Strange question about the Eastern Caribbean

[bubbles1209]

Not exactly sure where to post this, so here goes, no flames please. Has anyone had any experiences with sea urchins or anything to that nature while swimming in the water on any of the following ports: Half Moon Cay, St.Thomas/St.John, Grand Turks, Caicos, San Juan? Was just curious if there is anything we may need to be aware of or look out for that we are not accustomed to. Are there the regular starfish/jellyfish, that kind of thing to see or something totally different? :eek: Would hate to step on something or be bitten by something I have no clue what it is.:eek: Thanks in advance:)

[MsMiMi]

Went to Half Moon and St. Thomas, we snorkeled and went out a ways on a Jetski, and we didn't see any.

[kkorman]

There are often jellies in the Bahamas. We also saw a few sea urchins in Coki Beach on the coral formations. You would really need to try to get to them though.

[KroozFoolz]

warning - this is not pretty to look at nor pleasant to think about-

http://www.fau.edu/safe/sea-lice.html

[Illinoisgal]

And that is why I cruise in Nov tee hee

[zqvol]

You will find numerous creatures in all of the waters around the islands that you mention.

 

If you are wading off the beach your only real concern will be small jellyfish that are almost invisible. As long as you are on a sandy bottom and not wading over rocks and/or coral the only thing you need to be worried about stepping on is stuff that man has left behind.

 

If you are snorkeling the best word of caution is do not touch the reef at all. Coral cuts are really nasty and touching the reef probably hurts it much worse than it hurts you. You will find numerous urchins and other marine life all over the reef.

 

Watch out for black colored urchins, very painful things if you touch them. Having said that they are not easy to touch unless you are where you should not be.

 

Bottom line, playing in the water off of the beach is much like playing in the water off of any US mainland beach except that the water is clear and you can see what is in it. Snorkeling is safe as long as you follow the rules about staying off of the reef. If you run into the jelly fish have some vinegar along to take out the sting and you are fine (they don't hurt as bad as a bee sting IMHO).

 

Have a good time.

[jenjens1023]

If you want to attract fish take some Milk Bone-type dog biscuits. The fish will mob you!

[wmsherwood]

Of course, all the creatures you mention are around, but you don't often run into them. One thing we always tell our friends visiting down here, is to shuffle their feet when wading or walking in the gulf or ocean. Urchins and rays are on the bottom (urchins usually in rocks, rays in the sand) and if you shuffle your feet you won't step on them. Urchins, you'd just shove out of the way, and rays would be startled and swim off (probably startling you) but wouldn't sting.

 

Have a great time.

bill

[L2J]

As long as you are on a sandy bottom and not wading over rocks and/or coral the only thing you need to be worried about stepping on is stuff that man has left behind.

 

 

I guess someone forgot to tell the stingray I almost stepped on that he shouldn't have been there.

 

If you are snorkeling the best word of caution is do not touch the reef at all.

 

Great advice and another good piece is when in the water make sure to remove ALL jewelry.

[TanIslandGirl]

If you want to attract fish take some Milk Bone-type dog biscuits. The fish will mob you!

This might sound crazy but cheez-wiz in a can makes the fish swarm you like crazy also.

[AppleValleyCruisers]

This might sound crazy but cheez-wiz in a can makes the fish swarm you like crazy also.

 

What if there are fish are lactose intolerant, or perhaps a bit overweight? How would you feel then?

 

(Thanks for the tip, I'll be trying that):D

[beaming90]

We are going to Magens Bay in St Maartin and will not be wading too far out in the water (we are not swimmers). Will we still possibly see critters? Should we take some dog biscuits just in case? Or does that only work for snorkeling?

[jenjens1023]

This might sound crazy but cheez-wiz in a can makes the fish swarm you like crazy also.

 

And the left-overs make a much better lunch!

 

Beaming--we were snorkling in shallow water when we used the biscuits. And the water is clear enough you will see the fish from above the water.

 

Tip, hold the biscuit under water and as it softens use your fingers to start crumbling it. Otherwise it's way too hard to break into little pieces. If you're a little braver, don't crumble the biscuit at all, just hold it under the water and let the fish nibble off of it. They may accidently nibble your finger, but it doesn't hurt. It also helps if you wait till you see a fish or two--it's like they tell all the others that lunch has arrived and you'll soon be swarmed. If you just put the biscuit in the water without first seeing any fish they won't notice it.

 

Have fun, it's a blast!