Angi's Hedonism II Trip Report - 06/98
1st Timer’s Hedo II Trip Report- June 14th-18th
After reading that last trip report I worried about submitting mine. But then I remembered the Hedo II motto: NO RULES. So I’ll just ramble on with my report …this is for other first timers thinking about going and for our friends—to record the first of many trips we plan to take to Hedo. If you just want details on food, etc. See end of this report.J
Why Hedo II? My husband and I have been married 14 years and have never taken a real, catch-a-plane-pack-a-bikini-leave-son-at-home-don’t-feel-guilty-romantic-passionate-fun vacation together. During our early twenties we married, worked full-time, went to college and had our son. Never had the time for the college keggers, spring break party weeks, etc. At 33, I decided I needed to party and do all those "never" things and catch up on life! We found Hedo II! Now, we are a couple of country bumpkins who have never seen a beach (sorry, Galveston does NOT count!), never been in the ocean, never been nude in public, etc. LOTS of ‘nevers’ in there! J <We did get a little bit chicken and booked on prude ocean view. > We met several couples through Denny’s page and packed all our stuff (sorry, I couldn’t half it—carried 3 bags!) And away we went for 4 nights at HEDO II.
THE TRIP: This will not always be chronological, so just kinda go with the flow! Our trip was Sunday through Thursday. We arrived at Houston Airport at 5:20 a.m. We booked through our local travel agent, but the tour group was Adventure Tours and the airline was Champion Air. Flight there was good & arrived early—same for return trip! Take a pen on the plane with you—they won’t give you one. You have to fill out a two-part form for entry and departure from Jamaica. We did not get passports. Just took our original birth certificates and driver’s licenses. Never had a problem or delay with this. In fact, we were hearing how great all the Jamaicans were except the Customs officials. Not for us! My birth certificate has ‘brick-a-brac’ all over it (guess Ma was proud of her baby girl) and the customs guy really got a laugh out of it. Oh! Champion forgot to give us another form. After you pick up your luggage, you’ll get in another line and you need this 1 page form (I forget why). We didn’t have ours and had to find the pen (WAY down in the beach bag) and fill while holding our luggage! Anyway, just stay cool through customs. It looks like a long line and feels like forever, but afterwards you’ll be on the beach realizing it really wasn’t that bad.
IN JAMAICA! The bus ride--- REALLY wasn’t that bad. It’s a nice mini-bus or extended van that is air-conditioned and comfortable. Here’s the trick, however. Get your Redstripe beer (I don’t drink and they will get you a Pepsi – yuck! I like Coke) and meet the people on your bus. We were on the bus with 5 couples and two single guys plus us. One couple I think was newlyweds—very quiet, didn’t meet ‘em. The other 3 couples were all airline pilots. Two of them came together, I think. The third pilot and his wife were really nice and they had met the fourth couple on their plane. We chatted with these two couples. ALL of us were first timers. But as the questions were being asked—then answered by me! – I mentioned the reason I knew some stuff was because of Denny’s page. The fourth couple replied they had also read a little on Denny’s page. Guess what??? We had corresponded and, yeah, you got it, it was K and K who we had hoped to meet while at Hedo! The two single guys were Men of Hedonism II contestants, Steve & Oscar. During our stay they competed with 22 other guys for the chance to be on the 1999 Hedo calendar. (Still don’t know who won!) We talked through the whole trip and before we knew it we were at Hedo.
CHECK-IN --- they told us to see that our bag got off the van, go eat and come back later. No problem, mon. When my husband went back, they were calling our name and waiving our key. No problem, mon!
Room looks just like the brochure. Air conditioner worked great. We were in 1123—right on the beach, not far from dining area, not far from pier, PERFECT. We had good water pressure. I took baths! (Never have understood why the guys who complain about temperature and pressure don’t just fill the tub and bathe!) CD player was good, iron never used, hair dryer never used. Mirrors on the ceiling--- GREAT.
