Four fishing formats, not one. And the minimum age of 12 you’ll read everywhere applies to only one of them.
Written by the HolidayVibe Maldives team in Male, reviewed by Abdulla Maseeh · Updated September 2026
Kuredu runs four separate fishing formats in Lhaviyani Atoll: big game trolling in two, four or eight hour trips, sunset hand line fishing by dhoni, casting fishing from a private dinghy with your own captain, and jigging. That’s the widest published fishing menu of any resort we’ve reviewed in the Maldives.
The detail that matters most for planning is the age rule. The minimum age of 12 that gets quoted for Kuredu belongs to the big game boat. The resort describes its sunset hand line trip in its own words as an ideal family outing, which is a different proposition entirely. If you’ve read elsewhere that nobody under 12 can fish at Kuredu, that isn’t what the resort actually says.
This is the thing worth getting right, because it changes who can book.
Kuredu’s big game excursion carries a stated minimum age of 12. That’s a real limit and it comes from the resort’s own booking platform. But it attaches to that specific trip, on that specific boat, and most write-ups about Kuredu fishing repeat the number without saying what it applies to. Read flat, it reads as a ban on anyone younger fishing at all.
The resort’s own description of its sunset hand line trip calls it an ideal family outing. Those two statements sit on the same website and they are not in conflict. One is a fast offshore boat trolling for sailfish. The other is a dhoni sitting at anchor with weighted lines over the side at sunset, which is the gentlest introduction to fishing in the Maldives and the format most first-timers start with.
What isn’t published: Kuredu doesn’t state a specific minimum age for the dhoni trips anywhere public, only that they suit families. So don’t assume a number in either direction. If you’re travelling with a child and the fishing matters, confirm the age rule for the exact trip you want before you book the holiday around it.
We’ve corrected this on our own pages too. Our Lhaviyani Atoll fishing guide and our fishing resort comparison both carried that 12 as a flat figure, which was incomplete.
Most resorts publish one fishing excursion and leave it there. Kuredu publishes four, and they’re genuinely different activities rather than the same trip at three price points. If you want the groundwork on how these methods differ, our Maldives sport fishing guide covers each of them properly.
| Format | Boat and method | Named targets | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Big game | Noosa Cat offshore catamaran, trolling. Two, four or eight hours, max four anglers, min age 12 | Tuna, sailfish, barracuda, dorado, wahoo | Serious anglers, and anyone wanting to match trip length to commitment |
| Sunset hand line | Dhoni at anchor, weighted line on a spool, raw fish as bait | Snapper, grouper, barracuda | Families and complete beginners. The resort’s own framing |
| Casting | Private dinghy and captain, spinning tackle and lures | Reef and shallow-water predators | Anglers who want to work a rod, and who want their own boat |
| Jigging | Vertical technique, metal jigs worked from depth | Deeper reef and pelagic species | Experienced anglers wanting something more technical |
Casting and jigging are the two that almost never appear in third-party write-ups of Kuredu, and jigging in particular has become one of the more popular sport fishing methods in the Maldives over the last few years. Both are bookable through the resort’s own app and service platform. Ask for them by name.
Casting fishing at Kuredu charters you a dinghy and a captain rather than putting you on a shared excursion. That matters because independent charter supply in the northern atolls is thin, which is the main reason we tell people not to treat Lhaviyani as a fishing base. Kuredu offers a version of the thing the atoll otherwise lacks, inside its own programme. It isn’t the same as picking your skipper from a working harbour, and if that’s what you’re after our Maldives fishing charters guide is still the better route. But it’s closer than any other resort in the atoll gets. For how Lhaviyani ranks against the water further south, see our guide to the best fishing spots in the Maldives.
The big game trips are capped at four anglers and booked as a whole boat rather than per person, with equipment, soft drinks and water included. Two practical consequences follow.
If there are four of you, the cap is your group and you have the boat to yourselves. If there are two of you, you’re still taking the whole boat, so the arithmetic per head looks different from a shared excursion. That’s worth knowing before you compare Kuredu against a resort selling seats. We don’t publish rates, and what a trip of this shape typically costs across the country sits on our Maldives fishing cost guide.
Kuredu’s big game targets split cleanly across the year. Wahoo and sailfish run strongest from November to March on the north east monsoon, which is also when the seas are calmest for the run out past the atoll rim. Tuna and dorado hold up more or less all year. The hand line and reef fishing runs year round, which is why it carries the south west monsoon months when the offshore trips get bounced around.
| Species | Peak months | Format |
|---|---|---|
| Wahoo | November to March | Big game trolling |
| Sailfish | November to March | Big game trolling |
| Dorado | All year | Big game trolling |
| Tuna | All year, strongest on the north east monsoon | Big game trolling |
| Snapper and grouper | All year | Hand line, reef ground |
| Barracuda | All year | Both |
If you’re booking around the fishing specifically rather than fitting it into a beach week, the northern winter is the answer, and our Maldives fishing season calendar maps the whole year properly.
Kuredu is seaplane only, 40 to 45 minutes from Velana International Airport, and seaplanes fly in daylight hours. The resort states the last departure from Male is 4pm, that an international arrival after 3.30pm means an overnight in Male at your own expense, and that on the way home you can only connect to flights leaving after 9am.
