Conservation
Essentials / Conservation
Smack-bang in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Kuredu Resort & Spa is endowed with a striking richness of biological diversity. The island is a special place for its dazzling beauty over water, and even more so for being amidst one of the world’s most stunning marine ecosystems.
Few places in the Maldives offer such a variety of encounters as Kuredu. The surrounding reefs are home to diverse coral, a plethora of micro critters and an astounding variety of fish. Sharks and rays are seen regularly while diving and snorkelling, as are dolphins’ leaps and twirls. At Kuredu Resort & Spa nature’s putting its best on display and lets you get up close and personal with its toughest survivors, often right in front of your villa…
The Kuredu community
Kuredu spoils you with some stunning wallpaper-like sights. The island is home to a renowned community of marine creatures that are on the bucket list of every nature lover: sea turtles. Seeing one of Earth’s most ancient creatures in its natural environment is a privilege in itself, and even more so when visiting Kuredu. All around our beautiful island you can meet the largest population of green sea turtles in the whole of Maldives. With 180 green sea turtles just around the island, Kuredu is THE turtle hotspot.
World’s toughest survivors have been inhabiting Kuredu for ages and can be found in the lagoon grazing on the vast sea grass meadows and at the majority of dive and snorkel sites. Every now and then we get lucky and witness baby turtles beginning their life journey, hoping to come back to the very same beach one day to keep the Kuredu community in existence.
To make sure that our sea turtle population is intact and thriving, Kuredu boasts its own resident sea turtle biologist from the Olive Ridley Project. The project is committed to protect sea turtles in the Indian Ocean through research, education and rehabilitation of injured turtles. If you want to learn more about the research on Kuredu’s resident turtles, visit the marine biologist in the Marine Center.
Did you know?
Kuredu's resident turtles...
Many of our turtles are residents and can be seen all year around. If you are lucky, you can meet one of 80 green sea turtles already steps away from the beach in our famous lagoon.
Strictly vegetarian...
Green sea turtles are strictly vegetarian. They love to eat the healthy sea grass around Kuredu, which is the main reason for them to come and stay here.
A single breath of air...
Adult green sea turtles can sleep for more than eight hours on a single breath!
World's toughest survivors...
Only one out of a thousand hatchlings will make it to adulthood. Today through human impact and global change, it might even be one out of ten thousand.
Master navigators
With the ability to detect the Earth’s magnetic field, sea turtles can plot their journey and navigate back to the beach where they hatched to lay their eggs.
Do you like Kuredu’s turtles as much as we do?
Kuredu’s sea turtle community has been around the island for ages. However these tough survivors are classified as endangered and their future is uncertain. To pay respect to them, us and your descendants, please observe our code of conduct:
- Do not disrupt the turtles’ natural behaviour!
- Do not touch them! They can feel through their carapace and hate to be touched!
- Do not prevent them from taking a breath of air on the surface, they can drown immediately!
- Do not provoke them! If you do, you’re likely to experience one of world’s most powerful bites.
- There is no best way to ride a turtle. Do not even think about it!
We care about Kuredu’s special community and we expect you to care, too.
Kuredu Resort & Spa and Prodivers are proud to support the Olive Ridley Project!
Meet the Manta Rays
The joy of snorkelling or diving with Manta Rays is difficult to overstate. People travel long distances to come eye to eye with these gentle giants, and we’re extremely lucky that we often spot them just off Kuredu.
The Republic of Maldives has a massive population of Reef Manta Rays. In the Lhaviyani Atoll we’ve identified almost 300 individuals, and half of the Manta Rays that cruise our waters are juvenile, which makes it the largest aggregation of juveniles in the Maldives! Our research also shows that 25 per cent of the Lhaviyani population are female Mantas.
Did you know?
Ocean's biggest feed on the smallest...
Manta Rays feed on plankton, the smallest marine organisms living just below the surface.
Looking pretty...
Manta Rays have their own cleaning station near Kuredu. They even line up to get a beauty treatment!
Putting a name to the belly...
Manta Rays have unique belly patterns. They’re like our fingerprints and allows us to identify them.
Happy to still have them around...
Mantas have been facing global population declines of up to 86% due to an increasing market in gill plates. The tonic made from these is falsely believed to remove toxins and ailments from the human body.
On a good day we see up to twenty Mantas!
You can set your heart racing by seeing as many as twenty Mantas up close and personal during one of our diving or snorkelling trips.
