In the case of hanky-panky, the rule usually is, at least one person must keep a foot on the ground. Get inventive. For more information, and to keep the moderator happy, you can google with appropriate key words.
But for SLEEPING - no, you do not want two people in the same hammock, no matter what any advertisement photo shows. My guess is, if the photo shoot does require two people in the same hammock, right after the shoot, one of the two people will file a restraining order against the other. There is close and there is too close.
Clark Hammocks, now sold by DutchWare, has a model called Vortex. It is essentially two hammocks sewn together, each person in their own sack.
Here are the problems: 1) any movement by one person will be felt by the other. Many in this forum are older and when you are older you find you have to get up at night - that will assuredly wake the other person up. Recall any video you’ve seen about a newborn giraffe taking its first steps. That “gracefulness” can be what it’s like to get out of a hammock - especially if the weight distribution is influenced by another body in the hammock. There are spreader bars (or hiking poles) you can put between two side-by-side hammocks - but that physical connection also transfers motion from one hammock to the other.
2), hammocks are designed for a weight limit - usually between 200 and 250 lbs. You can go heavier by using stronger fabric and/or using a double layer (DL) hammock. The DL has two layers of fabric on the bottom and is convenient if you are using a camp pad (inserted between the layers) instead of an underquilt. Note that that weight limit is the stress on the overall system - not the body weight in the hammock. The stress on the system is determined by the angle off the trees (support). When a vendor says that hammock will hold a 225lbs person, that assumes the hang angle will be about 30 degrees. So one reason for setting up with about a 30 degree angle is that imparts about the same force on the fabric/stitching/suspension as the weight of the person in the hammock. If you go shallower - like 20 degrees, it’s easy for a 200 lb load to apply about 300 lbs of force on the system. If you imagine a right triangle, the body weight is the vertical line and the force applied to the hammock is the hypotenuse (see
hammock-hang-calculator). The shallower the angle, the longer the hypotenuse, meaning the more force applied to the system.
Also, all those force limits assume a static - not moving load. No Bouncing.
3) Even if you are with someone you really like, and cuddle up, my guess is you are not glued to each other all night long. At some point you will probably want your own space. Not be specific but I’m thinking one’s breath, six inches away, isn’t so fresh in the morning.
So, for many activities, the ground is still your friend. But if you want to be close - like handholding close - but still independent - the way it’s done is to find two trees with a diameter about the distance you want to be apart. You hang one hammock so the suspension comes off one side of the tree (most photos show a hammock coming off the middle of a tree, it’s better to come off the side). The second hammock is hung coming off the other side of the tree. That way, both hammocks are side by side, separated by the diameter of the tree. You are right next to each other, but each hammock is suspended independently so one person’s movements are not transferred to the other. I’m thinking of our big Ponderosa Pines or Doug Fir. A smaller tree might have a little sway - but if it did, I’d worry about it. You want it steel girder strong.
With two hammocks side by side, you now have the challenge of rigging a tarp so they are both covered. Some vendors (DutchWare) sell extra wide tarps.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO LOOK UP AT THE BRANCHES TO CHECK FOR DEAD FALL. Because if you don’t, the “dead” might apply to more than just the branch.
A quick note - if the hammock is for sleeping instead of just lounging, the usually length is 10 to 11 feet. Most ENO hammocks and the cheapie one you find on Amazon are about 8 ft. When you hang a hammock, the end distance is usually about 83% of the physical length. So an 8 ft hammock would have its ends about 6.5 ft apart. If you are anywhere close to 6 ft tall that will not be comfortable.
I should probably move any further comments along this line to Hammockology instead of Tarpology. But again - this is all a repeat of what you’d find in HammockForums.net. Though I might be able to answer a specific question faster than looking through 50 pages on the same thread.