For anglers that last rule is the one that bites. A morning fishing trip on your departure day is not happening, and a dawn start means being on the island the night before. On a short stay, count your fishable days from the middle of the trip outwards rather than from either end.
Kuredu suits mixed groups better than any other resort in the atoll, and that’s the real case for it. The island takes all ages in its main area, the kids club runs daily for ages three to twelve, and the fishing scales from a dhoni at anchor up to an eight hour offshore day. A family where one person is serious about fishing and nobody else is can genuinely all be accommodated, on different boats, from the same island.
It’s also large. Second largest resort island in the country, 387 villas, 3.5 kilometres of beach. If you want somewhere small and quiet where the fishing crew know you by the second day, that’s a different kind of place, and our guide to fishing at Hurawalhi covers the adults-only alternative in the same atoll.
One rule that bears on this page: under the Fisheries Act 14/2019 the fishing licence travels with the boat and its captain, not with you, so no personal permit is needed for any of these trips. Protected species, permitted areas and the rest are covered on our Maldives fishing regulations guide.
Kuredu publishes four fishing formats across three trip lengths, with an age rule that changes depending which boat you are standing on. That is a lot to untangle at a tour desk on arrival, and it is the main reason people end up on the wrong trip.
Tell us who is fishing and how old they are, and we will work out which format suits whom, confirm the age rule for the exact trip rather than for the island, and get the days booked around your arrival and departure instead of whatever slots are left. The seaplane window here is unforgiving, with a 4pm last departure and a 9am floor coming home, so we time the flights against it rather than hoping.
Ministry of Tourism licence MOT.O1.RS.TA.25.RD9933, worked from Male.
Written, itemised quotes. Free to prepare. Nothing booked until you confirm.
The minimum age of 12 applies to the big game excursion, not to every trip. Kuredu describes its sunset hand line fishing in its own words as an ideal family outing, and the island’s main resort area welcomes all ages. The resort doesn’t publish a specific minimum age for the dhoni trips, so confirm the rule for the exact trip you want rather than assuming the 12 applies across the board.
Four published formats. Big game trolling from a Noosa Cat offshore catamaran in two, four or eight hour trips. Sunset hand line fishing by dhoni. Casting fishing, where you charter a private dinghy and captain. And jigging, a vertical technique using metal jigs. That’s the widest published fishing menu of any Maldives resort we’ve reviewed.
Two, four or eight hours. The two hour trip suits someone testing whether they enjoy it. The eight hour version is a genuine full day offshore and is the one to book if the fishing is why you came. All three are capped at four anglers, with equipment, soft drinks and water included, and the boat is booked as a whole rather than by the seat.
The resort names tuna, sailfish, barracuda, dorado and wahoo for big game. Wahoo and sailfish are strongest from November to March, while tuna and dorado run more or less all year. The hand line trips work reef and bottom ground for snapper, grouper and barracuda, and those run year round regardless of monsoon.
Yes. Kuredu states that depending on the excursion your catch can be cooked to your liking for dinner, and on the sunset trips the catch is grilled and served aboard the dhoni. That’s a different arrangement from some resorts in the atoll, where everything kept goes to the kitchens rather than back to you as a specific meal.
Jigging works a weighted metal lure vertically through the water column rather than dragging baits behind a moving boat. It’s physical, technical and has become one of the more popular sport fishing methods in the Maldives. Kuredu lists it as a bookable format. If you already fish and want something more involved than trolling, it’s the most interesting thing on their menu.
Seaplane only, 40 to 45 minutes from Velana International Airport, daylight hours. The resort states the last departure from Male is 4pm and that arrivals after 3.30pm require an overnight in Male at your own cost. Going home, you can only connect to flights departing after 9am. So a dawn trip needs you on the island the night before, and departure morning is not a fishing morning.
They answer different questions. Hurawalhi is adults only from 15 up, runs two formats, and publishes a fishing policy limiting species and catch. Kuredu takes all ages in its main area, runs four formats across three trip lengths, and lets you eat what you catch. If you’re travelling with family or want format choice, Kuredu. If you want a small adults-only island with a documented catch policy, Hurawalhi.
Every fishing claim here comes from Kuredu’s own published material, checked on 1 September 2026: its fishing adventures page, its gift and booking platform, and its own transfer and age policies. The resort publishes no minimum age for its dhoni trips and no catch limits, and we’ve said so rather than filling the gaps.
Reviewed by Abdulla Maseeh for HolidayVibe Maldives, Ministry of Tourism licence MOT.O1.RS.TA.25.RD9933.
HolidayVibe Maldives is not affiliated with or sponsored by Kuredu Island Resort & Spa. The images on this page illustrate Maldivian fishing methods and are not photographs of the resort.
How Kuredu, Hurawalhi and Komandoo compare, and why the atoll works better as a stay than a base.
The adults-only alternative in the same atoll, with a published catch policy and a 15 and over rule.
Tackle, technique and what trolling the outer drop-off actually involves.
Building a trip around the fishing instead of bolting an excursion onto a beach week.
Tell us your dates and who’s fishing, and we’ll come back with a written, itemised quote covering the room, the seaplane timings and the right trips for your group, so you can see the whole cost before committing to any of it.