Trip report from a single guys’ point of view Oct 10-17 1998.
Background:
The last time I was at HII was 6 yrs ago. I wanted to see the changes since as well as I wanted to be there at the same time as the Lifestyles group, just to see if the atmosphere was different from what I remembered. I wanted a holiday to relax and have a few laughs and to meet some new people.
Arrival:
I flew into Mo Bay from Toronto around 5:00pm from an uneventful flight. I cleared customs quickly and a new record was set for being approached for buying drugs. During the walk from customs to the HII check-in desk, a porter offered to sell. In order for this record to be broken, the customs agent or the pilot would have to be selling. The famous bus ride from hell to HII was as fun as last time. I don’t know why people think the drivers are nuts. I think they are highly skilled to be able to drive the narrow roads without hitting anything. It was fun. When I arrived at the hotel, I was given the good news that I was upgraded to a beach view from a garden view. I had paid for a guaranteed single room so I appreciated the upgrade for the money I paid.
Room & Hotel:
I got room 1215, although it is supposed to be a beach view, if you open the curtains your view is hidden by trees and bushes. Oh well it was free. Hot water pressure problems still are as bad as 6 yrs ago. Can’t get decent constant pressure. Room seemed fairly clean. Mirror above bed was filthy though. I couldn’t bring myself to tell the maid to clean it. The upgrades to the nude area (beach, swim up bar etc.) has been written about so I will skip it. The food was generally very good. The best night was lobster night, the worst was oriental night. I am oriental and there wasn’t anything that tasted familiar. The only thing that was edible was the egg drop soup which was a pleasant surprise since I thought the soups every night were terrible. Lucky I was warned of the quality from various trip reports and I loaded up with Jerk chicken at Delroys. That was great. On lobster night, I ate as many lobster tails as humanly possible. If anyone saw me that night, I could not move for half an hour. It was great. The drinks seem to be watered down. I drank and drank (mostly Baileys) and never got a buzz. I never saw anyone drunk except the people on the island picnic (no surprise). How can that be? I spoke to several people who thought the same thing.
Activities & weather:
It rained every day for a couple of hrs in the late afternoon except one. One day there was no sun at all. Someone told me that they have a "sunny day guarantee" that if you don’t get any sun, they will credit you a day. You have to use it within the year. I went to the front desk and asked for my credit. I was told that the sun appeared between 11:00 and 11:15. BULLSHIT but no one at the desk would give me my credit. The next day I met up with some of the Lifestyle group and we complained in mass. (Thanks Tina). We got our credit. I guess no one wanted to piss off anyone from Lifestyles. My daily activities were generally getting up at 9:00, eating breakfast, laid around on the nude beach for an hour or two. Having lunch, laying around the beach for an hour or two. Take a nap for a couple of hours during the rain, eating dinner around 7:30, watch the entertainment until 11:00, hot tub until 2:00. I walked into town one day along the beach. It was the only exercise I did. It took 2 hrs. Most of the resorts were dead. I hired a taxi to see YS falls and see some crocodiles on the black river. It was fun. The entertainment at HII was disappointing. The quality seems to have gone down. I remember there used to be more professional and unique. I remember fire eaters and big bands and funny comics. Now the entertainment seems to depend a lot on the staff and guests. The singers they brought in were OK, they just reminded me of second class Vegas acts. Elvis even appeared one night. The guest talent night was lame. They should not incorporate with toga night. Everyone at toga night wants to party, I thought it made the night drag on.
People:
I met a lot of nice people on my trip. Singles and couples. This is not the place to go to meet single women. The male to female ratio must have been 5 to 1 at least. I think I counted about a dozen single women in the whole place. It has been said before but worth repeating, don’t go to Hedo if you expect to meet single women. They have the pick. Those guys who come from a superior genetic gene pool will have no problem though. I had emails from people who registered on Dennys’ visitor board. Most of the couples I met were from the Lifestyles group. These people were really nice and were single friendly. There were plenty of times when I met them in the pool and they would ask me to hang out with them in conversation. I tried it a couple of times and so did some of the other single guys. After a while though, I just could not fit in. The reason being, these guys are here on a convention and the underlying purpose is to find other compatible couples. I would socialize for a little while but I did not really have anything in common. Thanks to Steve & Tina & Carl & Diane & others for your single friendly attitude. I wish I could find your energy to party! Then there are some people in the Lifestyles group that were openly hostile to singles. These people will not even talk to you and openly resent your presence. There was a consensus among the singles guys that at times in the Jacuzzi, you do feel unwanted.
Open S.A. (sexual activity)
Yes when the Lifestyle group is there, there is definitely more open SA. This would occur mainly in the waterfall area late in the afternoon and at the hot tub late at night. The sex police came around once I think, but gave up trying to stop people. One night they turned up the temp of the hot tub to the "hotter the hell" setting. This seemed to work but made the pool unusable for everyone. There were stories of SA at the disco. I did not see any though. The weird thing about this though, after the first couple of days you get used to it and you don’t even bother to look any more. There was one guy there, I was told that his name was Mr. Peeper who would follow the Lifestyle groups around to their conventions. His behavior was really creepy.
Summary
I had a great time. I was totally relaxed afterwards. I met some really nice people. I think I got good value for my money though it was expensive. Would I go back again? Well it was 6 yrs since my last visit. I would go again, but it may not be for another 6 yrs. If you are a single guy, don’t go expecting women to be everywhere. If you go with no expectations, you will be fine. If you are young and good looking, the women will find you. But is that not the case anywhere you go?