A newbies trip report.
We booked our trip about 5 months in advance. At the time we really did not know much about H2. We found Denny's message board and followed it very closely reading every message. We posted our names on the visitors list and through it we met a great many people. Thank you Denny for the great list. We sent many e-mails back and forth to all of them until one couple suggested we download ICQ for some chats. We did and the excitement really took off then. We had as many as 7 couples chatting all at once. We literally spent hundreds of hours sending e-mails and chatting. I wrote over 70 letters in January alone and I never write letters or trip reports for that matter. In the weeks and days leading up to the trip it seemed we were always on the computer looking for just a bit more information. We shared pictures with as many as we could and managed to meet almost everyone at H2.
After a long wait we were down to the final hours before we headed for the plane. Did not manage to sleep very much that last night and 5:30 am comes too soon no matter what you are doing the next day. We boarded the plane smiling as we were not only going on our first Caribbean vacation but we where going to H2. Might as well go all out! The flight was a rather long 5 hour direct flight to Mobay. We landed and cleared immigration and customs with no problem. Found the Superclubs desk and we were on our way. We were put in a taxi with a couple of girls who were going to a different resort.
The bus ride from hell was actually a lot of fun once we got use to the driver sitting on the wrong side of the vehicle. He was a real nice guy and quite knowledgeable about the movie Cool Runnings. It seems they shot several scenes along the road to Negril. So when we got home the first movie we rented was, you guessed it. The new highway construction was not as far along as I had figured given how long they had been working on it, no surprise there I guess. The old road was fun and the new one looks like it will be straighter and faster once it is finished.
Arrived at H2 just after sunset and were met in the lobby by a couple that we had met through the visitors list. Check in was a breeze then off to the room to lose our travel duds. We had room 2172 nude ocean view. Then off for a tour of the place, in the dark unfortunately. As soon as the tour got to the hot tub that was the end of the tour. It was just too inviting to go by so we stripped and climbed in. We soaked for a while, had a few drinks and saw some of the first hot tub activity that we had heard so much about. What a great place so far. That was the end of the first day. All the rest of the days just seemed to blend into each other. We were hoping that we would be able to figure them out after a week or so but no luck. So from here on it is more of what we did and not when we did it. We kind of followed the same general routine every day anyway.
We managed to wake up for breakfast everyday in time and even managed to have one of those famous H2 showers every morning, hot then cold then.... On the second day several internet friends arrived and we met them with dirty banana's in hand as promised. They were a little later than we thought so we drank several of their dirty banana's while we waited for them. After all I had promised to meet them with fresh ones. Next time I will just go get them when they arrive. That time in the lobby waiting was the longest time we wore clothes the whole week.
We spent most of the day time on the rafts anchored to the buoy line at the edge of the swimming area. We brought single rafts with us and they were ok but we soon found out that the double ones were much more fun and more comfortable. So we tossed the single ones aside and found a double one. There were lots of ones in the pile that others had left behind. We found a nice one with a rope on it and used it a lot. We floated and visited a lot out there on those rafts. We never made it to those big permanent rafts they looked like a good place to store some drinks. Next time we will take bigger drink holders for floating so we don't have to run back to Delroy's all the time.
We spent some time on a double hammock at the end of the nude beach jetty one night. It was a very nice and romantic setting just the two of us cuddled up in the hammock. We felt all alone out there but next time we will bring a blanket to lay on. We looked kind of funny with all the X's on our backs.
We went horse back riding one day and that was a lot of fun but the horses seemed tired. They did take us up to the top of a hill and took pictures of all the couples with the ocean in the background. That made a real nice picture. We also went on the nude cruise one day. That was a lot of fun but the snorkeling was hard for me as I had huge blisters on my heels from my water socks. I could not wear flippers so I did not see as much as I had hoped. Oh well maybe next time. The caves and Pickled Parrot were a lot of fun. But they are farther from the boat than you think. We were quite tired after swimming to them. Next time we will just take a life jacket and float to them. Who wants to work that hard on vacation anyway.
The meals were good with lots of variety even for a fussy eater like me. We did dine at Pastafari's one night. It was great and should be done at least once on a trip. The grill on the nude beach was good too when we were too lazy to go to the dining room for lunch. The jerk chicken was great but a bit hotter than we are use to. No problem there is lots of beer to cool things down. Supper in the dining hall and the entertainment after was great. We had 2 large tables almost every night filled with people that had all connected through the visitors list.
The big theme nights were PJ and Toga nights. Both were a lot of fun but it would be better if they handed all the non toga people a sheet to put on before supper. What happened to, "no sheet no eat"? Next time we will be more creative with our sheets and bring smaller ones from home. PJ party was a blast and not as hot as we had expected it to be. There was every thing there that you can imagine. It is one party where any attire goes, but the sexier the better. A g-string and a bow tie for me and some sheer lace and nylons for the wife. Never though that we would wear such thing in public but we did. Funny thing is that we felt comfortable wearing them in public.
The hot tub. What can I say. It was great, but a bit hot one night (the temperature that is). We had a great time there every night. A group of us even spent the best part of one night singing all the songs we thought we knew by heart but didn't really know very well at all. Oh well no one seemed to care or at least they didn't complain to us or to management. We did see some public displays of affection every night but most people were very discreet about it.
The trip home was just the same as the one there except we were so tired and there was a little mix up on our departure time. We were put on the bus 2 hours earlier than we should have been. Some how they had us on the wrong flight. Oh well if that is the worst thing that we can complain about, (losing 2 hours of raft time) you know it was a great trip then. It was on the plane home that we saw our first Jamaican sunset. Not sure how we missed all 7 other ones but I guess nap time had something to do with it.
We met a lot of really great people there and can't wait to see them again. It is the friendliest place we have ever been to. We are already starting to think about our trip next February back to H2 of course. There were so many first time events on this trip and there is so much more we wanted to do but ran out of time. We will have to put them on the next time list, I guess. It is not surprising that there are so many returnees to H2. The place is the motto, "be wicked for a week". We can't wait to be wicked again.
To all our new Hedo friends same time next year, OK. It was real hard to leave you guys there on the last day. It truly was the best vacation ever and the first of many trips to H2 I am sure.