the snorkeling safari, there are two stops for the boat. At the home reef of the Kuramathi Maldives hotel and at the reef of the neighboring uninhabited island. Hotel guests can see and capture on their cameras turtles, octopuses, small reef sharks, and huge colorful parrotfish. Lobsters and large shrimp inhabit the reefs. Many guests note in their reviews about the hotel that there are hundreds of species of fauna of the Indian Ocean living in the reef underwater gardens in the coastal waters of Kuramathi Maldives.

The coral reefs around Kuramathi Maldives are famous in the Maldives. The members of the Kuramathi Maldives diving club team strive to create a festive atmosphere for all participants in snorkeling safaris. The instructors are always ready to assist hotel guests in photographing and filming the ocean inhabitants. Guests hand their cameras to the instructors, who dive deep to capture unique close-up shots. Your video collection will feature moray eels, turtles, octopuses, lobsters, and a multitude of exotic fish.

Safe diving at Kuramathi Maldives

Diving into the ocean depths has gained millions of fans. Diving entices with its exoticism. However, experienced divers know very well that underwater immersions are fraught with gas poisoning that can occur in the breathing mixture.

On land, people breathe air. But the "air" in cylinders is a chemical compound of gases that do not manifest themselves in everyday life. However, at depth, they can play a fatal role and lead to tragic consequences.

One such gas is nitrogen. It is nitrogen that is most dangerous for swimmers when the immersion technology is violated or when ascending too quickly. At depths greater than 40 meters, this gas induces a "narcotic" euphoria in many divers. Experienced divers refer to this state as "the abyssal euphoria."

In fact, this is an injury to the body caused by the inability of the swimmer's cells to process nitrogen at depth. A person in this condition can make many mistakes that can lead to serious consequences. Experienced diving experts believe that it is the euphoria caused by poor nitrogen absorption that can lead to a swimmer holding their breath when ascending from sufficiently serious depths. Nitrogen poisoning leads to serious barotraumas, which can only be treated in a hyperbaric chamber under the supervision of experienced medical professionals.

That's why 17 years ago, when diving began to develop on the Maldivian Islands, Kuramathi Medical established a joint venture with Universal Enterprises Pvt Ltd, Maldives, and the German Martin Luther University Halle.

One of the main areas at the Medical Center is hyperbaric or decompression therapy. Built according to technical standards (DIN), this chamber is used to treat conditions that may arise during diving, such as decompression sickness and the bends.

This is the largest decompression chamber in the Maldives. It accommodates 6 people. The chamber is also available for hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) and for treating other conditions that occur in divers in emergencies when the swimmer's body struggles to expel carbon dioxide from the blood at depths greater than 45-50 meters.

The hyperbaric chamber is equipped with modern diagnostic devices for ECG, X-ray examinations, and ultrasound scanning. The chamber is supplied with a Doppler defibrillator. The clinic employs two German doctors. One is an emergency specialist in diving and emergency medicine, while the other is a general practitioner. A nurse and a chamber operator support the doctors in their work. The clinic also takes care of the team of divers at Kuramathi Maldives. Daily check-ups are conducted for all hotel guests who decide to take up scuba diving.