TO THE BEACH! – The moment of truth. We had made plans to meet a couple from Texas at the nude pool. Dilemma. Gotta get naked now. We donned our bathing suits (we are prude side, remember?) and started walking to the nude beach. At the sign that says—Nude Beach, no photography, I stopped my husband and told him we had to get naked. I was more worried about being yelled at for having on clothes than I was about getting nude! J Anyway, we did it and went over to the pool. <First Never off my list! > NOTE: Being nude was more a freedom thing for us than sexual. No one around us really turned us on by being naked, and I don’t think we really turned anyone looking at us on, either. The only down side of being nude all week is I think my husband is too used to seeing me naked now! Anyway, all types of bods and people at Hedo II. Some accessories were definitely designed to draw one’s attention to certain areas, but overall it was pretty cool. We met our friends from Texas in the nude pool. They had been at Hedo for 3 days and had made about 1000 friends! I can’t remember 1/3 of the names of the people we met!
At the pool I drank 3 purple rains and got sick—told you I don’t drink—and our 1st night was spent in bed <sick>. The next day we met our new friends from the bus. We’ll call the couple from Denny’s page the Taxers, their friends from the plane the Flyers, and my husband and I will be the Hicks. The Flyers were on the nude beach enjoying the beautiful ocean. It really was great to float away, drinking (coke for me, thanks) and talking and just enjoying life. I heard salt water is really good for youJ . Mrs. Flyer had it made. Mr. F was massaging her from head to toe and she was soaking in the rays. Ofcourse she deserved some TLC cause a sea urchin got her in the foot Sunday. I think she would highly recommend going to the nurse immediately—don’t poke at it yourself. The nurse has special tools that fix you right up! My hubby decided to parasail this morning. Not for me, thanks. I’m afraid of heights. I took his picture from the beach while he was up. As I’m calling out his name, a guy floats over and says "I think I might know you from Denny’s page"! He’s right! This is the newlywed couple that came from Ocho Rios to Negril. Been lookin’ for these guys! Nice to meet ya! Monday afternoon, the Flyers, the Taxers and the Hicks are all floating in the nude-side ocean. OH! I had heard you are more buoyant in salt water and I have never been able to float. My butt just sinks in the water every time. The Flyers and Taxers give me a few pointers and BAM! I am floating! <Another Never off the list--this trip is already paying off. > At 2 PM, we all decide to go skiing. We hook up with Vincent (excellent ski-boat guy!) and he runs us over the Bloody Bay. Don’t let the name fool you. It is BEAUTIFUL. We are the only ones skiing today. The six of us bail out of the boat and enjoy the rock-free sandy beach and ocean bottom. No foliage in this water! Life is soooooooo good. Mr. F goes first. He is awesome on 1 ski. My hubby is next and does pretty darn good for a guy who hasn’t skied in 10 years! Mr. Taxer was also a good skier. I sucked, but Vincent was a sweetheart and really tried to get me up skiing! Mrs. Taxer got up but during a fall a jellyfish wrapped itself around her arm and really got her. We were ready to get back. I think Delroy gave her some vodka for her arm and she was better within an hour. We had dinner at Pastafari’s and Mrs. Flyer entertained us with all the celebs she has met in her work! She is such a great storyteller. I can’t believe I am the baby in the group. Mrs. Taxer and Mrs. Flyer are soooo beautiful! We all realize during this evening that we are now FRIENDS. We go in the main dining area and take Reggae dance lessons. Mr. Flyer is the KING of Reggae! <I think it’s the butt! > We bow and scrape and end the evening with a dip in the ocean <heard saltwater was good for you> and see a show on the second floor, nude side. Mr. Flyer and I are in the dark—no glasses. Mrs. F gives us a great play-by-play and we just laugh and float all our cares away.
