Because of its vast seagrass meadows, Kuredu Resort Maldives is home to over 170 green sea turtles, making it very easy for you to meet some of the resident turtles! They can be seen every week of the year, so if you’ve always wanted to swim with turtles in the wild during your holiday in the Maldives, your chances are super-high here in the turtle capital of Lhaviyani Atoll; if lucky, you’ll get to spot the first turtle feeding on seagrass in the lagoon just meters away from the beach, literally on your doorstep if you’re staying in one of the front-side beach villas!

Probably the most iconic turtle is Walnut, an adult male. His shell is over 1 meter long which makes him the biggest turtle in the Lhaviyani Atoll. He has been seen swimming and eating in the lagoon frequently for almost 10 years! Along with him we can see also other big turtles such as the females Lily and Evi who reach 90 cm in shell length.

Alongside the large adult animals you also get to see juvenile turtles, which might measure just 30 cm in shell length. Turtles such as Topsie, Peanut and Baby Wilma are all still juveniles since they haven’t reached a size of 60 cm yet. Topsie arrived to the shores of Kuredu in January 2019 and it seems like he is here to stay. He has been spotted nine times since.

If you go snorkelling or diving at our famous dive site Kuredu Caves, you have the opportunity of meeting some other resident turtles. Princess Lea has found her favourite overhang 9 years ago and has been known to sit there every day of the year on the west side of Caves. The east side of the overhangs is guarded by Holiday. She can be easily identified by her excess skin on the right side of her neck. A young male, named Kaela, might also cross your way.

These are just some of the many turtles you can meet while exploring the waters surrounding Kuredu. When you want to know which turtles you have met, you can take pictures of the right and left side of the turtle’s face and bring the pictures to our resident marine biologist who will be happy to identify the turtle for you. If not gone snorkelling or diving with turtles, you can find her at the Marine Centre on the resort’s high road!

Be sure to join a guided Turtle Search snorkelling tour of Kuredu’s lagoon, because at Kuredu you have a very good chance of every day to be a turtle day.

You can even purchase a gift voucher and your loved ones can use it for a snorkelling trip with turtles, among other meaningful excursions:

Photo credit: Kristina Loosen, Olive Ridley Project Turtle Biologist