Our stay at Soneva Fushi: Rare Life
Rare Life. Soneva’s tag line couldn’t be more fitting and better descriptive of what it feels like to spend time in one of their resorts. More than a holiday, it is an experience, a collection of rare and special moments making for lifetime memories.
Rare is also Soneva as a company, more than a company, in fact, it is the visionary act of two brilliant, dedicated and pioneering people, Sonu and Eva Shivdasani who have brought to life a concept of hospitality built with nature and in a totally sustainable way, setting a model for the industry.
Soneva Fushi is truly a slice of paradise. It shares with many Maldivian resorts the staggering beauty of its location but sets itself apart thanks to the unique experience offered to guests. You feel both at home and on a deserted island. In a five star resort and on an adventure. You feel as if you are part of a bigger purpose and personally contribute to making the world a better place by supporting their vision. You are given the chance to discover one of Earth’s most marvellous landscapes while having zero environmental impact.
If that is not inspiring!
The Location
Located half an hour seaplane from Male International Airport, Soneva Fushi is the original Soneva’s, born in 1995, in the rather remote Baa Atoll. When the first villas where built, Maldivian Airways didn’t yet offer flights and Sonu and Eva didn’t yet have seaplanes, so the guests were brought to the island using of the local xx boast and depending on the weather it could have taken a couple of hours or a couple of days. Things have changed and arriving at Soneva Fushi is now a smooth and panoramic trip overlooking a constellation of tropical islands with light blue halos dotting the deep blue Indian ocean waters.
The island will take your breath away. A perfectly oval-shaped tropical oasis with powdery-white sand beached flanked by crystal clear turquoise waters, filled with palms and lush vegetation through which sixty villas discreetly peek through. It is all tropical dreams coming true, a place where ‘pinch-me-I’m-here-moments’ are a constant.
Big enough to host sixty villas, four restaurants, three bars, an outdoor cinema, an observatory and a children’s playground, but small enough to be ride by bicycle up and down in ten minutes, gliding through the fresh jungle. Even with the rise in popularity of overwater villas we now understand the charm of being on an island. The opportunity to cycle or walk around, to smell and listen to the sounds of the jungle, to walk along the white sand beach, make for a unique experience. From our villa, every morning we would wake up and walk into the ocean for a morning snorkel, discovering the enchanting reef filled with life.
Baby reef sharks, turtles, schooling fishes. Every day a different encounter in the warm Maldivians clear waters.
The Soneva Experience
Days at Soneva Fushi are filled with exciting adventures and a personalized itinerary managed by your own personal Mr or Mrs Friday. On our first evening, we joined a welcome cocktail on the nearby sandbank, during which we met most of the hosts, enjoyed a glass or two of prosecco e marvelled at dreamy golden sunset. We went for a snorkelling trip with the marine biologist, who in between spottings gave more information about Maldivian’s marine life.
Embarked on a sunset cruise despite the stormy weather which rewarded us with spotting a pod of dolphins swimming alongside our boat. We watched Merry Poppins under a starry sky and took pictures of the moon through the telescope in the Astronomical Observatory.
We listed to listen to live acoustic music of a very talented Maldivian singer while sipping on cocktails. We feel in love with life a little bit more every single day.
Eating at Soneva deserves a special mention. Through the different restaurants, each offering disfferent cusine and unique experiences, you are offered always healthy, fresh and mostly island grown food. Two large vegetable gardens are home to an uncountable variety of vegetable and fruits used by the chefs. All restaurants are proudly beef free and for a very unique experience, Shades of Green offers a fine dining plant-based menu crafted only using the house plants. A special mention goes to the Chocolate and Ice cream room, where twenty-four seven guests can take complimentary ice-cream, sorbets and all sorts of chocolate treats. What a dream!.
Days at Soneva Fushi are filled with exciting adventures and a personalized itinerary managed by your own personal Mr or Mrs Friday. On our first evening, we joined a welcome cocktail on the nearby sandbank, during which we met most of the hosts, enjoyed a glass or two of prosecco e marvelled at a dreamy golden sunset. We went for a snorkelling trip with the marine biologist, who in between spottings gave more information about Maldivian’s marine life.
Embarked on a sunset cruise despite the stormy weather which rewarded us with spotting a pod of dolphins swimming alongside our boat. We watched Merry Poppins under a starry sky and took pictures of the moon through the telescope in the Astronomical Observatory.
We listed to listen to live acoustic music of a very talented Maldivian singer while sipping on cocktails. We feel in love with life a little bit more every single day.
Eating at Soneva deserves a special mention. Through the different restaurants, each offering different cusine and unique experiences, you are offered always healthy, fresh and mostly island-grown food. Two large vegetable gardens are home to an uncountable variety of vegetable and fruits used by the chefs. All restaurants are proudly beef free and for a very unique experience, Shades of Green offers a fine dining plant-based menu crafted only using the house plants. A special mention goes to the Chocolate and Ice cream room, where twenty-four-seven guests can take complimentary ice-cream, sorbets and all sorts of chocolate treats. What a dream!.
Soneva Sustainability Approach
Soneva’s doesn’t do sustainability as a CSR program or as an afterthought as for most companies, it is rather built upon the desire that Sonu and Eva had to create unique destination built together with nature, in its full respect and appreciation.
Soneva Fushi is 100% plastic-free and has an in island recycling centre - the Eco Centro - where everything from carton to glass to coconuts is reused and recycled and given a second life. Moreover, the team holds symposiums and educational activities to other neighbouring islands as part of their sustainability efforts.
Soneva Fushi, inspiring a lifetime of rare experience and forever some of our best memories.
