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Aaah. Vacation time at last! The moment you've planned, saved and waited for all year.

Sun, sand and sea. Drinks with little umbrellas, outdoor dining, limbo dancing under the stars, hangovers in the heat.

B-O-R-I-N-G.

What? Isn't that what everyone does on their exotic holidays?

Well, no.

An increasing number of people -- singles and couples of all ages -- are looking for much, much more from their precious respite.

And what they want is more fun, more excitement. In particular what they want more of is sex.

Could be sex with each other -- in public, maybe with someone else (of either gender), with a threesome of any combination, another couple, joining in a fetish group, or just being in an atmosphere where they can be sexually open and relaxed.

The trend has created a whole new category of vacations -- erotic travel -- and it's aimed at often stressed-out professional people who want an upscale vacation experience or a wild weekend, but with sexual overtones.

"Not everyone is looking for sexual interaction, though," says Brian Martin, head of sales and marketing for Hot Escapes (hotescapes.net), a Toronto company specializing in erotic travel all over the globe.

"Many clients just want a very erotic atmosphere where there are people of like mind. Some want to explore sexuality and 20% will be swingers (or lifestylers, as they're known now).

A large proportion of Hot Escapes clientele travels to the Caribbean to all-inclusive resorts such as the SuperClubs' Jamaican Hedonism resorts I (Negril), II and III (Runaway Bay). Equally hot is the relatively new and luxurious Desire resort, for couples only, in Cancun, Mexico (cost about $4,500 a couple for a week). Desire has been so successful with the open sexuality concept, they're opening a new resort in Los Cabos in the fall.

"Most of the older couples that go on erotic vacations are trying to maintain their relationship," Martin says. "they feel it will benefit from them exploring their sexual fantasies together."

And it's not all physical sex-ual activity. Some clients prefer resorts where there's simply "plenty of skin" such as on the requisite nude beaches, while others prefer to be somewhere they can wear what he calls "extreme lingerie."

"A lot of people want to assert their sexuality in an openly defiant sort of way," Martin says. "It makes them feel free and alive -- a sort of sexual healing."

He explains that the erotic travel business breaks down into three groups: The young, the 35-58 crowd and the fetish fans.

The latter groups find what they're looking for in clubs in the big international cities such as Berlin, Amsterdam and London, England. ("They love spanking in England," Martin cheerily says.)

Or they can, as Martin recalls one S&M group did in Belize, book a complete hotel in order to get the necessary privacy for their activities.

New hot spots are in what used to be called Eastern Europe -- Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland, where many liberated young women are apparently looking for contact with a North American man.

But Martin is adamant that these people are most definitely not "sex tourists," referring to a seedy segment of the male population who search the world for often illegal underage sex and hard-core activities.

"Our clients are everyday people you'd meet in your grocery store. They're generally very high achievers -- responsible, hard-working, successful people who work like hell through the year and look for a stimulating, fun break."

"What they want to do is really let loose for once in their lives and explore their sexual fantasies with people who feel the same way."