AMERICAN hippies fleeing the materialism of the north brought nudity to the virginal beaches of Negril, Jamaica in the 1960s, introducing the hedonistic lifestyle that many Jamaican hotels came to capitalise on.

But the discretion that marked the nudity of the earlier times is gradually giving way to unbridled nakedness and sometimes open sex on the beach in plain daylight and in full view of disapproving vacationers.

For a time most hotels turned a blind eye to the nudity but matters took a turn for the worse recently when holidaymakers at its nearest neighbour, Sandals Negril, complained they had seen what they thought was a pornographic movie being shot at the aptly named Hedonism II hotel, famous for its raunchy and clothing optional offerings.

“The complaining guests were insistent that if they had wanted to see nudity they would not have chosen Sandals,” said Horace Peterkin, general manager of

the hotel.

But Kevin Levee, general manager of Hedonism II, denied that a pornographic movie was shot at the hotel, saying a production company called Sensual Couples had shot an instructional DVD for adult heterosexuals, using the theme “Keeping passion in monogamy”.

“By no stretch of the imagination was it a pornographic movie,” said Levee.

“I don’t have information on how it will be distributed, but I believe the DVD will be given out as an incentive to purchasers of adult toys,” he added.

Zein Issa, executive of SuperCubs which owns Hedonism, supported Levee’s claims.

“There was no pornographic movie filmed at Hedonism II. What I believe you might be referring to is a couples educational/instructional video that was filmed at the resort. As you can appreciate, this is far from pornography as it is neither a movie nor is it going to be in adult cinemas.

“Rather, it is a mail order instructional product for adult couples. If you look through many mainstream magazines, you will see advertisements for such products. You would not see ads for pornographic movies in such mainstream magazines. Additionally, Amazon and other mainstream US distributors sell videos such as these,” Issa added.

But Peterkin complained, and Levee admitted, that some guests of Hedonism II had strolled in the buff along Negril’s world-famous seven-mile stretch of white sand beach that spans several hotel properties. The beach is public property and anyone is free to use it up to the high water mark, with the hotels being powerless to stop them.

“We are not being prudes but we worry when our guests complain about nudity on the property, especially those from Beaches Negril which is a family hotel with children. Their parents get pretty upset at times,” said Peterkin.

Levee said he had been at the 33-year-old Hedonism 11 on and off since 1984 and could only recall “one group who was out for good fun” walking in the nude outside of their section of the beach. Guests from other properties had from time to time wandered onto Hedonism’s property too, he charged.

He said the hotel had confined the clothing optional section which allows for nude bathing, to the side of the property closer to one of two other sister hotels, Point Village and Grand Lido.

“I regularly walk around the property and I don’t stop every topless person I see to determine if they are our guests or those of other hotels,” Levee emphasised.

He said the nude DVD that was shot was a first, although “we get queries from a lot of film production companies who are looking for suitable locations”. Sensual Couples was one such.

Levee acknowledged that Hedonism agreed to have the DVD shot there because the two companies shared the same market profile in respect of going after young couples age 24 to 45.

“We saw it as a good marketing promotional opportunity to attract couples of that age,” he said, adding that there was a huge international market for nude resorts. “But we remain very respectful of our neighbours. We understand that nudity and the hedonism experience is not what everyone is looking for.”

To the suggestion that public display of nudity was regarded as indecent exposure under Jamaican law, Levee said he was not aware of Hedonism 11 breaking any laws. “We would not wilfully break any law, he insisted.