Six Senses Expands Maldives Presence With Kanuhura Opening

15.11.2023 - 22:51 / forbes.com

The luxury hospitality brand known for its focus on sustainability and wellness has launched its second island resort in the Maldives, Six Senses Kanuhura.

Long stretches of palm-dotted shores and two additional private islands distinguish Kanuhura, an idyllic white-sand fringed island hideaway now welcoming guests as the latest Six Senses resort. Joining Six Senses Laamu, which opened back in 2011, Six Senses Kanuhura takes on the ethos that this hospitality brand places front and center of its properties, pairing optimum sustainability with well-being and a connection to the surrounding area.

At Six Senses Laamu, this philosophy has led over the years to create positive impact across the Laamu atoll and its 11 inhabited islands. Within this barefoot luxury retreat, beach villas lie within the tropical forest and rustic-lux social spaces are set overwater, on the beach or above the tropical flora.

Sustainability is engrained into every aspect of the resort’s operation—desalinating seawater and using solar power for example—and this care for the environment is also seen through the island’s many marine conservation projects, which you can learn about in the 2023-opened Sea Hub of Environmental Learning in Laamu, SHELL.

On Kanuhura, these same principles are being introduced to the new resort through the bottling of its own drinking water, the use of sustainably sourced food and vegetables that have been cultivated on the island, and the active contribution to marine conservation in the Lhaviyani atoll, among other initiatives. Natural décor drawing on the colors of the atoll runs throughout the reinvention of the island’s original construction and additional villas and the new social space Sunset Point now join the pre-existing structures.

Kanuhura’s 91 beachfront and overwater villas, including 12 new one- and two-bedroom Beach Retreats and the three-bedroom Beach Reserve–many with private pools–come with a laid-back tropical feel. This aesthetic is also seen in a collection of inviting restaurants and bars including The Market, poolside Sip & Sand, Drift on one of the resort’s neighboring private islands, and The Point, which is recognised for its showstopper sunset bar and raised circular pool.

Dine on tapas at The Point, dishes from across Asia at The Market, fire-cooked plates at Sip & Sand and dishes featuring freshly caught fish at Drift. Across each restaurant, and in destination dining experiences such as private island picnics, dishes utilise ingredients from the island’s organic garden, local fishermen and farmers from the region.

All experiences offered by the resort, from Earth Lab workshops (making products such as body scrub from natural ingredients) to catamaran sailing classes, then