Hedo II trip report: June 12-18, 2005 Travel was as good as we could have expected with 3 hop's each way. We left home @ 6 PM Saturday June 11th, arrived @ Hedo on the 12th at 6 PM via Dallas and Miami. There was only one flight delay and it did not effect the rest of our fights on the way in. Coming back out on the 18th we were delayed out of Mo-bay due to weather over Cuba and southern Florida, landed in Miami about the same time our next hop left so we were bumped to the next flight and arrived at home only and hour later than expected. Even though the transit time was very long it went pretty smoothly- I highly recommend American- we were very happy with all 6 flights (yes, I said 6!!) Next year I will start shopping for travel arrangements sooner before the better (direct) flights are booked up.
We arrived @ Hedo about 6 PM Sunday the 12th and were greeted with smiles and offered our first drink which we consumed in about 10 seconds, our room was ready and were taken straight to it with our bags right behind us. We were wiped out from the travel so we grabbed a quick dinner then went back to our room and slept until Monday morning. We had booked ROH and got 1137- prude garden view. It was close to everything we wanted to do during the day time, but was quite a long walk to the nude tub at night This was fine with us as this was our virgin trip, we didn't really want to be in the "middle " of the action anyway... just close enough to join in when we were ready. We enjoyed the quietness of the prude side and we could actually see the beach from our room. We had hot water the entire week- the red button works very well to hold the water temp at a constant temp- I took one 30 minute shower and it was still hot when I got out.
We found the grounds to be very nice and I saw gardeners working on them every day. I could see what must have been hurricane damage on several of the older larger trees, but everything looks very nice. The only real evidence of the hurricane that seemed obvious other than the vegetation was the live aboard dive boat that was washed up on the shore @ Grand Lido next door- Its starting to rust and is quite and eye sore on an otherwise nice beach but unless you were on the water you didn't really notice it much.
The food in the main dinning room was good, but we did notice a little repetitiveness toward the end of the week. We ate at Pastafari on Tuesday and loved it. We had planned to try the Japanese place, but somehow never found the time to get in for the reservations and ended up eating in the main dinning room for the rest of the week. The only performance we stayed for was the Friday night carnival. It was entertaining, we especially enjoyed the steel drum group.
Weather was excellent with afternoon rain on most days, but it was usually short lived and then the sun was back out again- I have no idea what the temps were- but it was very comfortable, humidity was never bad at all and there seemed to be a nice little breeze most days to keep things cool. A-plus in my book. It was back to the mid 50's and breezy when we returned to Portland: I landed in sandals, shorts (no underwear) and a T-shirt... shivering immediately followed.
Diving- The diving was excellent! We dove 3 times, always with Derrick. He is very professional and I would dive anywhere with him. I felt safe and in good hands. Anthony also joined us on our last dive as the group that day had more divers than the rest of the week. 5 minutes into our first dive we were swimming with a 3 foot wide sea turtle and over the whole week we saw a huge variety of fish- to many kinds and colors to even mention, 3 kinds of eel's, sting rays, beautiful corals, sponges, lobster, saw one barracuda that came right up behind Steph and followed us for a bit. On our last dive we saw a 7 to 8 foot nurse shark and that was quite exciting! The visibility ranged from 60 feet on our first dive to as much as 80 or 90 later in the week. This was our first dive opportunity in any tropical water- we are used to cold water with vis at about 10 to 15 feet most of the time so this was superb for us. I dove in a swim suits as the water temps at depth were 84 or better all week.
We got to the nude beach on Tuesday afternoon and spend the entire afternoon floating on the yellow and blue floats between the swim platforms and the beach. The tide would slowly push us to shore and we would paddle back out and let the current take over again. it was very nice, quiet peaceful and so relaxing. About midnight that night we made our first trip to the nude hot tub. It was also very nice all week- we returned each night between 10 and midnight and stayed late. There were PDA's of all kinds on most nights and we got into our own each night. We shared the grotto with another couple one evening and found that to be very exciting! There was action going on every night, we saw several threesomes and a few foursomes during the week and although security was present they did not interfere or stop anyone from enjoying themselves or others. We were approached by several single men that wanted to join us, but they were very polite when we said no thanks. Steph was approached by a single man nearly every time we were separated for a few minutes, but it was never a problem... they were always polite when she declined them. One gentleman even came to talk to her while I walked to the nude bar for a drink (I always made sure I could see her from the bar when I left her alone in the hot tub to refill our drinks) and after declining any sexual acts she chatted with him for a few minutes, when he saw me coming back he politely excused himself and went on about his way with no further advances. On Friday night we ended up on the beach having sex on a lounge chair when I noticed a single male hiding behind a tree jerking off while watching us. After a few minutes he moved in and tried to grab a seat in a lounge chair just a few feet from us, but left when I ask him to find some place else. One BJ of particular note that I saw took place at the main bar. Late one night I walked in to get a drink and stood next to one of the large pillars at the bar and turned to see a guy getting a BJ in the open right on the other side of the pillar. I enjoyed watching with out being intrusive until my drink arrive then left them to enjoy each other.
By about Tuesday we fell into a loose daily routine: breakfast, diving then lunch. Afternoon's were spent on the beach, snorkeling, floating- napping in hammocks, walking down the beach, parasailing and shopping. Then we'd take a short nap before dinner and spend some time on the Piano bar or the disco then it was off to the nude hot tub to join/watch the show.
As in all of the reports I have read, it really was the people that made it for us. The staff was excellent, I felt like I was waited on hand and foot. I rarely had to ask for anything- it was just brought to me like someone was reading my mind. The people we met were all so friendly. We had e-mailed and chatted with several other couples prior to arriving and although we did not get to spend much time with anyone we had e-mailed it was still very nice to have a few people around that you could recognize. Shout out to Evan from LA, we met on our first dive and his last, he is what a single Hedo male should be- fun outgoing friendly. Evan- thanks for the friendly conversation! We'd hang with you any time. Lydia and Dewey, James and Deb, Steve and Julie- even though we didn't really get to know you guys as we had originally hoped, you were a riot! Maybe a little over the top for us, but fun just the same-we hope you had a great time and with any luck we'll run into you again. We had a great time watching some of your antics and we loved your costumes!! Peace and respect! (Julie- hope you are feeling better)
Were giving this our virgin Hedo trip a 10 out of 10, the Hedo magic took over on day 2 - we fell in love with each other all over again. we rate this as the best vacation we've ever had, we returned home with fresh new attitudes and a new outlook on life in general. We have already started making plans to go back next June!
RESPECT!!!