US
We are a professional couple who have been together for almost 4 years. This was his eighth trip to Hedo and our second trip together. We had several discussions about where our relationship was, what we expected, and what was acceptable for us, and for our relationship. While there, we had almost daily discussions about the things we did and saw. Like last year we felt It gets better every day!
Travel
Round trip, non-stop, on Air Jamaica between Logan and MoBay was just OK. We left Logan and arrived in MoBay about 10-15 minutes behind schedule, but we were on vacation No Problem Mon. The AJ flight down was a bit crowded and tight, so we requested the emergency exit row coming back, which left us plenty of room to stretch. When we arrived at MoBay and got to the SuperClubs desk they had no record of our reservation, so a few phone calls had to be made before we got on the bus. We took the bus to ease into the vacation, to see the countryside, and for the camaraderie. Unfortunately the other couples on the bus were Lido folks. There was a lot of livestock in the road which was pretty entertaining. We experienced no luggage inspections on either leg. The road is in better shape, but there were still two places around Lucea where the vehicle must come to a complete stop because of rough surfaces. We made no stops in either direction and the trip took under 70 minutes. We did get to drive past the new Riu II. It looks like it is going to be huge.
The Resort
Check-in was a breeze. We arrived around 1pm, completed our paperwork, had lunch and had keys in hand within a half hour of arrival.
We were assigned a room that had been renovated. It had recently received a new coat of paint, new bed spread, new lampshades and a few other niceties. We did observe (through the windows) that a few rooms still had the old striped theme. We noticed that our room also had a new outlet installed right next to a cable TV hook up. It looks like in-room TVs are coming. We also witnessed the installation of an AC chilling unit in the rear of the AN garden units. No estimates as to when it would be up and running.
As always the grounds were in great shape. The beach was completely raked every morning by the time that we hit the beach around 8am. Several mornings I observed the grounds crew pressure washing the entire pool area, the walks, and even the second floor walkways and steps. We noticed that the plunge pools now change colors at night and could only remember the lower pool doing so last year. The cat walk now has dim colored lights on top of all of the columns.
The point near Point Village has taken a pretty bad beating since the fall. There is a lot of exposed rock and they could really use a truckload of sand.
The construction on the dining area roof that I saw in the fall has been completed. Still there were a few areas where water comes through in heavy rains. One seriously rainy afternoon we all went to the dining area for the afternoon games.
A day or two before we left a truckload of new beach cushions arrived.
There were plenty of single floats, but double floats were hard to find.
The hot tub over the disco was fully operational and we noticed people in there many times. The lower pool was also getting some use.
The water slide is still one of our favorite things about Hedo, but we did not go down nearly as many times as last year.
We didnt see one person use the climbing wall and the skating rink is inoperational.
Occupancy level was low early in our trip- maybe 1/2 full, but by mid-June it was as high as I have seen it for any of my trips. All tables were full for toga night. By the end of our trip both sides of the serving station were open and there wasnt a vacant lounge around the prude pool.
Hedo bucks are in a new format with denominations of 10, 20, and 30 thousand bucks.
We had no shortage of towels, but we try to reuse ours if they are dry.
I observed that all of the bars had a great selection of name brand booze including Bacardi, Jack Daniels, Jim Beam, Johnny Walker Red and Black and several others.
The Weather
We had rain almost every day including some serious, close-by lightening. The rain chased us off of the beach on several occasions. However, the storms usually blew through in an hour or so, so we used the time for a Hedo nap.
Daytime temperatures were probably in the low 90s. Nighttime temperatures were cool enough that I wore long pants to dinner three nights.
The Staff
Agustus was noticeably missing from his duties on the beach our entire trip. We asked around and found out that he was on a well-deserved vacation. Ritchie picked up the slack, but without the interaction that Gus provides.
The new GM is highly visible, and very approachable and friendly. We saw him at least a dozen times in the dining area, disco, piano bar, and even walking the beach. I managed to catch his ear one afternoon and got the feeling that he is emotionally attached to Hedo and his job, and he has a serious interest in maintaining the atmosphere while improving the facilities. He was so visible that at one point we wondered if his appearance was going to backfire and make the staff feel like he was checking up on them, but I never got that impression.
