Day 55 – the underwater restaurant
We woke up this morning with anticipation. We didn’t go to breakfast because today we are having lunch at the world renowned underwater restaurant, 5.8 Undersea Restaurant at Hurawalhi.
We did some morning admin and then spent a couple of hours at the beach bar with Ali, who is now making S a very sugar free lime daiquiri.
At 1:15pm, we put on our finest attire (no shoes needed) and boarded the speedboat to Hurawalhi island. Hurawalhi is one of Komandoo’s 11 sister resorts and apparently the top resort in the group. It was only built in 2016 and used to be an uninhabited island. It is super posh, read multiple $1,000s a night and is frequented primarily by Russians, Indians and folks from the Middle East. Too rich for our blood. Lunch will sit you back at least $500 but it’s worth it for a one-time experience.
The restaurant is in a plexiglass cylinder, the top of which is a few feet below water. There are 10 tables, but there was only one other couple at lunch while we were there. Of course they were German speaking. The lady showed up in high heels with a Dolce & Gabbana bag, only to be told she had to put her shoes in the shoe locker as this restaurant is barefoot only. Her partner was in a casual suit. S was in a Hawaiian shirt, shorts and no shoes. J was in a bikini and cover-up. We obviously had a different understanding of this restaurant than the Germans. It should be noted that S has not worn shoes for 5 days running.
The views from the restaurant were unparalleled. It is surrounded by coral and a sunken dhoni (a traditional Maldivian fishing boat). Fish swam by us in droves. We saw various multi-coloured fish, including parrotfish, butterflyfish, grouper, etc. The Germans even pointed out a small shark to us, which swam by on their side of the restaurant. As we about had the restaurant to ourselves, J took tonnes of photos. The sommelier is a photographer on the side, so he helpfully took lots of photos of the German couple and us.
J spent a good hour playing with one of the butterfly fish (see video). It is exceptionally friendly and will follow your finger around if you wave at it. At first we thought that the fish were entertaining us. It turns out we were entertaining the fish.
Lunch was 5 courses. We started with tuna tartare, next was scallops, the third course was red mullet, the penultimate course was lobster two ways and we finished with a deconstructed mango cheesecake. We topped it all off with a bottle of Sardinian Vermentino. We were not as precious as the Germans, who spent 30 minutes deciding on which Malbec to have (by the glass). Again, this restaurant is pricey, but well worth the cost to tick this off J’s bucket list. The food was very good. Our favourite dish was the dessert with the coconut sorbet.
In a bizarre accident, S’ dental crown broke while he was eating the lobster. He calmly handed a piece of the broken crown to J and asked her what it looked like. She thought it looked like a piece of tooth but didn’t understand where S would come up with one. S then said “Does this look like a piece of tooth?” J began to freak out. S calmly described his dental emergency as an annoying, but painless break in his crown. Over S’ objection, J put the piece of broken crown in her purse for safekeeping in case it can be glued back on (but S maintains this is not going to happen). Looks like we will be visiting a dentist on the main island or Kenya to sort this out. In the meantime, we are hoping it doesn’t get worse and that S doesn’t swallow his disintegrating crown.
We then hopped the speedboat back to Komandoo and stopped in at the main bar for a quick drink. S called his friend Ian in Australia for a quick catch-up and to natter about the India v Australia cricket match.
We then headed to dinner, which was barbecue night. J really enjoyed it. S was feeling a bit ropey after lunch so kept to chicken soup, corn and pasta salad. We finished the night with a nightcap at the main bar with Ali and Suraj. They clearly know us by now as Ali’s parting words were “I’ll see you in the morning!” After that we headed back to the room to finalise our itinerary for Kenya, which is our next stop.