Tuesday – we all agreed to take the "Nude" cruise today. So at 10 am we are ready to go. The Flyers and the Hicks are first in line. We get our pick of the boat. We’ll take front-right in the webbing! We save a seat for the Taxers and then we are on our way. Rasta Ralphie sang for us. Take a really close look at this guy when you are there. He has a beard and mustache and is so gray his face looks old, but he has the body of a 20-yr. old! All the Jamaicans are beautiful people. Very warm and friendly. I don’t want to continue in too much detail, but we all considered the catamaran cruise to be our Perfect Day. The snorkeling was great, the foot massages from Steve were awesome, the water was beautiful and the Pickled Parrot slide, rope swing and cliff diving was a blast. On our way back, a school of flying blue fish (that’s what we called them ‘cuz they had wings, jumped out of the water and flew and were blue) were just ahead of us and gave us about a 6 minute show. AWESOME. We kept saying over and over how we almost didn’t take the cruise because we thought we’d be wasting day of our vacation! NOT GOING would have been such a mistake! Afternoon naps for everyone except me. I decide I’m not getting tan enough and go to the Prude pool to relax while the fogies napJ . I get bored after a half-hour and go looking for my Texas friend. I missed her today and can’t find her anywhere. I do find NZGriffen (cause of her great Tilley hat) and we have a wonderful chat. We met on Denny’s page and I’ve been wondering when she would arrive! This is one terrific lady! On my way back to my room I see Mr. Flyer getting ready to try the Trapeze. (I guess cause that’s what Flyer’s do!) Mrs. F is still napping. Neither one of us has a camera with us, so I decide to stay and be Mr. Flyer’s proof of participation. He’s first one up and, again, pretty awesome. (HOW old did you say you were?) My son is a gymnast, and I decide he might be pretty impressed with Mom if she flew on the trapeze. Debbie and Terri, the most Beautiful girls in Jamaica, are very encouraging. (I’m not sure what their titles were, but they both were part of the entertainment and guest participation stuff.) Debbie will go first and she is adorable. I decide to take the plunge. <Did I tell you I am afraid of heights? > I climb this little bitty ladder and about up and start climbing this little bitty ladder down. Terri encourages me upward and I do make it up and Junior is there to hold on to me so I don’t fall. He is a VERY patient young man. I do finally make it down and I do try it a second time. It was SCARY and it was a Blast. <One more Never off my list! > We all meet for dinner and participate in the Battle of the Sexes. <LOTS of Nevers off my list during this one.. We’ll leave it at that! > Tonight is PJ night. Was very hot, surprised no one has been injured by heat stroke or something. I dance with Oscar and Steve (Hedo contestants) and feel like a Frat Party Girl – another Never crossed off! Back to the ocean to end our evening, cause I heard somewhere that saltwater is good for you. Also get another show from 2nd floor nude side. Mrs. Flyer and Mr. Taxer give us blind people the play by play.
Wednesday – Last full day at Hedo. My Texas friend is leaving and I’ve barely seen her at all! L It is hard to stay on schedule with someone who has arrived several days ahead. We’ll keep in touch back in Texas. I have decided to parasail in tandem with Hubby Hick and NZGriffen has offered to get out the good camera and take our picture. This, my friends, was the most ROMANTIC thing we did at Hedo. Just the two of us, the ocean below and the fresh breeze blowing. 15 minutes of Heaven. We are so connected at this moment. Life is sooooooo good. <Not to mention another Never off the list> Tonight is Men of Hedo contest. Starts two hours late because the Judges won’t sit down. The guys were great, but we sat behind the judges and these were definitely not professional people. We were behind a local "writer" Judge and the Modeling agency judge. Neither watched the contestants and the local judge took photos of the very young contestants and made gestures that all of us found disgusting and frightening. We are really worried about those young guys. Hope SuperClubs knows what they are doing <SuperClubs judge was in between these two judges! > Anyway, off that soapbox. The guys were all very sweet—met quite a few of them during the week. Bad news is that the final 12 calendar guys and the 1st place cover guy won’t be announced till Saturday! Hicks and Flyers must count on Taxers to let us know who wins! <Tuesday now and still haven’t heard J > Later we go to Veronica’s Piano Bar. Why oh why didn’t we go here sooner? I knew we’d love it! NEXT YEAR.
Thursday – down side of booking with a tour group is your charter plane doesn’t care if you get your money’s worth and stay full day L . We had to leave at 8am to catch our 12pm flight! Flyers and Taxers were great. They dragged butt out of bed to say goodbye L . This is sooooo sad.
