We booked a comprehensive
package trip through FunJet via Houston thru Air Jamaica and never had any
problems. Highly recommend Air Jamaica. Especially since on your way home, they
check you bags and issue boarding passes for you right at the resort. Very
cool, saves time, way less hassle, and no luggage to worry about.
SATURDAY - Within minutes
after arriving at Sangster airport while waiting for the Hedo III bus, our
transportation coordinator guy hits us up to see if we wanna buy "anything
interesting". Man, talk about a genuine Jamaican welcome. Polite no thanks
on our part, and he easily backed off. No problem. Bus ride to the resort is
the same as everyone else describes - crappy. Although, interesting to see
who gets off the bus at Breezes or Grand Lido Braco and who stays on for Hedo
III. Most everyone got off our bus at Braco. Only 2 other couples left and
us, a relatively low-key group (no drinking, no yelling, no one grew devil
horns and pulled out their whips, chains, and liquid latex). Kind of a surprise
for us considering the Hedo III people on our bus to Breezes last year just
about mainlined liquor into their arms and whooped and hollered the whole
bus ride.
Check-in was easy. Our travel
agent noted on our reservations that we were repeat Superclubs guests, and I
think it might have helped because we didn't have to wait at all (checked in
around noon) and were shown directly to our room (the other 2 couples from the
bus had to wait for their rooms). Also, we requested pool side (which I knew was
by the quad) cuz I thought we'd be hanging out there most of the time. But
we were told our room was in the 600 building, which can be interpreted as an
upgrade since it's a frequently requested building due to it's adjacency to
the nude area. Room was nice, but honestly, we headed straight to the window to
check out the nekkid people. Yup, they were definitely nekkid. Hmm, not sure if
we'd end up venturing down there, but at least we could see the scene if
we weren't sure whether we were gonna be a part of it.
Being There
Walked around the resort some and headed to lunch. Generally it didn't seem that crowded, even though a ton of people were in the prude pool hanging out at the bar and playing volleyball. This was an exception though, as we found out they were part of a large group from an Atlanta radio station (after this group left a few days later, the prude pool stayed true to how people described it mostly empty). Saw our first invasion of the waterslide by the nude group. Also, the mid-day madness games were finishing up by the main stage and I caught the last glimpse of some game involving a buncha people in a doggy-style position, but with the women behind and the guys on their hands and knees. Looking back on it now, they all seem like such normal lunchtime activities.
After lunch, we decided to
hang out at the quad. It wasn't that crowded really. A few small groups of
people. Most of the activity centered around 4-5 nude couples hanging out at the
bar seeming to have the time of their lives. Of course, these were the
close-knit Hedo society folk bonded together by their nekkidness. The clothed
people were being much more low key, including us. Everything about this first
day reminded me of summer camp. You start off watching other people having a
good time, and you wonder if it's gonna be that fun for you. To back up the camp
metaphor, we also went to the 5:00 orientation. Only one other couple showed up,
Chris and Geri, one of the couples on our bus ride. We ended up hanging out with
them a lot throughout the trip. They were both great people.
Foxy led our orientation and
she was all attitude right from the beginning. But not in a bad way, it was kind
of her persona as an entertainment coordinator (EC). She's fun and we liked her.
Even though we'd already walked around, we toured around the property. On the
way thru the quad, we passed one of the poolfront rooms with an open bathroom
window (the bathrooms on the first floor are close enough for you to probably
reach into the tub from the outside). Two nude couples were putting on a shower
scene for the quad crowd. Lots of body parts everywhere, but nothing x-rated.
They were actually quite friendly, stopping to talk to us as we walked by. Some
kind of orientation, huh. If you have any doubts about the R-ratedness of
the resort, set your expectations now as it's in your face pretty quickly. But
nothing was over the top, and it all seemed like harmless fun. But then
again, that's just all in the daytime.
Saturday night is Tropical
Splendor theme. Who the hell knows what that meant, but all the EC's were
dressed in black. By the way, all the EC's (like 4 men and maybe 7 women) are
beautiful. I'd never seen such a good-looking group of people. Went to the main
dining area for dinner and ended up sitting near Chris and Geri for showtime
(that's the show the staff/resort puts on post-dinner and pre-disco or piano bar
time). The EC's ended up pulling us onto the main to dance w/ lots of other
folks. Somehow, I got roped into a women's dance contest by Crazy Sean. Almost
won it, but got kind of self-conscious at the end and felt a little stupid after
they made 4 of us dance against each other way too many times to try
to decide a winner. I think we were all ready to forfeit if they'd just let
us sit down. Got Hedo bucks though, the first of many (we ended up w/ more than
50 of those little tickets by the end of the trip). Also found out that if the
EC's pull you up for an activity and you go, they'll count on you to participate
in everything after that. Not a bad thing, just something I noticed. I'm
sure we went to the disco that night (I love to dance) and had fun. We were
liking the resort a lot by then.