Turnover of the ECs remains high. I only recognized three people from my September trip - Chubby, Roxanne, and Ray-Ray. Ray-Ray has deservedly reached legendary status. He is wicked funny and plays the gay thing to the best of his ability. He does a drag thing as part of the evening entertainment one night that had us all in awe. The other ECs seem to be energetic and enthusiastic, although several scheduled activities did not go off when planned including volleyball and ring toss.
The grounds crew and maid service people are so underrated I plan to write the new GM and compliment them. The grounds were always in immaculate shape and our room was cleaned and decorated with fresh flowers and clean beach towels every day.
The Food
The food service has taken a beating on the board this year but we thought it was attractive, ample, varied, and quite good. I tried the roast beef whenever it was offered and it was great tastefully spiced and properly cooked. The selection at breakfast was awesome, especially the fruit. I made sure to get fresh watermelon and pineapple each morning. A variety of salads were offered at lunch and dinner that was attractively presented and tasty. We ate at Munahama twice, Pastafari twice, and the Scotch Bonnet once. We had the shrimp, chicken, and beef combo at Munahama, ravioli and Carribean shrimp at Pastafari, and escoviche fish at the Scotch Bonnet. All provided plenty of mouthgasms.
The sushi was the only food disappointment as it had obviously been prepared hours in advance.
An afternoon snack of a cheese burger or grilled cheese from Roberts was a must.
One negative thing that I did notice is that the trays of scrambled eggs are gone. If you want plain scrambled eggs you have to wait to have Charlie cook them. While that is a nice personal touch it does increase wait times. My opinion youre on vacation. Why hurry!?
There was a fine selection of cheese at all meals and desserts at lunch and dinner.
On more than one occasion we wished that the resort had Coke rather than Pepsi Oh well!
I bet I ate a pound of jalapenos over the course of the week. I put them on almost everything I had for lunch.
We traveled this year as part of Deans Beach Rangers, a loosely knit group of people that had met last year and corresponded over the winter. I will be the first one to say that I was skeptical about traveling as part of a group. I had had a bad experience at Hedo when another large group of people were present. I had found this other group to be somewhat obnoxious, monopolistic, and exclusionary. The Beach Rangers, on the other hand, offered just enough structure and friendship to make things interesting. We never felt pressured into doing any group activities and (I hope) no one who was there felt that we were keeping anyone out of anything. The people in the Beach Rangers greatly contributed to the fun that we had.
A few words on single guys I think that single guys traveling to Hedo have gotten a lot of bad publicity recently. Since I travel to Hedo twice a year, once with my girlfriend, and once without, I have seen both sides of this. Several single guys became integral parts of our circle of friends and greatly contributed to our vacation. In fact there is one guy that so impressed us that he became the center of attention many days. Hedo isnt an ideal place for single guys. You need to have above average social skills and must face the realization that you are going to spend a lot of time, including your nights, by yourself. Those that we met ran from quiet to outgoing. The quietest of the single guys that we met was polite and friendly. The most outspoken was friendly and extremely outgoing. I trusted all of them without question.
Vinnies??? None sited.
Wallys??? None sited.
Gawkers??? None early in the week, but as the day of the Ultimate Men of Hedo contest got closer a few of them got bolder and came down to see what it was all about. Most were polite, did not stay long, and one even laughed when he was depantsed.
Hot Tub Lurkers??? Two sited. They sat on the lounge chairs by the sprinkling pool one night at midnight smoking some serious weed and gawking.
The Sex Police were nowhere to be seen.
There was enough sexual tension to keep the days interesting and the nights steamy. Activity seemed to peak between 4 and 5pm and again between midnight and 2am.
Diving
I did six dives on eight non-travel days. You can not dive on a day that you fly. There are two dives daily. At 9:30 there is a deep dive to 90 feet and at 11:30 there is a shallow dive to about 60 feet. Even if you are certified you are required to do a shallow dive before doing the deep dive. I did one shallow dive and then stuck with the deep dives for the rest of the trip. My logic was that this would allow me more beach time in the prime of the day and by the time I got back the SO would be up and on the beach so we could spend more time together.
