Brian & Kathleen - April, 2008
Hedo II - April 24-28, 2008 Newbies!
My boyfriend and I booked our first trip to Hedo II with little real
knowledge of what we were getting into! We just wanted to get away from
the
kids and be wild for a few days. The closer the time came for the trip
the
more I started to dread it. I wasn't sure I could handle the nude beach,
and
wished I hadn't booked the trip at all. I had nothing to fear, and was
naked
on the beach within an hour after arriving! My advice is to do that
sooner
rather than later, or you miss out on a lot of the fun.
Thankfully we researched the groups who were going to be there that
week,
and emailed Ken from Biff's Bunch. We only overlapped with them two
days, but
they still included us and made us feel welcome. It's nice to be in on
some of
the group activities, although almost everyone is friendly, even to
newbies.
We had a blast, and it was just about a picture perfect trip. The only
real
downside was coming back home. I suffered for more than a week missing
the
sunshine, fun, and freedom, and kept dreaming of floating naked on a
raft with
a Rum Cream, and having all my meals prepared for me. Sigh.
We took Air Jamaica, and the flight there was problem free. It almost
went too
smoothly. The bus ride to Hedo was great too. We met some nice people
(Hi to
Scott and Gail!), and the long ride went by very quickly. It was a lot
less
painful than I had heard. I was worried about not getting the room we
requested (nude side, ocean view) too, but relaxed as soon as we got
there,
when I saw how efficient the front desk seemed to run. They were not
particularly friendly compared to the rest of the staff, but they were
very
competent, and that made up for it. We had our correct room in no time,
and
the only problem we ever had with the room was a missing hair dryer.
They
brought that to us....eventually. By that time my hair had been dry for
days!
Lol.
I looked out the window at the nude beach, and had a panic attack!
So, we
walked over to the craft market and had lunch at the grill there. We
found
the vendors to be very pushy the first day there, and spent too much
money,
but after that they were a lot less aggressive.
I took a deep breath, and stripped down to a sheer sarong, and we
headed to
the nude beach. Then I held my breath again, and dropped the sarong. I
never
hesitated to be nude again at Hedo, and had a really hard time dressing
for
dinner after that. In fact, I barely did most nights. Lol. The prudes
hated
me. My boyfriend was nude before I was, and was never uncomfortable at
all.
We enjoyed floating and sunning on the rafts more than anything, and
that's
what we did whenever we had a chance. They will blow up your rafts at
the
dive shack, and that's helpful. We brought two rafts, not knowing which
we
would prefer, but a double flat raft with a headrest and drink holder
holes
seemed to suit us the best. We spent very little time in the pool, but
the
bar in the pool is pretty cool. The hot tub was entertaining in the
evening,
but never very hot- temperature wise or otherwise. We didn't see much
sexual
activity when we were there. We are marginal swingers, meaning we
haven't
done it much, and can take it or leave it. But that didn't even come up
when
were there. In hindsight, we should have stayed a week, not five days,
especially since our first and last day were cut short by travel.
The weather was perfect the entire time. We couldn't have asked for
better. The food was always good, with a lot of variety. Ken invited us
to
join him at Pastafari one night, and all I can say is that I wish I had
been
hungrier, because it was delicious. We had no complaints about the bar
or the
food. Food was always plentiful and could be found somewhere any time of
the
day or night.
One thing that threw us off a little as newbies was that there seemed
to be a
downtime in the evening when everyone disappeared for hours for either a
nap
or some action in the bedroom. This happened before dinner and after
dinner.
And then things would pick up again in the middle of the night.
We enjoyed the entertainment during dinner, and also the toga party.
The
disco was the only disappointment. The music wasn't only too loud, but
seemed
to always be the same old 80's pop. I got a little tired of Michael
Jackson,
Madonna, and Cindy Lauper. I was also hoping to hear more Reggae music.
I only
heard it at Rick's café and the poolside bar. We never made it to the
piano
bar except for the Biff's Bunch Nasty Nurse party which was a hoot, and
a fun
memory. Thanks again to them for including us!
