Kandooma Island is 13 hectares in area (32 acres) or roughly about a 20 minute walk around the perimeter. It is located two thirds down the south eastern edge of the south male atoll and is neighbours to resort islands Cocoa in the north, Biyado in the west and local island Guraidhoo in the south. For a sampling of Maldivian life a visits to Guraidhoo can be arranged.

The resort has 160 villas in four main categories of beach and garden villas, Duplex villas, family villas and water villas. With the exception of the garden villas, all the accommodation has been built around the edge of or on the water. Each villa type has been designed with cool clean lines with white washed timber providing warm texture to the unshod foot. Large picture windows mean that you are only a glance away from the great blue outdoors.

The connected I-pod generation need not fret as the island is completely covered with wi-fi broad band. Didn’t bring your pod? No worries, the islands resident dj’s have about 40 of the things for loan that will be programmed with the kind of play lists you tell them you like.

Did we mention DJ’s? Yes, and they are not just employed to programme I-pods, their day job is to run Radio Kandooma. They’ll be bringing you the news, views on the days weather, activities, birthdays and requests.

Serving “Med-Asian” cuisine Restaurants and bars at Kandooma will offer a fresh new approach to resort dining as it seeks to provide choice in menu, service, environment and price.

Guests coming home will be able to tell tales of margaritas in the lounge, villa side barbeques, wood-fired pizzas by the pool, sunset garnished Mojitos on koimala roof bar, take out fish and chips, Kandooma café buffet, castaway picnics, cappuccino’s at the coffee club and sitting at the kitchen range at Koimala restaurant offering advice to the chefs.

“It’s all about the fish!” as one diver was heard to say. For some, diving will be the only reason they are staying at Kandooma. It is after all located in a prime area. The resort will run dive dhonis to nearby dive sites and speed boats to increase the range of dive destinations. For others it could be to fulfill a lifelong ambition to qualify as a PADI certified diver.

Many will delight in the many other water activities that the resort has worked to develop. These will include snorkeling excursions, light craft sailing, canoeing, windsurfing, kite surfing or even just regular surfing on the close reef break.

It does not stop when you get out of the water. The resort has delighted in developing activities from the traditional volleyball, petanque and five a side foot ball to the slightly off the wall, extreme croquet, bicycle polo and underwater hockey (a legitimate sport with a small but determined following developed by Britain‘s royal navy to develop fitness in their divers).

There are activities to even get you doing things after dinner so you might find yourself guided around the clear night sky by our resident star expert from the koimala roof bar or gaze at a different kind of star like Audrey Hepburn or Humphrey Bogart from the nightly screened black and white classics on the beach.

Once all that is done and all you want is a bit of private space and to ask your muscles for forgiveness, the resort offers the services of an extensive spa with private villas, several treatment rooms and water [aqua] treatment facilities too.

Accommodation

Beach Villas – Size: 36 sq m

Like all Kandooma’s accommodation, the semi-detached beach villas come with large picture windows that positively invite the outdoors inside. Whitewashed floor boards evoke a sense of fresh coolness, yet feel warm and textured to bare feet. Luxury comes from light summer duvets and generously proportioned bath towels. Flat screen televisions, a place to plug in your mp3/iPod, indoor out-door showers and wifi broadband are all standard, in addition to all the other usual amenities you would expect of a world class lifestyle resort.

Duplex Villas – Size: 72 sq m

The sea-facing duplex villas offer the luxury of space. Located at the water’s edge, the villas present a striking mix of natural elements and modern design. Bedrooms located at the first floor level and so enjoy views of the sea. The living area underneath the bedroom is furnished with designer seating laid out on a carpet of fine white sand.

Family villas – Size: 144 sq m

Ideal for families or a small group of divers, these are the size of two duplex villas together. They offer sleeping space upstairs as well as living and dining below.

Water Villas -Size: 85 sq m

Water villas offer the ultimate in the Kandooma Maldives experience. Hovering above coral and marine life in the shallow clear waters, guests will enjoy their time on their private sundeck, dangling their feet in the water or at high tide, relaxing in a partially submerged hammock. Expansive living space is complemented by a large open bathroom which offers an outdoor shower and bathtub and views of the water.

Dining

The focus at the restaurants and bars of Kandooma has been to get the basics right and improve on things from there. The resort claims to make the eating and drinking experience straightforward and unfussy, offering quality through integrity of ingredients. They all say that right? Read on.. Orange juice in the morning will always be just-squeezed, coffee (even in the rooms), will be freshly ground, tea is loose leaf, bread and ice cream will be home made. The classy service aims to be direct and simple; warm and informal; always honest. Choice in price as well as in menus. It all becomes uniquely Kandooma!

Kandooma Café

Breakfast (6.30am to 10.30pm)

Greet the day in the “Big Barnacle”! Wide archways let in the sunshine and atoll views. Also views, news, weather and music provided by the “bananas in the morning” breakfast show on Radio Kandooma Breeze. Fresh Juice, pressed coffee, an international selection of breakfasts and attendant chefs ready to receive instructions on just how easy you would like your eggs over.