The dive staff is very professional and friendly. I have done many dives at Hedo and have become very fond of the dive staff, some of whom I correspond with when home. I always arrive early to help load the boat and stay afterwards to help unload the equipment. The staff really appreciates this.
The Hedo resort certification has been discussed on the board before, but I will clarify that it includes classroom learning, pool demonstrations, and then open water dives. If you ever thought you might be interested in diving this is the place to try it, as it is included in your all-inclusive price. A full PADI certification is also offered. One member of the group completed his certification while we were there. He spoke very highly of the instruction and process, but he had the advantage that he completed the readings before arriving. Diving at Hedo makes the overall cost a no-brainer for me.
During scuba dives you are likely to see one of two sunken planes or a tugboat. The coral formations are truly amazing. There are marked differences in the coral formations between the deep and shallow dives. The variety of species and colors of fish are hard to describe. Just try to imagine yourself swimming in the most exotic aquarium or tropical fish tank that you have ever seen. Sharks, sea turtles, huge rays, moreys, and barracuda are not uncommon.
The tanks have all been replaced and there are many new BCs. Personally, I bring my own mask, fins, and snorkel. I have brought a wetsuit on previous trips, but it is not necessary. Water temps were 78-80F all week. Visibility was low, but is still 40-50 feet.
There is great snorkeling off of the nude beach, or you can just get a mask from the dive shack and peek over the edge of your float. You are likely to see brilliant yellow fish, black, striped, and spotted angel fish, spiny puffer fish, sea cucumbers, black and orange starfish, and sea urchins. This will make you think twice about where you step when swimming. It is not uncommon to see a ray or skate swim by the beach. I have heard that the organized snorkeling trips are good, but did not try them.
Getting Off (the resort that is)
We made six trips off the resort including the CO catamaran cruise, the Backcountry 4x4 adventure run by Chukka Blue, two trips over to Booby Cay and a run and long walk down the beach. The crowd was small but friendly for the catamaran cruise and the snorkeling was good. If you have your own mask and snorkel take them on the catamaran. The ones on the boat smell and taste like gasoline. You can not take the Hedo equipment on the catamaran. Several people jumped from the cliffs at the former Pickled Parrot, but the highlight for us was seeing some fiends who were staying at the Rock House who swam out to meet us. Unfortunately it rained most of the way back, but the scenery was still nice. The Backcountry 4x4 adventure was well worth the price of $60pp. They picked us up at 8:40am. You ride buckled in the bed of a Land Rover and get a nice tour of the northwest corner of the island including some awesome beach overviews. The best part was the views of the ruins of a mountain plantation and the off-roading through an orange grove. You climb a small, but very scenic waterfall and have the option of a mountain swim. They provide lunch including fresh squeezed orange juice, jerk chicken and pork, beer or rum punch, and you are back to the resort about 3pm. We also took a walk and a long run down the beach on different occasions. We went down through Sandals and Beaches. Occupancy looked to be pretty good there, but it looked like people kept to themselves and the couples did not mingle. I kept wondering if they knew what fun was going on just down the beach. We paddled over to the little island twice (but dont tell the water sports staff). The scenery and beach over there are very nice.
Other Activities
One of the nice things about Hedo is that you can pretty much do what you want, when you want. You can participate in the organized activities or organize your own. Naked Twister was interesting. Ring toss was fun. One of the girls started a Can you do a split? contest that was very entertaining and had a very hot ending. Volleyball seemed to be many peoples favorite. Competition was pretty good and one afternoon so many people wanted to play that we played twelve on twelve.
Still, some of our favorite moments were spontaneous events, like watching the purple whirleygig swim around the pool or hot tub, or poolside peppermint massages. The Real Men of Hedo calendar shoot was more fun than any Ultimate Men contest.
We won or used our Hedo bucks to bring home four bottles of rum.
