Dear friends,

Tropical greetings from Faarufushi Maldives, the small coral island renowned for its big-time beauty.

We hope you will enjoy the third edition of STAY CONNECTED, our quarterly magazine packed with all the latest news from our luxury island resort.

It is our pleasure to share with you the magical moments we had during the Festive Season and all the various happenings at our island paradise. As we continue to welcome our guests and approach our one-year anniversary, we look forward to exciting days ahead to continuously provide you and your loved ones with timeless moments to cherish.

Thank you to all our readers and we hope to welcome you here in the sunny side of life in the near future.

Warmest regards,Jean-Marc Michel,General Manager

Celebrating the most wonderful time of the year with our guests has truly been remarkable. The island came alive with the spirit of the season as twinkling lights led our guests towards an array of special events and activities.

From Santa’s exciting arrival to the island, revitalizing sessions at Nika Spa, ecological activities at our Marine Centre, to culinary journeys at our various dining venues, highlighting our Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve gala dinners. It was an unforgettable celebration filled with happenings and performances all throughout the Festive week until we welcomed another decade.

Looking Back At Festive Season's Magical Moments

Built on a prime location on the island’s northwest shore. Right where the greenery meets the sand. A singular residence with direct beach access, vaulted timber ceilings, and expansive windows. Fronted by private infinity pool with a sleek edge that vanishes into the horizon.

Enhance your holiday with our quirky addition of an oversized Maldivian swing, “undhoali.” Inviting a lazy day in the shade. The perfect spot to witness the hue of colours spreading across the sky as the sun sets over the Indian Ocean.

Room size: 331 sqmNumber of units: 1

Facilities:• Direct beach access• Floor-to-ceiling windows• Vaulted timber ceilings• Private covered patio with lounge furniture• Separate bedroom and living room• Private infinity pool• Deck shower• In-room dining and living area• Walk-in closet• AC bathroom• Separate guest bathroom• Outside dining area• Separate outside shower• Private Jacuzzi• Outside oversized swing

A Quirky Twist With Our Island Residence

The sweetest time of the year is just around the corner. Here are our suggestions on how you can celebrate your love and rekindle the romance during your sweet escape.

Picnic at the sandbankBe whisked away to a secluded island in the middle of the Indian Ocean for a once-in-a-lifetime experience, where you can soak up the sun and relax while listening to the soothing sound of the waves. The turquoise-coloured waters are all yours as well, so that you can enjoy swimming and, if you bring along your snorkeling equipment, take time to explore the fascinating underwater world. Feast upon a delicious picnic lunch including selected beverages.

Couple’s Journey at Nika SpaCelebrate special moments in a soothing space and let our expert therapists bring you along a journey of tranquility and rejuvenation. Our signature couple’s treatment ritual has been specifically designed for couples to unwind and melt away everyday stress to evoke on a deep sense of tranquility. This journey includes a couple’s massage along with a bathing ritual like no other. You will emerge from this decadent ritual feeling renewed, relaxed and glowing with vitality.

Private Dinner by the Reef DeckDiscover refined tastes and textures with delightful dishes prepared by your own private chef, while listening to the waves lapping and feeling the gentle breeze on your skin. Upon arrival, you will be welcomed by your host with a romantic dinner set up beneath the sky. The dinner menu is personalized upon consultation with our Executive Chef ensuring an experience that is specifically crafted.

Celebrate Love At Faarufushi

As we continuously embark on our journey to sustainability, our culinary team have come up with homemade products which are offered at all our dining venues. By making our own products in-house, we do not only reduce our carbon footprint with less packaging and importation of goods, but also motivates our culinary team to be creative in showcasing their passion for food.

Our homemade products include jams, freshly-made yoghurts, sorbets, chips, sausages, smoked salmon, bacon, cooked ham and our own spices.

In addition to our sustainability initiatives, majority of our fish, vegetables and condiments are sourced locally, in support of local fishermen, farmers and suppliers.

It Is Better Homemade

Our poolside bar, Sangu and signature overwater bar, Boli, are taking the Gin & Tonic concept up a notch in a way that's anything but basic. Choose from our finest gins from around the world, mixed with your choice of one of our premium botanical tonics and fresh garnishes.

We prefer to pair our Gin with Fever-Tree and Lamb & Watt premium tonic waters. The flavour is then enhanced with our hand-picked natural botanicals.

Taking Gin And Tonic Up A Notch At Sangu And Boli

Faarufushi is committed to reduce single-use plastic bottles as part of our sustainable initiatives. The new year has marked the start of our latest environmental drive – the operation of our own water bottling plant producing potable drinking water from sea water through specially designed filtration systems.

Our customised glass bottles are reusable, allowing us to save disposing about 72,000 plastic bottles as well as minimize imported water bottles each year.

The water bottling plant can produce up to 400 liters of drinking water every day, for both still and sparkling varieties. Our potable drinking water has already been distributed all around the island and served to guests in glass bottles which are then returned to the bottling plant for washing and refilling.

New Year, New Initiative

Discover Coral Reef – Brief introduction to coral reefs and their importance by our resident Marine Biologist with a snor-keling tour around the island, focusing on the difference between a healthy reef and a dead reef.

Fish Identification Lab – Introduction to the most common families of fish and their ecological role in the coral reefs by our resident Marine Biologist and snorkeling in the lagoon to observe the fishes learnt about in the presentation.