SUNDAY Hung out at the
quad again. By the way, we never once made it to breakfast the whole damn week.
Much preferred to stay out late, sleep in, and take advantage of the circus
mirrors above the bed ;-) At the quad was where we encountered our first and
worst vinny (term used for men who creepily skulk around trying to pick up on
people using unwanted advances). Only this vinny was a women! She seemed nice
enough at the beginning (while she was still somewhat sober), but as she got
progressively drunker, she started to paw all over me, then my hubby, and
drunkenly kept asking us the same stupid questions over and over. She finally
passed out next to her already-passed out husband, thank god. She was the only
person we ever encountered to this extreme. And no real harm done. Goes to show
you, the chicks can be just as bad as the guys (in this case, much worse).
On the up note, we also met
Mike and Carol at the quad that afternoon. We ended up being bosom buddies with
them for almost the whole rest of the trip. They're great people. Sunday night
was Battle of the Sexes. Fun games for the men vs. women after dinner. It's so
interesting to watch some man or woman who looks so conservative in their
sundress, or t-shirts and shorts, only to see them strip down butt naked at the
drop of the hat in front of hundreds of clothed strangers. Me and hubby were
still fully clothed after 2 days (if a skimpy-ass thong bikini can count as
fully clothed). But it's funny, the more naked everyone gets as the week passes,
the less strange it becomes.
After showtime, we were
talking to Crazy Sean a lot and he introduced us to another couple named Rebecca
and Terry by the main bar. They were hanging out at the nude pool a lot, so they
were telling us about it. I think we were warming up to the idea to try it out
over there. We all went to the disco and had a good time. It wasn't too crowded
in there that night. I think that night was the only pole dancing I did. I liked
the disco music for the most part too. I thought it was a good mix of dance,
pop, and reggae. I think we hit Snack Attack this night (midnight 3:00
a.m. buffet in main dining area), and just about every night after that. You can
see a trend in here, we religiously make it to Snack Attack every night and miss
breakfast everyday ;-) Priorities, ya know.
MONDAY I think we
floated around the prude pool and beach that day. With both areas almost
deserted, it was like me and hubby had an entire resort all to ourselves. It was
kind of cool. We went hobie cat sailing too. Fun ride. Take advantage of it, it
only takes about 15 minutes and you get to see the resort from an ocean-view.
Tried the trapeze out as well. Although I've been to Club Med and Breezes where
I was a trapeze addict, so that was kind of been there done that' this
trip. Carol did great though, for never having been on trapeze, they let her
catch on like her 5th try and she made it. Cool to watch. Monday is
also the manager's welcome party on the roof of the Scotch Bonnet around sunset.
That was fun. It was a good photo opp for you to get Jamaican sunset photos w/
all your new friends. Other than this event though, the Scotch Bonnet roof at
sunset was usually not that crowded. I think 4:00-6:30 is naptime or
getting-ready-for-the evening time at Hedo as the crowd everywhere dwindles
around this time of day.
Went to Munahana (Japanese
Benihana-style restaurant) w/ Mike and Carol that night. Yummy. Liked it much
better than the buffet food. 70s night theme was that evening. I'm sure we went
to the piano bar and disco. Piano bar is fun, although it's kind of repetitive
night after night. Just get drunk and sing your heart out, you won't notice they're
doing Piano Man yet again.
TUESDAY I think we
finally worked up our courage up to make it to the nude beach that day. Of
course, for us that meant sitting up on the second level next to some palm
trees. Actually I guess I wasn't fully nude, I kept my bottom's on. Several
other women had their's on too, so I never felt uncomfortable about it. But I
wasn't walking around much, so probably no one noticed. Hubby was not so lucky,
he had to strip down and spray sunscreen where he'd never sprayed sunscreen
before. He admitted after awhile, it did feel kind of liberating to be
unencumbered by clothes. The beach bottom is rocky as they say, but tread out
further and you can stand up where it's not so rocky. It's not really a swimming
beach though (it or the prude one), more a cool-off and socialize type place. We
never did hang out at the nude pool in the daytime, mostly just the nude beach.
PJ party night made the
vacation J.
