4/4/02-4/9/02 1st Trip
Departed from BWI on Air Jamaica 8:25 flight. No problems at the airport, arrived 2 hours early. There was a 30 minute or so wait at the counter then just a few minute delay going through security. There were random selections of passengers who got pulled out for detailed search, but not us!
Arrived Sangster at about 11:30 and made it through immigration with no problem. At least one other flight arrived at the same time & just about all the counters were open. Few minute wait for the bags then through customs & around the corner to superclubs. The counter people were very nice & after a quick bathroom stop we were off to a bus. We were the last ones on the bus & we headed out as soon as we were seated.
We thought the bus ride was fine. We had been to MoBay twice before & were looking forward to the ride to see a little more of the country. The road construction continues. I would guess it is about 30% new blacktop, 30% crushed stone & 40% whatever it has always been. We think it gets noticed more because you are continuously going from a couple miles of new blacktop to a couple miles of crushed stone. We think we made two detours due to the construction, but we still made it to Hedo in 1:25 (no stops) and back in 1:40 (1 stop & more construction work).
Arrived at Hedo and after about a 10 minute check-in were being led off to our room 2259 garden/nude. The room was nice, a/c worked great, no ants/bugs, & shower no problem. We were close to the main building, but a little far from the nude beach. Not that we mind walking, but the walkways get a little hot late afternoon when you forget shoes! After a quick unpacking, we headed back to get some lunch and have a look around.
Being the Hedo Virgins, after lunch we headed straight to the prude beach. There were about 20 people total on the beach 12 of them playing volleyball. After a few drinks, Karen eased into the topless thing, and we talked each other into venturing down to the other end. We walked the sidewalk behind the nude buildings until we ended up at the hot tub & pool. We made our way to some beach chairs & made the leap to au natural! After 5 minutes (when we finally admitted everyone wasnt LOOKING at us!) we ventured to Delroys for some dirty bananas. Many commented that the resort was about 50% full, and a good 80% of them were on the nude side. We ventured to the hot tub for a bit, then a quick nap before getting ready for toga night.
Toga night was all right; we had brought togas from home & were surprised at how many did not show up in one. So much for the no sheet no eat! We stayed for some of the toga party, but started to get a little old, so we ventured back to the hot tub around 11 and turned in early after our busy first day.
We were there from Thursday to Tuesday, and the daily routine was pretty much the same: oversleep & miss breakfast (no problem mon, grilled cheese at Roberts at noon!), head over to the nude beach for a couple hours then up to the pool, 4pm relax in the hot tub, jerk chicken from Robert 6-7pm, back to room for a short nap, dinner around 8:30, watch a little of the floor show, head over to Veronicas to see Dave (& sing a song or two), quick few trips on the nude waterslide, then off to relax a bit in the hot tub before bed.
Our 1st Timers thoughts
We had been to Sandals twice before, and as the saying goes at Hedo youre not in Kansas anymore. Were not swingers or into the lifestyle although we probably met & befriended many who are! We chose Hedo because we wanted to be somewhere where people love to party & have a great time. We didnt want someplace that closed up early, where the piano bar or disco is dead every night. I (Tom) had wanted to go to Hedo for a few years and Karen agreed we should give it a try. Like anyone reading this, we received a TREMENDOUS amount of info from Denny THANK YOU! We feel very lucky to have had the chance to be there with you on our first trip! I also scoured the web for any other HII info I could find.
Before we booked, we used Dennys visitor schedule and found a returning couple from our area to ask questions we just couldnt find answers for elsewhere. Thanks again Dave & Kim your help pushed us over the edge to go! Id recommend anyone with questions to take advantage of the veterans, they use Dennys visitor schedule, message board, etc. because they want to interact with others about Hedo! Without a doubt, they are happy to help. After you book, your NEXT action should be to register on the visitor schedule. Half of your great vacation is the people you meet, and what better way insure that than meeting them ahead of time? We created an additional aol screen name just for the trip. If you have an internet provider that permits it I would definitely recommend doing so it is a great way to keep easy track of the important Hedo info! We received e-mails from many people going at the same time. We were also fortunate to be invited to join 2 yahoo clubs (now groups) for people going during April. Im sure there are many other groups out there for travel at other times. In the Yahoo group we posted photos, messages, trip dates, had weekly chat sessions, and just about any other thing building excitement for the trip (Thanks, Rob & Anne new old friends & everyone at 1st week hedo2 in april you guys are great). We also took advantage of a few other websites created to share pictures prior to the trip (Thanks Chad & Sonya, Don & Ana, Red Randy & Alison).
Despite the fact that Jamaica is a 3rd world country, it does have a tremendous amount of natural beauty. You get to see all of it (good and bad) during the bus ride. Negril is beautiful. The view from anywhere along Hedos beach is great. The rooms are a little dated, but adequate. Food in general was good. In addition to the buffet, we ate at Pastafari & Munahana. All good, but by no means gourmet. Service is slow 2hrs at the restaurants, but when you go with a group it is a lot of fun. Overall, the resort is very nice. I cant say how much of that is due to the recent prude side construction, but we have nothing but praise overall.
The staff does a great job, but like anywhere there are going to be those at both ends of the spectrum good and bad. We found that the more outgoing & friendly you were with them, the more they were with you. Address them by name. Youd be surprised by the smile, service, etc. when you start using their name. Hi, Michelle, can I have 2 red stripes; or a Thanks, Michelle when you get you drink does wonders. One bartender working the main bar seemed amazed that Karen remembered her filling in at Delroys the day before. With low occupancy during our stay, we never had any problem with getting towels, drinks, food, etc. It did seem like forever, though, the first time we were standing au natural at Delroys waiting for a drink!
Everyone at Hedo is very friendly. The more outgoing you are, the quicker you will make friends and join the party. A simple Hi, hows it going? is all it takes. We are not the most outgoing couple, but it wasnt long we were saying hi to a couple dozen or more people (new friends) during our daily travels. I can honestly say there was only one time when my attitude changed. We were in the nude pool one afternoon when a small group (4 or 5 people) thought a neat way to meet everyone was by pushing a guy on a raft (the guy was in their group) around the pool and accidentally bumping into people. We were in a corner of the pool next to Delroys I was getting a back rub from Karen and they couldnt imagine why we didnt want to shake hands and introduce ourselves. Not exactly our idea of foreplay!
Finally (for any 1st timer going), will you see public displays of affection (PDAs)? Most likely (yes, if you go looking for them) and Hedo gives new definition to the term! Will you meet open minded, respectful, sincere people at Hedo? Yes, definitely. Will there be lots to do volleyball, catamaran, water skiing, twister (naked of course), and other games? Yes, and you can do any of them, all of them, or none or them. Will everyone look like perfect 10s? Absolutely NOT Hedo is very much the world in miniature, x% tall, x% short, x% overweight, x% thin, etc, etc. Hedo is not for everyone, but Id say if you are someone even willing to consider going, it probably is for you. Id guess that most people who are down on the place AFTER going, probably didnt do enough research in the first place. It amazes me that some are willing to shell out thousands for a vacation, then end up amazed at what goes on at the place!
Thanks again to everyone who made our virgin trip so much fun. As they saywe will change the names to protect the innocent or in this case guilty! Well be waiting for the group to begin assembling for next April, but we hope to get back before then!