Jellyfish and sea lice in April

[yuyi64]

This question is for Nitro or anyone else that's familiar with this occurrance. I've been told that April is a bad month for swimming or snorkeling in this area due to the large number of stinging jellyfish and sea lice. Did anyone just recently back from Costa Maya (or Cozumel) experience this problem? Will they still be around in large numbers when we're there April 28th? I know about the treatments to reduce the itching afterwards, but are there any repellants one can use beforehand to reduce the stings?

 

[AuntieBon]

SafeSea worked for me when we were on the Magic last May. Not sure about the occurance or number of these creatures on your upcoming trip but I would highly recommend the above product.

 

Pink Sand and Blue Waters of Bermuda

[AZPam]

We were in Costa Maya in mid March. At that time there were clouds of brown things floating in the water about the size of my small finger nail. We were told they were "thumbsize" jellyfish and when they got to be the size of a quarter, nobody would be back in the water for a while. The did not sting us, just kind of wierd seeing them.

[JEAN ARCHAMBEAULT]

TIS THAT WONDERFUL TIME OF YEAR FOR THE JELLY FISH WHICH ARE ALL UP AND DOWN THE COAST AT THIS TIME EVERY YEAR. SORRY ABOUT THAT.IN ABOUT 3 WEEKS THEY WILL HIT THE FLORIDA COAST.I TOO WAS IN THE WATER WHEN YOU VISITED BUT DIDN'T GET STUNG. JUST LUCKY, I GUESS.IT WON'T LAST LONG. PLEASE TRY US AGAIN.

[bandtaxi]

Just returned from Costa Maya and had no problems with jellyfish. The water was great here!

[yuyi64]

Thanks to all for your input. I'll look for SafeSea to see if it's available locally; if not, I'll just keep my fingers crossed that the jellyfish are gone by the end of April.

 

[hlfdzn]

How are the sea lice in May? I want to book a cruise for my 20th anniversary next yr, which will be May 11. If I am not going to be able to snorkle or get into the water, maybe we will pick a different time to go. Does anyone know? Thanks Melissa

[endlessvacation]

I was in Costa Maya on 4/15 and the snorkle excursions were cancelled because of jellyfish.

[spfar]

Just back and was in Costa Maya 4/14. Lovely day at the beach with no sign of jellyfish or lice. I swam a bit and hubby snorkled with no problem!

[nitrogenaddict]

Sorry people this is the time for "Thimble Jelly fish". NORMALLY no one suffers any after effects of being in the water with them. The stinging tentacles are enclosed inside the body of the jelly fish, and so do not sting "Normally" as they do not come into contact with our skin. Occassionally one is broken in two and these cause a minor irritaion to the affected area. "Bring a small bottle of VINEGAR " with you to neutralize any stings or another cure is Meat Tenderizer. Unfortunately this is part of nature as the Turtles feed off them. We are now getting close to the time when the turtles come in to lay their eggs. This is in June, but the turtles follow these jellyfish around.

[sunnyerbunns]

Nitro,

good to see you are still manning the boards. What are sea lice ? Is there something we should bring for these? We will be there in 17 days. ************************************. Have a great day

Gayle

 

[yuyi64]

From what I've been told, "sea lice" is really not lice at all but rather the larva stage of the thimble jellyfish. It is these little critters that get inside your swimsuit and cause most of the problems, not the adult jellyfish.

 

[SSSand ME]

Ok,

that whole visual just about did me in. Larva in my suit ?? Yikes my imagination is going nuts here. Will the seasafe stuff help with these things ? Please tell me yes

Gayle

[AuntieBon]

My whole family and I used it last May on our Disney Cruise and had no problems with any of these creatures.

 

Pink Sand and Blue Waters of Bermuda

 

[plevi23]

We were at a carnival private island last june and had our first encounter with sea lice. Afterwards my daughter and her friend had a slight rash as did much of the ship and the ship ran out of cotisone cream. The real roblem hit several days later when she broke out in a rash everywhere here swimsuit covered. After returning home and researching this we discovered that sea lice deposit in clothing and what my daughter did was wear the same suit later in the week and reinfected herself. Treatment is to wash the suit in a hot washer and dry in a hot dryer to kill the larvae. The rash required steroids to clear. The website recommended not swimming in a t-shirt because the more clothing you have on the greater the area to be infested. We encouintered jellyfish in cozumel easter week and the girls just chose not to get in the water because of their previous experience.

[yuyi64]

Hi folks! We just returned from our Grandeur cruise yesterday and I'm happy to report that we did not encounter any jellyfish or sea lice in Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Costa Maya. Happy cruising and happy swimming!

 

[kRUZIN'LADY]

Just back from same cruise as yuyi, but one person in our party did get the sea lice in Costa Maya. She was the only one to go snorkeling at that port. She did not know it at the time, but later developed a rash on her mid-section.

[finsgirl]

I got hit by one of those little jellyfish in Cozumel a few years ago. I swelled up a little and itched for about 2 weeks. Kind of what a spider bite feels like. More inconvenient than anything! I hope I never run into those sea lice though-YIKES!

 

FYI-I know that a conservation team used to gather the turtle eggs in Cozumel to save them from poachers. I never seem to make it down there in June when the turtles lay the eggs but I always thought it would be fun to help with this. One of the locals told me once to check at the museum downtown to volunteer to help with this. They go to the area around Punta Cerelain to gather the egss if I understood correctly. They have to do it at night when the turtles come in so it's pretty much out for a cruise but if you were staying at a hotel on the island, it could be done. Does anyone know if this is still done?