OVERVIEW:
FACILITIES: I travel a lot in business and must say I was pleased with our room, bathrooms, bars, etc. The landscape was beautiful, lush and well maintained. The rooms were clean, the towels were fresh and fairly soft (PS – your beach towels are in the closet!), the soap and lotion was good. I prefer my own shampoo.
NUDE/PRUDE Beach & Room: I loved our room on prude side. After talking with all our nude side friends, I think we had the BEST room. We were only in the Nude pool the first day and we found it boring—for us. We just enjoyed the ocean too much (heard somewhere saltwater was good for you). There was "action" in the pool and hot tub, but the little bit we saw didn’t turn us on at all. My observation is the nude pool/hot tub is a little louder (not in a bad way) and a little more sexual than the actual nude beach and ocean. The nude beach is more just naked people tanning, reading or sleeping. In the ocean were just us floaters talking or watching the boats, etc. I was only at the prude pool for 30 minutes and it was mainly college kids smoking and talking. The nude pool was only slightly friendlier--- I really didn’t find any unfriendly people in Jamaica!
FOOD: I’m a pretty plain, picky eater. Hubby, Flyers and Taxers enjoy good food and enjoyed all food we had at Hedo. My favorite is still the fries and jerk chicken and Robert’s McMon Grill by nude pool. Tell Gary we said hi! Pastafari’s was excellent. Food service everywhere was great. Never went with a half empty water glass. Constant service. Fruit was good, etc. Best drinks were Purple Rains, Land Sharks, Red Stripe Beer, Hummingbirds & Pepsi (for me & Mrs. F.). HINT: Try a drink at atleast two different bars before you decide if you like it or not.
JAMAICAN PEOPLE: Absolutely the best people I have ever met in my life! Beautiful people- inside & out. I believe they are why everyone keeps coming back. Special thanks and appreciation to Terri, Debbie, Junior, Gary, Vincent & Steve. If anyone is going soon, I’d like to send Terri a gift.
ACTIVITIES: Participate! It’s fun and nobody really knows you! My Tuesday was my "College Spring Break" day and I had a blast. I let down my little prudish guard and went with the flow for once in my life.
My husband and I can recommend the PARASAILING ($40 single/$70 couple) and the CATAMARAN CRUISE ($40 each/ $20 ea. for second cruise- NOTE check when you get there and make sure when the cruises are, there’s a sunset cruise that leaves around 3pm and a day cruise that leaves at 10:30 am—this is NOT an everyday thing! Go with FRIENDS!). Next time he’d like to jet ski ($40 for 30 minutes). FREE STUFF: Water Skiing – even if you don’t ski, go and enjoy the water and the rock-free beach. SNORKELING – Hubby snorkeled early one morning near the prude side pier and saw an Eel and some beautiful fish—and he’d never been snorkeling before. SCUBA DIVING – didn’t do this one but I think Hubby will try next year. KAYAK – wanted to do this one but ran out of time, next year. They also had little sailboats and other water "man-powered vehicles" that looked fun. Next year we’ll book a whole week!
FRIENDS WE MET: Two different newlyweds—M&M and D&T—friendly people, wish we could have spent more time together. Couple from NC or SC, husband is a CPA; we really enjoyed talking with you at PJ night and in the ocean! Email us and keep in touch! NZGriffen is still at HEDO! Can’t wait for your return, don’t forget to mail us the pictures of Battle of the Sexes and the parasailing! This is the woman to see about Hedo—Oh! And her husband is great too! Steve, Oscar and Antonio – hope you made the calendar guys! M&C from Texas—don’t know how we managed to get separated so much, but we really love you guys and will hook up soon. We’d also like to thank Denny. We had a hard time convincing people we were first timers! Your website is awesome!
Especially to the Flyers & the Taxers: You made our first trip to Jamaica and HEDO II just that—a FIRST of many to come. You guys are beautiful people inside & out! I don’t know how on earth three couples can be so compatible but I sure am glad we took that damn bus rideJ ! The pictures are in the mail! We vowed to keep in touch and get together again. Our family is already planning our trip to D.C. and the HEDO II ’99 fund has begun! PS – Did you know salt water is very good for you? J
If you have any questions, please Email me at aparrish@netdot.com