PJ and Toga night were fun although we skipped out of the toga party floor activities. The Big Bad Wolf and Little Red Riding Hood stole the show at PJ night and the Blue Men were a sight at the talent show. The after dinner entertainment was fun. We enjoyed Roots Explosion and after dinner dancing. Strangely we have been together at Hedo for four Friday nights and have yet to see the Circus Show.
The DJs in the disco played a great mix that got us going most nights, but we did observe that they did a good job of clearing the disco out when they switched to the Jamaican techno stuff.
We played tennis one afternoon. I wish I had more time to practice and get better at it.
We kept a full display of balloons outside our door. For some strange reason the penis shaped ones and the ones with the copulating couples on them kept disappearing.
Special Moments
Vicki singing while Dave plays in the piano bar.
NBHs.
Running into a female friend from last year that we were not expecting to see. Running into a male friend that I havent seen in two years. Bubba? Is that you?
Swimming (scuba) through the coral tunnels at The Arches and seeing the deep plane.
Seeing two huge spotted sting rays swimming together at about 80 feet.
The Blue Men at the talent show and Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf at the PJ party.
Winning Hedo bucks at the PJ party.
Marriage vow renewals where there wasnt a dry eye on the beach.
Being called out to the middle of the dance floor during the dance contest when the lightening struck killing the mixing machine and standing there for what seemed like forever with all of those eyes on me.
Not wearing underwear for 12 days.
Friday night during the bonfire the cameras are clicking like crazy while all of the pretty boys of the Ultimate Men of Hedo are posing in front of the fire, a group of people coming from the nude hot tub walk right in the middle of the shoot wearing only towels or nothing at all.
Small intimate dinners for two or a small familiar group of five in Pastafari.
There was a very pretty but quiet girl that we all admired when we saw her on the beach or in the disco last year. We wondered why she kept mostly to herself. I decided to introduce myself and find out what her story was this year. Turns out that she helps with the costumes for the UMoH contest.
Shooting the Real Men of Hedo calendar.
I always try to bring pool toys. This year the toy of choice was a self propelled spinning toy. I just let it go so that it swam all over the pool and it seemed to amaze people.
One afternoon we were sitting on the beach and we watched as several people thoroughly rubbed each other down with oil. To an extent, I guess we expected that they would end up in a pile. Instead, what followed was a most entertaining version of the game of King of the Hill. For several minutes we watched as they sparred to see who would be King of the Raft. Most of us that were watching from land were laughing hysterically as people were being pushed or pulled off the float until one person took dominance.
On Friday night we were taking a walk on the prude side after dinner (about 10). Apparently a couple from the other side of the fence must have been intrigued by the bonfire. We observed them try to come through the gate and fail, then they went out to the point and climbed around the fence. Just as the second one was coming around the fence the security guy that was hiding in the bushes was on them in a flash and made them return.
On the nude beach:
I really miss my dog.
Yeah, we miss our dogs, too. Someone should sponsor a Bring your pet to Hedo week.
I am not sure that that is such a good idea. You know that there are people that love their pets and then there are people that LOVE their pets if you know what I mean, and I really wouldnt want to see that!
Friday night at the bonfire, as sparks are flying everywhere:
Yehaw! If everyone will just take their clothes off, no one will get hurt!
In the hot tub one afternoon he comes up from muff diving:
Man! You were down there for a long time.
Hey! Im finding Nemo!
Two or three drinks (24 oz) per day on the beach was pretty much our limit. Anything more and we crashed.
I was really reminded how much I like having a little wine at meals and how much I love having a little cheese for dessert.
I love just getting up and walking away after meals.
I think I actually came back from this trip in better shape than when I left. Because of my school and work schedule it has been a very inactive winter and spring for me. I actually got some regular exercise on this trip. Considering I have come back from other trips cut up or with broken fingers and toes I consider that a major improvement.
Anyone who never gets up early misses the awesome breakfasts and tranquility on the beach. I know that vacations are different things for different people, but get up early at least once.
Hedo is an awesome place for bringing couples closer together.