This was our third trip to Hedo (II) in three years, so I
thought I’d write a little report touching on selected significant items.
The first two trips we did using travel agents sometimes
mentioned on Denny’s board, but with half-price flights on US Air from
Boston to MoBay. Even at
half-price, with FreqFlyer miles, tickets were around $300 each, so I was
encouraged when I found a charter-flight Hedo package this year for several
hundred $$ less than the previous total.
But there’s a good news, bad news flavor to this adventture.
The good news is that the air travel was excellent.
The charter PanAm 727 was full, but had the most legroom I’ve ever
seen in a plane. Window-seat
people could get out without the others having to move.
We got from BOS to MBJ in less than 3-1/2 hrs.
We did the bus to Hedo to check the road progress.
The bad news had to do with the room category.
I notified Vacation Outlet at the beginning that this was our third
trip to Hedo and, of the four room categories, we wanted Gardenview Nude.
Well, maybe they’re dense, maybe their computers don’t list all the
categories, whatever. Our
vouchers came through as just “gardenview” and we ended up paying an extra
$140 total to switch from the (implied) prude side to the proper side.
An unnecessary wrinkle, as far as I’m concerned.
Anyway, we ended up getting room 2141 in H-block, first
floor, close to the beach walkway, so all was well.
We met a bunch of people from Denny’s list (Frank and
Debbie, Joe and Kathy, Jim and Carrie), but also some on the bus, some at
volleyball and diving, and whatever. I
tend to think I’m more of an equal-opportunity people-meeter, rather than a
group-joiner.
And for the third time in a row, we failed to meet Delroy
at the pool bar. He was on V the
previous two trips and out with an injured leg this time. Ah well, Scumba seemed to remember me, and my habit of not
ordering the same drink twice.
There didn’t seem to be a significant Vinny/Wally
problem this week with one exception: a Wally whom we called Mr. Hat.
He didn’t seem to talk to people much, but sort of cruised up to
people fooling around in the pool or tubs, as if wondering when his turn was.
He got told off at least once.
I like to eat and drink a fair amount, but like to get a
little exercise, too. Most
mornings, we got down to the nude beach by 7:30 for coffee and croissants, and
an hour or so of tranquil floating on the bay.
It was always sunny and warm, though the water was cooler than later in
the day. Then up to the dining
hall to check breakfast with an eye on the clock.
Lee wasn’t diving this trip due to recent surgery, so I would fill my
quart container with ginger ale and head for the dive shack at 9:15.
I’d been to Cozumel in July, so Negril diving pales by
comparison. Most days, local
skindivers strolled the nude beach late-morning with freshly speared 6” fish
and lobsters for sale. This, of course, explains the scarcity of 7” fish.
My last dive of the trip, to Tugboat dive site, was the
best. Even before we got to the
tugboat, in 80’ of water, we saw a apotted eagle ray close by.
Only the second time I’ve seen one in 100 dives.
Then after the tug, we found a handmade lobster trap with about 12 bugs
and one large crab in it. Seems
to be a lost trap?
Note that the dive boat was crippled this week, with only
one 250 HP engine running. So I
don’t think we went to further away sites as we might have. Wonder how many weeks (in Jamaica time) will go by before the
other engine gets fixed.
Some afternoons, I’d do a little sailing, though the
winds were usually light. The two
functional Hobies were popular and sometimes we had to wait. (The third Hobie was a beach decoration).
Note: Sandals next door has SEVEN Hobies…
I tried to be a regular at nude volleyball at 4:00, but
we didn’t seem to have much interest this week.
A couple times only 2 or 3 of us showed up, and just got paid off with
a few HedoBucks. Last year there
was more volleyball activity. I
chatted with Noel nearby at Watersports and asked about the WWW group a few
weeks earlier. He seemed to know
about them and said volleyball was popular during that time, so maybe we’ll
try that week next summer? There’s
even an 11:00 volleyball event on the prude beach which I’d like to try, but
it was even less attended than at 4:00.
I ate too much food this trip, it seems.
I was never hungry, just different degrees of full.
I couldn’t pass up Robert’s grill offerings and then regular meals
on top. Love that Goat Curry for
lunch. No complaints about the
food, but sometimes wish the waitstaff could be a little swifter at restocking
tables with utensils after they are cleared.
I came home with three bottles of rum in my carry-on
luggage from HedoBucks. Apparently,
they used to have t-shirts and caps to redeem for, but only booze this week.
Fine for me, but not everybody drinks.
Winner of the most annoying Hedo event has to be the Art
“Auction”, now held twice a week for your enjoyment. Due apparently to
popular demand (from last year), they’ve been evicted from being a
prime-time event on the main stage and now have it right behind the stage near
the pool. The annoying part was
the solicitors who came around to tables during dinner and tried to get you to
commit to showing up. We didn’t,
so I have nothing else to say about this.
We did PJ night for a brief while, but the Thump-Thump
level was too much for comfort, so we left too soon.
They took my name down when we came in, so perhaps I woulda won
something, had we stayed.
I enjoyed circus night, with the amazing folding man, as
I call him. Incredible.
The protracted juggling attempts, by contrast, were not incredible.
Toga night was OK, but I think I’m getting jaded after
a few of these.
I hit Veronica’s for piano bar a few times.
I do karaoke at home and should have gone for the mike at least once,
but I recall having too much wine one night and just trying to stay composed
with a few OJ’s.
With our morning pattern and my diving, we didn’t
overdo the late-night part, and that was fine.
I’m thinking we might possibly do a Hedo III/Hedo II split or maybe just Hedo II during the WWW week next summer. Plenty of time to ponder…