We went to Hedo III July 23-29, 2001 for our honeymoon.  July 21 we got hitched and at 3am on July 23^rd  (with no sleep in about 3 days), we left for Jamaica and Hedo III!  We live in Western Canada and it took almost 15 hours to get to the resort.  It was such a long travel time that it has made us think twice if we would go back to Hedo (We can get to a lot of other tropical locations in about half the time it took to get to Jamaica).  It was a great trip (upgraded to first class!), but the travel time was very stressful.  We got to the resort at approximately 8pm Jamaica time.  It was dark already, which surprised us, since at home the sun is up until about 11pm at this time of year.   

Check in was a breeze, we walked in the door, and the lady said, “Welcome to Hedonism III, you must be Shaun and Shelley!”, she quickly handed over the envelope with our keys and the within minutes the porter was taking us to our OceanView room in the 700 building, we were so happy, our package was only for a run of the house room.  The room was amazing!!  Nice and quiet when we wanted to sleep, but walk down the stairs, hang a left and we were on the nude beach!  Our window looked out over the wedding gazebo and ocean, and technically the area there is considered nude.  Although we noticed it seemed to be a bit of a buffer zone and often fully clothed people would wander through and use the area, especially the hammocks and chess board.   

Less than 20 minutes after arriving we ran into another couple we had met on DennyP’s that was also on their honeymoon.  It was great, like meeting up with old friends.  They showed us where everything was and then took us down to the nude beach.  We are nudists at home, so the nude thing was not a big issue, but it was still nice to have friends show you where everything is kept (ie. Towels) and make the learning curve a little less steep (ie. Should we go down naked, or get undressed there…..  Answer: which ever you prefer, we did both depending on what other plans we had for the day!  However we usually carried a towel with us).  

The majority of the week turned out to be very quiet and mundane.  By our third day the most exciting thing to happen was when 8 of us did a 4pm run to the water slide in the nude.  Not exactly the wicked and wild adventures we were expecting.  We met a lot of great people but everyone seemed very subdued, we spent a lot of time just relaxing and chatting with people.  We began to question where the Hedo mystique comes from, we definitely could not see anything to warrant the reputation it has.  The other couples we spent the first part of the week with, said the whole mood of the resort had changed dramatically when the V103 radio group arrived.  It wasn’t until the end of our trip that we would come to truly understand what Hedo was all about….  And we loved it!  

On Friday night after the V103 people left, it was like the resort breathed a sigh of relief.  The staff were suddenly friendlier and less stressed, people seemed happy to be at the resort once again, and people started getting wicked.  Our last two nights gave us a teasing glance at what our entire week should have been like.  This is not something I think we could find at just any resort!  

THEME NIGHTS  

We came prepared to participate in PJ Night, Toga, Masquerade.  PJ night was ok, but the disco was hot….. actually that reminds me.  Everyone on these boards complains that the beaches are too small, but for the number of people using the beaches we thought they were very nice and intimate.  We rarely saw more than 10 people down at the nude beach.  However the disco is EXTREMELY tiny, especially considering they have the music cranked, and there are sooooo many people in there at one time.  If you suffer from claustrophobia this is not the place for you.  One of our friends down there had a panic attack while in the disco.   

Anyway, back to the theme nights, PJ night was fun.  Until 1am you had to be in PJ’s or you could not get in.  We felt this should be the rule at the disco every night, regardless of the theme.  It makes for a better party for everyone.  

Toga night was the night we had looked forward to for months.  The couple who we met up with at the beginning of the trip said Toga and Masquerade were their favorite theme nights, and we could not wait!  We got our sheets and went to get dressed for supper (their rule at Hedo III is “No Sheet, No Eat” on Toga night).  Upon getting down to the main dining hall, we were shocked to discover the place packed with the V103 people all in street clothes.  As we walked about picking up our supper they gawked at us, took pictures, made comments, etc.  We ended up having to take our food out to the main courtyard so we could sit down and eat.  It was extremely frustrating.  If they are going to make rules then they should apply to everyone!!!!!  The radio group had some really annoying and loud performer doing something on stage and just as the pitiful few of us in togas decided to just go back to the nude side the Entertainment Coordinators came over and told us they were moving the toga party to the disco.  I guess the staff had been in the managers office complaining as well about what was going on.  No one wanted to do anything because of the radio group (almost all of whom were not at Hedo to experience Hedo) and it was making the Entertainment Coordinators jobs next to impossible.  Eventually everyone moved up to the disco for the toga party.  It started out very slow but eventually we got people going.  But once again the V103 group ruined everyone’s fun.  During the voting for most revealing toga, a bunch of the V103 group came in and started taking pictures.  We left shortly after that (for those who have not been yet, this contest usually involves all the girls stripping off their togas).  After the toga night fiasco we decided not to even bother going to the disco for the rest of our trip.  One of our friends went to the masquerade ball and they did not have any contests or prizes for best costumes (which normally they do), but instead just started paying people Hedo dollars to try and get them to stay at the disco.   

So that was it for theme nights for us!  Hopefully next time will be better.  

