News
Spotlight on Maldives with 2024 Surfing Legends Series at Kandooma
Together with partners, The Perfect Wave, Holiday Inn Resort Kandooma Maldives is delighted to announce the return of the Surfing Legends Series to the private island paradise. Attracting former World Champions Barton Lynch and Pam Burridge, and ex-pro Ace Buchan, who will share their stories, secrets and coaching tips in their exclusive surfing programmes.
Take advantage of the knowledge on offer and polish up your surfing skills with a series of special Surf schools to choose from during the surfing season in the Maldives.
“Many of the surfers who join us for the Surfing Legends Series have non-surfing friends and family, so we can ensure they are well looked after too. The island Kandooma has so much to offer in terms of great food, activities, relaxation, watersports and even a Spa,” said Ben Horvath, Business Development & Marketing Manager, The Perfect Wave.
“Surf, hang out and learn from some of the greatest surfers of all time. There’s no better place to do it than the home of Kandooma Right in the Maldives.”
Take your pick of your favourite Surfing Legend from a choice of three greats this season.
Aussie Barton Lynch whose exemplary career included 17 World Championship victories to become one of the most successful professional surfers of all time. He is now one of the most sought after coaches, an expert commentator and loves to surf more than anything. Barton will host a seven night camp 27 April to 4 May, 2024 starting from US$4,250 per person (based on twin share 1 surfer/1 non-surfer occupancy) staying in a Beach Villa. Barton will be hosting exclusive dhoni (Maldivian boat) trips to nearby waves including lefts such as Tucky Joes and fun rights like Quarters and Riptides. At Kandooma-fushi, your private island home for the week, your villa is positioned just steps away from the beach and a private world-class right hand point break wave called Kandooma Right.
The Barton Lynch Surf Week package includes:
- Accommodation in a Beach Villa (twin share basis one surfer/one non-surfer)
- Shared speedboat transfers airport-Resort-airport
- Daily Buffet Breakfast at Kandooma Cafe
- Surfer Pass
- Dhoni transfers to nearby waves
- Food & Beverage package, from US$65 per person per night (Optional extra)
1990 World Surfing Champion Pam Burridge and her husband the legendary surfboard shaper Mark Rabbidge will host a week of coaching at Kandooma. Offering tips in and out of the water over seven fun-filled days 9 – 16 June 2024, Pam and Mark’s programme is designed to help you improve your surfing in the user-friendly breaks on the doorstep to Kandooma Maldives, but do note that this one is not for absolute beginners or those learning to surf!
The Pam Burridge Surf Week packages start from US$2,962 per person (based on two surfers sharing a room) and includes:
- Accommodation in a Beach Villa (twin share basis) (note other room types are available)
- 6 days coaching from Pam and Mark
- 7 day Surfer Pass
- Shared speedboat transfers airport-Resort-airport
- Daily Buffet Breakfast at Kandooma Cafe
Ace Buchan hails from the Australian Central Coast where he grew up surfing. Ace invites you to join him and his family for a week at Kandooma, surfing the perfect waves 31 May – 10 June, 2024. This week of surfing fun is tailored to surfing families but everyone is welcome, whether you are a passionate everyday surfer looking to experience the rippable walls of Kandooma Right, a pre-teen grom or gromette perhaps going for your first overseas surf trip with your family, or a Mum or Dad looking to improve your skills and share some waves with your kids. Ace Buchan Surf Week packages are yet to be released with options for Beach Villas, two-storey Beach Houses and the 2-bedroom Family Beach House and will include access to nearby breaks via a dedicated Dhoni (boat). Add to that surf lessons, photo and video packages, movie nights with all the family and opportunities to learn more about Maldivian culture.
Surfers can expect some great action in the water. Kandooma Right breaks just a stone’s throw away from the Resort. It’s a fast breaking right with two take-off spots and a great barrel. This wave is exclusively for Kandooma Resort Maldives guests with Surfer Passes. Nearby waves include: Tucky Joes / Boatyards which is a fickle, but freight-train of a left hander that provides a long, perfect but intense ride. Riptides is a right hander breaking for 150 metres on a reef in the middle of a channel. Sometimes there are very strong currents, evident in the naming of this beauty so watch the conditions! It’s a great wave for long- and short-boarders as well as low intermediate surfers. Quarters is a short boat trip away, this wave has two sections. The outside is fat, slow and meandering, ideal for long-boarders and even beginners, while the inside is a really terrific, fast little right hander. On a good day it delivers perfect barrels.
Receive world class coaching tips and when you’re not riding a wave, eat and drink like a king. Chill out, take it easy and bask in the sun or experience one of the many activities at Kandooma Maldives. And when those tired muscles beg for respite, it’s good to know the Kandooma Spa by COMO Shambhala has a massage treatment designed especially for surfers.
For surfers the 2024 Surf Legend Series at Kandooma is one not to be missed. Book early to avoid disappointment, as numbers are strictly limited to ensure the best possible experience for participants.
For information about the Surfing Legends Series, visit https://www.perfectwavetravel.com/surf-trips/legends/
Family
Kuda Villingili to host ‘Friendly Spirits & Ghosts After Dark’ this Halloween
This Halloween, Kuda Villingili Resort Maldives invites families to reconnect over a week of island celebrations. From 28 October to 1 November 2026, Friendly Spirits & Ghosts After Dark brings together imaginative children’s activities, Halloween evenings and time shared in the Maldives.
Home to a 150-metre swimming pool—one of the largest in the country —Kuda Villingili is among the best places to stay in the Maldives for families seeking space, privacy and experiences to enjoy together. Spacious one- to four-bedroom private pool villas provide space and privacy for multi-generational stays, complemented by eight restaurants, a dedicated Kids Club, spa and wellness experiences, watersports, surfing, tennis and pickleball. The five-star luxury resort in the Maldives is located just 30 minutes by speedboat from Velana International Airport.