Dinner (6.00 pm to 11.00 pm)
The Bright and Breezy big barnacle becomes a warm cave of soft glowing light presenting an intimate mood under the stars visible through the skylight 60 feet above. Chill out sounds of Radio Kandooma Bleu add to this almost surrealistic romantic environment. A banquet of travel inspired Mediterranean dishes spiced with flavours of Asia is supplemented by chefs busily working tandoor ovens, teppan grills and rottiseurs.

Poolside

Lunch (10.00am to 11.00pm)
Relax! It’s too hot to do anything else, except perhaps to decide what to order next from a menu of fresh salads, sandwiches, wood-fired pizza or pick up a choice cut of eye fillet or lamb loin to be grilled by yourself under the shade of a coconut grove, pausing briefly for a sip of cold drink of your choice, chatting to fellow sun loungers. Then it’s back to the shade of the umbrella from where the searing blue of the atoll can best be appreciated.

The Kitchen

[Opening Time :06.30 pm to 11.30 pm]
Some hotels take diners into the kitchen to sit at “the chefs table”. At Kandooma Island Resort they brought the kitchen out and put it in the middle of the restaurant to create an exquisitely elegant dining experience with the best view on the island. Diners can choose to sit in elegant comfort looking out over Kandooma channel, out on the beach, feet in the sand, or engage the chefs in conversation by reserving a seat at one of the two main kitchen counter ranges. The food will be Thai – Mediterranean with a good representation of sea food. About 15 paces away is the wine room where a choice of some 250 wines will see that some indecision will be encountered in selecting a preferred label.

The Deck

[Opening Time :05.00 pm to 10.00 pm]
For a slightly bohemian end to the day walk past the wine room (resist the urge to have a quick browse, you’ll miss the sunset) and up the circular stairs to The Deck. An expanse of Teak planking covering rooftop of The Kitchen liberally sprinkled with low tables, startlingly blue cushions, bean bags and monolithic granite planters of greenery. Having freshly showered off a day of sunshine and saltwater, it is the ideal place to worship a sunset and the excellent Mojitos of the resident cocktail mixologist. After sundown the area is lit entirely by Moroccan lanterns and the stars. Ideal to continue with cocktails and graze at the tapas menu, savouring a thought for what’s to come…

Bokkuraa Coffee Club

[Opening Time :6.30am to 11.00pm]
Boutique coffees and teas are available to go or right there laced with cyan vistas of pool, sea and sky and the clean contemporary lines of the outlet itself. It is a “Buzzy place to enjoy a little bit of the city by the beach as you hear the now familiar hiss and froth of a cappuccino in creation. All fortified by daily changing pastries and homemade ice creams by the coupe or cone.

Take Out and Delivery

[24 hours]
When back from a hectic four – dive day, the only thing you might want to do is flop on the lounger and get a pizza in the comfort of your Kandooma home. Muster up enough energy to drag out the compendium and look up what is available. You have a choice of ordering from a list of simple but utterly tempting bites. You will have a choice of picking it up at the agreed time or having it delivered for a one off price. Plates and cutlery are all in your room. The Resort uses where ever possible reusable containers but where disposable is unavoidable, biodegradable food containers are present. Three different menu styles serve three different times from breakfast, all day and night owl. All depends on which end of the day you live in.

That’s not all.., here are some other menu options

Castaway Picnic Menu Excursion Menu Picnic Island Menu

Recreation and Acitivities

Act, accomplish, achieve!

Being lively and engaged is central to the resorts reason for existing, so when it comes to dedicating a department for activity the local experts were always going to do some things a little differently. While diving largely takes centre stage, being almost a dog-paddle to some of the country’s best dive sites, the instructors have developed experiences to tickle any taste. It might be pursuing an adrenaline surge on a surfboard, a mind enriching aqua safari or a reflective moment at a moonlit campfire drinking tea with a Maldivian story teller.

Everything is possible at this resort in paradise.

Diving

The Dive Centre
The Dive Centre is comprehensively equipped to meet the needs of advanced divers but also suitable and thoughtfully set up for absolute beginners. It is run by Euro Divers, a fully accredited organisation operating ten outlets in the Maldives alone as well as operating in several other countries. They will provide multi-lingual instructors to cater for Kandooma’s international guest mix.

For non-divers, it’s an exploration ….
Snorkeling offers a highly portable and simple way of getting to know the marine life. Quite often, as much can be seen snorkeling as diving and will give you a very good idea of how appealing it would be to take the plunge and commit to a diving course. Kandooma offers a number of snorkeling excursions ranging from afternoon short trips to the house reef, early morning sunrise kayak and snorkeling safaris, Aqua safaris in mid morning with the resident marine biologist and some sunset snorkeling.