OTHER STUFF  

FOOD - The food rocked!  The main buffet is amazing, the grill chef that works the midnight to 3am shift is wonderful!!!  He makes the best omelets!  The Munahana is amazing!!!  The Pastafari was a bit of a let down.  We preferred the main buffet dining.  But then it is unlimited food.  Try everything!  If you don’t like it, you can eat somewhere else!  We had wonderful Jerk Chicken at the Scotch Bonnett and at the beginning and end of the week the service was the best.  We went once in the middle of the week and waited 10 minutes, before we wandered off in search of other things.  But again like we said, the service was really hurt by the V103 group.  The Wednesday night beach party offered great shrimp, steak and so much more.  We expected Lobster, but figured it was out of season.  Then on Saturday in the main buffet they served the most amazing Lobster tails!  Grilled and so fresh, they were delicious!  They also had sushi and other amazing dishes that night.  It was by far the best food of the week and with no V103 people to ruin anything we had a wonderful evening!  

INTERNET – The resort now has 2 Internet kiosks in the Entertainment Centre.  You need to buy a card at the front desk.  It costs $5 for 15 minutes.  We found this to be a much easier way to contact home then trying to use the phone.  So many people wasted hours trying to reach the states, we didn’t even want to guess at how difficult it would be to reach Canada, or how expensive.  The Internet was the perfect solution for us!  Plus it gave us a chance to refresh our memories by looking at pictures of people we had met on DennyP’s.  

NUDE SIDE – The nude beach is small but we found it wonderful and intimate.  We spent a lot of time down there and we thought it was a wonderful place to be.  Its like your own little hideaway from the whole world.  Just amazing!  So don’t worry about those that complain about the beach, it is small but charming and intimate.  There are lots of beach chairs, never once did we see them all filled.  The hot tub was as cold as the pool at the beginning of the week.  They said their was a mechanical problem, but by the end of the week it was so hot no one could use it and despite repeated requests, nothing was ever done to fix it (Oh well down to the pier!).  The waterfall over the grotto was not working, but we didn’t really notice until someone mentioned it.  There are lots of floating beds and such.  Towels are plentiful and if they run out they were very quick to bring more.  The nude side is the place to be!  

WHAT TO PACK – We packed way to much stuff.  It is true, pack what you think you will need and then remove half the stuff!  The must haves include: insulated cups (not too big, you can get really sick of the same drink for too long), bikinis, shorts, sarongs, sandals, garbage bag (to put wet clothes in on the way home), a pen for the flight to fill out your declaration forms (we forgot this!!!!), some sexy/goofy/fun outfits that you can use at the disco, conditioner if you have hair that requires it, sunscreen and a camera.   

PDAs & PS & SWINGING– Yes you will see it, especially on the nude side.  But you don’t have to participate if you don’t want to.  Have fun, relax and enjoy yourselves.  Yes you may get approached, but that is up to you to decide (we highly recommend talking about how you feel about this before you go down.).  Everyone on the nude side is very respectful and if you are respectful back, you will have a wonderful time.     

LOCAL ISSUES – While we were down there the political riots were still very much an issue in Kingston, but the tourism industry is very much shielded from it.  Kingston is on the far side of the island, and had we not read a paper on the way home, we would not have known anything about what was going on down there.   

THINGS TO DO – **The waterslide!  Just be careful, I bruised my butt quite badly by jumping in wrong on numerous occasions.  **The Japanese restaurant, Munahana.  The food was the best and it was a great evening.  **The nude side.  Don’t wait!  Just drop your bags off and come straight to the nude side.  If you don’t like it you can return to the prude side, but if you wait, you will kick yourself for missing such a great time!  **E-mail people on Denny’s visitor list, it is great to know people before you start!  **Drink the coffee (mmmmmmm good!) and eat lots of food and drink lots of drinks.  Don’t be afraid to try something new, we found lots of great drinks (ie. Purple Rain, Jamaica Delights, Kevin Special….).  **Spend time checking out the pier late at night on the nude side.  The stars are amazing!  We saw sooo many shooting stars!  And the Milky Way is as clear as day.  The pier is also a great place to sneak off for some more intimate moments…  J   

THE PEOPLE  

It is said over and over again but the people you meet make the trip so special.  We met some great friends while we were there, some through DennyP’s, others just at the resort.  There were so many great people we met, Trevor & Ang, Vanessa & Travis, Bill & Mitka, Kevin & Jeanne, Eric & Lisa, Todd & Amy, Jerry & Jesse and so many more.  We especially want to thank Trevor & Ang and Jerry & Jesse for making our trip extra special!  

Most of the staff are amazing!!!  The only ones we had problems with were the late night staff that bussed tables in the main dining hall and the pool staff that worked the nude area at night.  Very rude in both cases.  

Some staff that stood out as exceptional: Bounty (nude bar at night!), All the Entertainment Coordinators (whose jobs were made next to impossible due to the V103 crowd): Romeo, Fantasy, Lacey, Crazy Sean, Kitty, the late night grill cook (sorry never got his name!), the Munahana staff, Donovan and so many more.  

Would we go back?  Yes!!!!…... but next time we would check the SuperClubs website and make sure no radio groups planned on being at the resort during our stay.  Another issue for us is that the travel involved from Western Canada to Jamaica is really rough.  We may look at different routes, or perhaps staying longer if we can afford it.  The resort was amazing and we have memories of the place to last a life time!  We just wish it was closer to home.