Designed for young explorers, this year’s celebration introduces Kuda Fiyo & the Friendly Ghosts, an original island story that brings Halloween to life through imagination and discovery. Throughout the week, children can follow Kuda Fiyo on an adventure featuring creative workshops, themed games, arts and crafts, treasure hunts, cookie and cupcake decorating, mocktail experiences and a Halloween Party— giving families a collection of family experiences in the Maldives to enjoy together.
As the sun sets, Ghosts After Dark takes over with Halloween-inspired experiences for families, couples and friends. Guests can enjoy haunted cocktails at sunset, set sail on a themed sunset cruise, explore the house reef during guided night snorkelling, try their hand at Halloween mixology or settle in beneath the stars for an open-air movie night. A Halloween Buffet Dinner with seasonal dishes and live entertainment anchors the celebrations, while themed cocktails and mocktails are served throughout the week.

Beyond Halloween, families have the freedom to shape each day around what they enjoy most. They can discover the marine world together, dine across the resort’s restaurants, retreat to the privacy of their villa or spend an afternoon beside the expansive pool. With experiences for different ages and interests, there is space to come together as well as time to enjoy the island individually.
This Halloween, Kuda Villingili Resort Maldives offers families the chance to reconnect, create new traditions and experience the season differently. Friendly Spirits & Ghosts After Dark brings together children’s adventures, evenings by the sea and the freedom of an island holiday.
Because the best family traditions are not simply celebrated—they are created together.

View Kuda Villingili’s Halloween 2026 brochure here. For more information about Kuda Villingili Resort Maldives, please visit www.kudavillingili.com.
News
ELE|NA ReFine Body Collection taps into restorative power of island life
Ask a guest on their last morning what the holiday did for them and the answer is usually vague. Rested. Switched off.
Ask on the third day and it is more specific. Sleep arrived earlier and held longer. Skin that looked tired at the airport looks like itself again. By the third day, the body has caught up with the holiday.

The Conditions Behind It
Most of what restores a guest here is unremarkable. Consistent sunrise and sunset give the circadian system a signal most travellers arrive without. Warmth supports circulation. Humidity rehydrates skin. Ordinary mechanisms, unusual concentration.
Less obvious is that the island supplies materials as well as conditions. Sand at this latitude holds heat evenly and releases it slowly, which is why it reaches muscle at a rate the tissue accepts without guarding. Warmth is what lets deeper work happen at all, and deeper work is where elasticity, tone and drainage actually respond.
Which is the difference between a holiday that rests you and one you leave looking different.

Ageing Well Is Not the Same as Fighting It
Anti-ageing treats time as an opponent. It works on surfaces and rests on a premise nobody wins.
ReFine, one of ELE|NA’s Pillars of Vitality, asks what the body needs in order to keep doing well what it already does. Skin that holds its tone. Circulation that reaches the extremities. Lymph that clears rather than pools. Those are conditions rather than treatments, which is precisely what a week on an island supplies. The question, then, is what a therapist adds to a process the setting has already started.
Where Treatment Fits
ELE|NA’s body collection therapies are built on that logic. They are designed to work with the recovery already underway rather than to substitute for it. Sculpt & Smooth, a contouring massage that exfoliates and brings circulation to the surface. Firming Flow, a warm Maldivian sand poultice followed by deep firming work for elasticity and lift. Lymphatic Lightness, dry brushing and light-pressure drainage to reduce puffiness. Taken in sequence across a stay, each prepares the tissue for the next.
At OBLU SELECT Sangeli, the therapies can be paired with the resort’s ice bath and steam. Heat opens circulation, cold prompts it to constrict, and the alternation moves blood and lymph more forcefully than either alone.