It was the quintessential really-damn-good-Hedo-time. Went to dinner w/ the
regular group (now Mike & Carol, and another cool couple named J.P. and
Kathy who we'd also met Sunday at the quad). The night was a blast, hung out at
the beach after dinner, changed into our PJ's, hit the piano bar, and then the
disco. I think this was the first time we went down the waterslide after the
disco. Naked watersliding at night may seem out there, but ya really
gotta try it. I'm sure it helped to wake us up for the rest of the night too. I'm
guessing we hit Snack Attack again, before we ended up in the quad Jacuzzi w/ a
dozen or so other people. We all just enjoyed hanging out there and staged our
own loud-ass sing-along-fest til 4:00 a.m. (probably annoying everyone in the
quad). They shoulda just joined us anyway. Nothing like singin Friends in
Low Places at the top of your lungs while in a Jacuzzi drunk and naked at
4:00 a.m. Thanks to Kevin and Lisa as they were the primary other songbirds.
WEDNESDAY I woke up
that morning still drunk off my ass from the night before. Ironically, this was
the day we were booked to go to Dunn's River Falls, so we had to get up at the
crack of 9:30 a.m. Miraculously, I never got sick and managed to nicely maintain
my buzz til we were halfway up the Falls. It was a cool day-trip. I'm glad we
went since we skipped it last year. But don't go on Wednesdays, the biggest
cruise ship in the world, Voyager of the Seas, goes that day. Take a disposable
waterproof camera you can carry too. You'll get wet and you'll have to give your
guide your regular camera to hold if it's not waterproof.
Night-time was Beach Party
night and Bare as you Dare. Another really fun evening J.
All the tables are set-up on the beach and you eat while the circus team
performs feats of wonder and amazement. It really was a cool show. Then everyone
plays beach games on 2 teams. You're better off not wearing shorts or pants as a
lot of the games require you holding stuff between your legs, haha. Hedo Sluts
rule! Also, we got to see our old circus team staff from Breezes, Javon and
Orlando. They were performing in the Hedo III circus that night. It was cool
that they remembered me and hubby, and quickly forgave us for not returning to
Breezes ;-) This is where I'll mention that we thought the staff at Breezes was
a little more genuine and even-keeled than the Hedo staff. Don't get me wrong,
while the Hedo staff is great at getting the party going, performing, and
entertaining, a lot of them always seem to be wearing a personality.
It's not a bad thing, but sometimes it can come across as a little insincere. We
hung out one-to-one with some of them and they would be down-to-earth and
conversational, then we'd see them later and it's like they changed
personalities. They were all very integral to the good time though and helped
the place to be a lot of fun.
I think we also went to the
nude Jacuzzi and pool for the first time that night. Our group just wanted to
hang out and drink (I think the nude pool bar stays open the latest out of all
the bars), but it seemed like the Jacuzzi was already full of couples having sex
or doing something that looked like they were having sex. So our gang just hung
out in the pool area. The public sex part isn't really as provocative as you
might think. Strangely, you start to just not notice all the skin after awhile
since it's everywhere - Playboy channel on TV, nude pool, nude beach, nude
waterslide, even fully-clothed people are still dressed pretty skimpy (or maybe
that was just me). And like it's been said before, all shapes and sizes, though
most people seemed to be in relatively decent shape.
THURSDAY We went scuba
diving. Very cool because we were the only ones on the dive trip. The dive
master was nice, the dive boat was pristine, equipment seemed well maintained.
The marine life near the dive site (Pear Tree Bottom) wasn't outstanding (we did
see an eagle ray), but it's always cool to be breathing underwater. I think we
went out on the boat later that day for Joe and Mike to try wakeboarding and
skiing as well. Don't fret too much about the clouds and lightning that always
descend in the mountains around 4:00 either. It got overcast around that time
most of the days, but never rained the whole week (that I remember).
Toga
night Another great night J.
We'd brought material from home to make our togas. I highly recommend doing this
as the material Hedo supplies you with for togas smells, like um, like something
you don't want wrapped around your bare skin. We spent way too much time trying
to put our togas together, but I guess it was worth it. I won Sexiest Toga that
night, while wearing a toga that actually covered more skin than my daytime
bikini (and next to 2 girls topless girls wearing only body paint). Go figure.
Good design pays off I guess. We were surprised to see less than half the crowd
in togas at dinner. Seems like a lot of people also checked in that day as that
was the start of all the preparations for the Superclubs 25th
anniversary celebration. After Thursday, it seemed there were way more people
around, but less of them participating in the theme nights. This was Carol's
birthday and her's and Mike's anniversary also, so we stuck with the party
routine of disco, waterslide, nude pool. In Mike's words, if the recipe works,
don't change it.
FRIDAY
Our last full day L.