Since it was our first trip to Jamaica, we were hell bent on
exploring more
than just the resort, and went off the property and on day tours. I'm
glad we
did that the first time, but I think I would actually prefer to have a
week at
the resort without ever leaving. I can see why most never get dressed
again
once they arrive!
We went to Rick's Café, and jumped off the cliff, and listened to
Reggae music
and watched the sunset. The sunset photos and cliff diving photos are
amazing. I think everyone should do it once. There wasn't much dancing
at
all when were there, and since we were told it was overpriced we only
had a
drink, and ate after we got back to Hedo. That worked for us.
We also booked a PRIVATE tour on Saturday to Dunn's River Falls in
Ocho Rios
in the travel office in the lobby. It was a little more expensive that
way,
but we got to choose our own time frame, and since most people don't
book that
particularly long tour anyway, it's probably the only way to do it. The
drive
wasn't bad at all, especially since it's about 3 hours each way. We
slept
most of the time, and were back in time for dinner at Hedo. The Falls
were
beautiful and there were NO crowds at all on a Saturday and it was a
great
climb up. We really enjoyed it. Our taxi driver was a bit on the
impatient
side, trying to rush us, but we just ignored him. One local reassured us
that
there was no such thing as late in Jamaica. We also toured Dolphin Cove
when
were there. It was okay. We did the dolphin touch program and snorkeled
a
little with the stingrays, and went on a reptile trail. I think kids
would
enjoy it more than adults. It was a lot easier to tour the waterfalls
than
expected, and I'm glad we did it once. In the future, I would stick
closer to
Hedo.
The only other time we went off the resort was to walk across the
street to
Grand Lido, and then walk down the beach past Sandals and Breezes. I
walked
topless past Sandals, and then they made me put my top on at Breezes.
But
that was pretty amusing. The looks we got were priceless. One mother
covered
her kid's eyes while asking us lots of interested questions about Hedo.
She
was ready to join us, if she could ditch the kid. Lol. And we found an
old
Rasta man who made us personalized hemp bracelets for $10 while we
watched.
The Sandals security and gift shop people treated us like criminals at
first,
but then warmed up to us, and joked around.
My boyfriend went scuba diving one day. He had forgotten his dive
card at
home, but they were able to look up his information eventually. And to
their
credit, they went searching for him to let him know when they found it.
He
got some underwater pictures of dolphins, and fish, and thoroughly
enjoyed it.
I used the spa one time to get my hair done. They did a decent job,
but it
was nothing special, and I could have washed and blow dried my hair for
a lot
less than $50. So I gave them mixed reviews.
The saddest part was our last day. We got up early, packed, got
dressed, and
ate. I kept asking the front desk if our flight had been canceled or
delayed.
No such luck. We realized that we had two hours to kill, and instantly
stripped and got on our raft with drinks from the bar. Lol. That was the
only time we got sunburned!! We got a little too careless about the
sunscreen
in our rush. And we flew back home with sand in our cheeks.
Smile.
The ride to the airport was fine, but it went downhill fast from
there. The
airport was a mob scene. They had to pull us and a lot of others out of
line
so we could even make our flight. I had forgotten my jacket on the bed
at
Hedo (never to be found), our Dunns River Falls DVD was somewhere on the
other
side of the airport waiting for us in the Super Clubs lounge, since they
never
got it to Hedo in time, so we were stuck leaving all that behind.
The computers went down in the airport, and things got even more backed
up.
It was a madhouse. We finally got our luggage checked and reported to
the
ticket counter just in time, and they told us our seats were not
together,
even though I had insisted on that. Then they told us that the flight
was
delayed. So we had time to go find the souvenir DVD that we had paid for
at
Dunn's River, and purchase some Rum Cream at the duty free shops. That
was
the only good thing about the trip back. It was a turbulent flight home,
and
many applauded in relief when we landed safely back in the DC area. The
flight going to Jamaica was so much better than coming back home, or
maybe
that was just our attitudes. I didn't want to go to Hedo, and then I
didn't
want to come home again. It really feels like our kind of place now, and
no
other vacation can quite compare. Hedo will be a hard act to follow. So
we
plan to do it again soon!