Ageing Well, Visibly
None of which is how guests describe what they are after. They want to look well on holiday, and that motivation happens to align with the physiological one more closely than it is usually given credit for. Skin that looks better on the last day looks that way because circulation improved and sleep did its work. Less puffiness is drainage functioning. Better tone is elasticity responding.
A holiday ends. A body that has slept properly for a week does not.
“The most lasting results come when we work with the body’s natural rhythms, not against them. ReFine Body Collection is designed to enhance the restorative benefits of a Maldivian escape, leaving guests feeling renewed from within,” said Heidi Grimwood, Senior Vice President, ELE|NA.
ELE|NA is a global spa and wellness management company dedicated to redefining personal well-being through tailored, immersive experiences. Operating in the Maldives and India, ELE|NA blends traditional healing practices, contemporary therapies, and wellness science to craft journeys as unique as each individual. Beyond exceptional spa and wellness experiences, ELE|NA provides expert management solutions for resorts and properties, helping them deliver personalized, elevated wellness offerings. Guided by the philosophy of Wellness Your Way™, ELE|NA empowers both guests and partners to discover their own path to vitality, balance, and inner harmony.
Drink
Atmosphere Kanifushi welcomes back BOTTEGA Gala Gold for second edition
BOTTEGA Gala Gold returns to Atmosphere Kanifushi from 12 to 14 November 2026 after a successful debut last year. Created with Italian winery Bottega S.p.A., the three-day event gives guests the chance to enjoy wine-led dining experiences, relaxed lifestyle events and a grand Gala Gold celebration.
This year’s edition will be led by Dario Camilotto, Export Manager for India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, East Europe and Oceania at Bottega S.p.A., together with Elena Schipani, Bottega’s Head Sommelier. They will guide guests through the wine pairings, sharing the stories behind each selection and why they were chosen for the menu.

Sandro Bottega, President of Bottega S.p.A., said, “We’re delighted to return to Atmosphere Kanifushi for a second year. Sharing our wines with guests in the Maldives is always special, and this event is a chance to celebrate Italian winemaking in a setting that encourages people to slow down, taste and enjoy.”
As part of the Kanifushi Plan™, all experiences at the Just Veg Festival are complimentary for resort guests. Fine dining and lifestyle events are available on advance reservation due to limited seating, while the grand BOTTEGA Gala Gold celebration is open to all guests staying at the resort. BOTTEGA wines and Prosecco are also available year-round as part of the Kanifushi Plan™, allowing guests to enjoy these offerings throughout their stay.

The programme begins with two evenings at JUST VEG, the Maldives’ first fully vegetarian restaurant. Guests can expect a specially created tasting menu paired with a selection of Bottega wines, starting with a sparkling welcome and ending with a classic Italian finish. The pace changes the next day at PIER SIX. Here, Asian flavours, handcrafted dim sum and signature Bottega wines and cocktails set the scene for a relaxed afternoon by the water.
On 14 November, the celebration moves to SPICE for BOTTEGA Gala Gold. An expansive international buffet, live cooking stations, Bottega wines, signature cocktails and Italian liqueurs, along with a five-piece live band, set the stage for an unforgettable evening beneath the Maldivian stars.

Ram Bhoyroo, General Manager, Atmosphere Kanifushi said, “Guests are looking for more than great food and beautiful surroundings. They want experiences they can share and remember. BOTTEGA Gala Gold brings all of that together over three days in a relaxed island setting.”
“Atmosphere Kanifushi is the perfect setting to discover great wines in a relaxed way. Together with Bottega, we’re creating experiences that bring people together over exceptional wines, good food and memorable moments. That’s what the Atmosphere Core Wine Program is all about,” added Nicolas Laguette, Director of Wines, Atmosphere Core.

The celebrations don’t end in November. Guests visiting Atmosphere Kanifushi in December can also look forward to the resort’s spectacular Festive Extravaganza, featuring a vibrant calendar of seasonal dining experiences, live entertainment, themed celebrations and memorable moments designed to make the festive season truly unforgettable.
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