Wildlife of Faarufushi – Presentation about the terrestrial animals that live on the island followed by botanical tour to discover the local flora (new activity)

Dive and Snorkel with Marine Biologist – Guests will be accompanied by the Marine Biologist during their dive or snorkel and have any questions about the marine life answered by an expert. (new activity)

Sunset Cruise with Marine Biologist – Witness the mesmerizing sunset of the Maldives with our Marine Biologist on board to explain more about the ocean and the underwater world. (new activity)

Coral Restoration Programme – In our effort to continuously preserve the environment, we will soon be implementing a project to transplant corals into a frame with the participation of guests and the help of our resident Marine Biologist, hoping to eventually repopulate the coral reefs. (new activity)

Marine Centre’s Fish Tanks – Learn about the current condition of the seabed with our model fish tanks – with one side featuring the ideal condition should everyone work together in preserving our underwater world while the other side featuring the worst that may happen should people continue to be irresponsible in throwing trash to the ocean.

Education: He managed to balance his first bartending course at Martiny Mangalore while also taking his Hotel Management course. Upon graduating from the university, he further enhanced his skills by enrolling in International Bartending Course at European Bartending School in Sydney.

Achievements:• Featured in Indian Book of Records for “Most Number of Flair Bartenders Flaring at the Same Time”• Yellow Grading at World Flair Association• 3rd placer at IFBA Flair Challenge 2019• Finalist at Goa Flair Challenge 2018

Mentors:“My first mentors were the Managing Partners of Martiny Mangalore, Vinod Kumar and Joseph Crasta, who brought bartending to Mangalore and have trained more than 300 students.”

Inspirations:Tom Dyer and Alexander Shitfanov

“I have met Tom Dyer at my first WFA Grand Slam competition in Mumbai. I was the lucky one who won his flair bottle and suit during the event.”

Click here to see Hemraj’s video performances.

Explore More With Marine Centre's Activities

Located at the northern extension of Raa Atoll, divers and snorkelers alike can enjoy an abundant house reef teeming with marine life – parrotfish, dwarf sepia, slipper lobster, moray eels as well as baby Napoleons, black tip sharks, lemon sharks and mérous – there are a lot to discover at Faarufushi’s breathtakingunderwater world. We have marked dedicatedsnorkeling spots around the lagoon and share a snorkeling map to our guests to guide them as they explore around the island.

Go deep with our professional team of divers from Euro-Divers Maldives and explore the 24 diving spots around the island, which are unshared with other resorts. Witness enormous swarms of fish, large schools of blue-striped snapper and batfishes. Encounter nurse sharks, sting rays, eagle rays and mantas. Witness the overwhelming underwater world of the Maldives, taking the breath of even the mostexperienced divers.

See the impressive videos and photos taken by David Löwe for Hotelsinheaven.com.

Hi there, my name is Bondu, and I have been appointed as Faarufushi’s Island Wildlife Ambassador.

I will be a close friend to our young VIPs, taking them by their hands as they discover and explore our island paradise. I am here to guide our guests to getfamiliarize with the wildlife at Faarufushi, my island home, and meet the rest of my friends, which you will discover in the future editions of Stay Connected. So let me give you a bit of information about myself and my family.

I am an Island Garden Lizard, the most commonly found reptile around Faarufushi. Guests love to take our photos since our vibrant colors make us interesting photo subjects.

Discover Faarufushi's Breathtaking Underwater World

Meet BonduFaarufushi's Island Wildlife Ambassador

Byron Conroy and Lena Kavender were seduced by the serenity and beauty – both topside and underwater – at the Faarufushi Resort in the Maldives. I am diving along the reef wall of the Faarufushi house reef together with my partner Byron and our guide Stephane. We are at about 15m depth when we spot a family of four adult eagle rays cruising towards us at the same depth. The rays were swimming along the wall and with seemingly no intention of changing their route. The three divers and four eagle rays pass each other from a close distance in perfect harmony. ‘Wow, this will be a cool story to tell!’ I think to myself. Byron is busy working energetically with his camera to catch this unique and magical moment.

We are in Raa Atoll, a 50-minute flight north of the Maldivian capital, Male. Faarufushi Maldives, a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World, opened in early 2019 and is located on a small, dreamy, tropical island. Green banana trees and other rich vegetation and fruit trees dominate the middle of the island. Surrounding the trees is whitest sand beach imaginable, along with a 30-degree Celsius turquoise lagoon. Yet outside this sits the coral reef wall sloping down to the deep blue ocean. And this is where our small team of divers have just had a fantastic encounter with some graceful residents of the Indian Ocean.

Let's Hear It From The Media

BOOK NOW

The Ultimate Getaway

Stay from 1 February 2020 to 30 April 2020 and save up to 57% from our published room rates. Rates are inclusive of daily breakfast and dinner at Iru.

Rates Include:

• Your choice of villa accommodation

• Daily breakfast and dinner at Iru Restaurant

• Yoga sessions, twice a week (based on weekly activity schedule)

• Use of snorkeling equipment (mask and fins) during the stay

• Wireless internet access

Valid for stays from 1 February 2020 to30 April 2020

BOOK NOW

Book Early and Saveon Your Dream Holiday

Book early and save up to 57% from your dream vacation for 1 May 2020 to 31 October 2020. Rate is inclusive of daily breakfast and dinner at Iru.

Rates Include:

• Your choice of villa accommodation

• Daily breakfast and dinner at Iru Restaurant

• Yoga sessions, twice a week (based on weekly activity schedule)

• Use of snorkeling equipment (mask and fins) during the stay

• Wireless internet access

Valid for stays from 1 May 2020 to 31 October 2020

For enquiries and more information, please call

(+960) 658-7070 or send an email to sales@faarufushi.com www.faarufushi.com

Download Floor Plan

Beach Bungalow | Beach Retreat with Pool | Ocean Retreat with Pool | Ocean Suite with Pool | Island Residence with Pool

Glimpse what the world’s publications have to say about Faarufushi.

Read more of the feature here | pages 22 – 28.