Mike and Joe wakeboarded some more. We hit the nude beach. I think this was
maybe the only time in the daytime that I was fully nude in front of our
friends. No problem though, that's what I love about Hedo. TONS of construction
going on throughout the day to prepare for that weekend's 25th
anniversary party. The resort transformed itself setting up stages, lights,
decorations, etc.. It was Costume/Masquerade night w/ a futuristic theme.
All dinner tables were setup on the terrace area and the buffet was
absolutely huge and sprawling. To match, they let in people from other
Superclubs resorts like Braco and Breezes, so there were hundreds of people
everywhere. But they all got bussed out by around midnight. You guessed it, same
recipe that night too. Disco, waterslide, pool.
SATURDAY
Last Day L.
Bags had to be outside the door by around 10:30. We also distributed some school
supplies we'd brought to our cleaning lady, Donna, and the quad bartender,
Sunshine. We'd asked them if they had children, and they both did. It's an easy
thing for guests to do, and I think it means a lot to the staff. The awesome
thing about the Air Jamaica resort check-in was that since our bags were checked
already and we had the boarding passes, we were able to hang out in the main
pool literally til 2:45 w/ our friends. Then 15 minutes to dry off, change, and
walk to the front desk. Our bus left at 3:00.
Going
Home
We
didn't want to go. We had the best vacation ever. Hedo III is really like a
luxurious camp for adults. There's tons of activities for you to participate in,
the EC's are like sexy beautiful camp counselors, you meet friends that you bond
with, you can do everything or nothing, and then you're sad to leave.
So
for those of you who are still trying to decide whether to go, you can guess my
advice. Lastly, it seemed that most of the people we met at Hedo had never heard
of this web site. So the fact that you're reading this report means you have a
helluva lot more information about the resort than it's average visitor. And on
the flipside, it also means a lot of the info you're reading on the site may not
be the average visitor's experience (i.e. don't get scared away).
All that said and done, get your ass down there. They say it nourishes the Mind,
Body, Spirit, and Soul. It's corny, but it's really rings true. We'd go back in
a heartbeat. This from avid tropical vacationers who always like to try
someplace new. Jamaica is really a wonderful island and Hedo III is the best
place to spend it at.
Tips
If you're qualified in a sport or
activity, like fitness instruction, tennis, massage, etc.. look into getting
a free week there for you and a spouse by working that week as a
guest staff instructor. That's what one of our friends did.
Avoid Dunn's River on Wednesdays.
The cruise people swarm the place.
Regarding PDA's, yup, it's around.
But it's not like people are doing it next to you at the omelette station or
gift shop. We rarely found it obtrusive, so don't let it scare you away.
You don't HAVE to make friends
before you leave. But definitely make an effort to make friends once you're
there. Most people we ran into never heard of this site, and we still
established a great crowd to hang around with regardless.
You don't HAVE to go nude, but you
should feel comfortable if other people around you are nude. Some of our
friends there were never nude and they still had a great time. Although,
everyone said this before I went also, once you get there, it really does
become no big deal after awhile. So don't stress about it beforehand.
Don't judge people before you know
them, no matter what they look like. We made this mistake a few times, and
realized what a shallow first impression we mistakenly formed about some
great people. This little lesson will hopefully carry over way beyond our
vacation memories.
Try and go for a whole week if you
can. Sat to Sat or Sun to Sun seems best. If you can't go the whole week,
try and make sure you're around for Tuesday PJ, Wednesday Beach party, or
Thursday Toga. Those nights were the funnest.
Having gone on tropical beach
vacations with my hubby, and others with just girlfriends, this place is
definitely optimized for couples. Groups of girls will get a lot of
attention, but they'll be in the minority. Single guys are much more
prevalent and the groups of men we saw seemed a little out of place since
there's not that many single women. Singles may enjoy Club Med Turkoise
better, which I highly recommend as well. By the way, one night we ran into
a lady coming off the waterslide, she was there on a night-pass only and
staying at Sandals which she said was dead, she wished they'd come to Hedo
instead.
Bring your own toga material. I repeat, BRING YOUR OWN TOGA MATERIAL. (and maybe some little scissors to cut stuff up with)
Bring more film than you think you'll
need and take more pictures than you think you'll want. Or be ready to spend
the $7 a photo for the resort photographers pictures
Pick up a Hedonism brochure before you leave, then re-read it after you return and see if you don't agree with every word they say. After a week at Hedonism, you'll view the world from a slightly different angle. You'll be tanned and relaxed. And at times you'll find yourself smiling for no reason whatsoever. Hedonism. There's nothing else on earth quite like it.
If you have any questions, I love nothing more than to talk about vacations.