Sand Fleas and No see-ums

[bonniejoy03]

I know we previously had some information on how to protect again these nasty bugs. My question now is where are they most prevalent? For example, I was reading about Roatan in Honduras. All of the information I read said that Roatan is notorious for these creatures. We have also stayed in Belize and found our area of Hopkins Village was also infested! These creatures make it almost impossible to go out on the beach. So far, we haven't been bothered in Costa Rica, Panama or Nicaragua. Anyone out there able to share where they are and more specifically, where they aren't!!! We are beach people and this really helps when planning a trip. I know you can have them anywhere but I am talking about infestation that leaves the beach unusable. Thanks!

[lhbrown]

Hi bonniejoy,
We spent many times in Virgin Gorda but don't recall being bothered by sand flees or no-see-ums on the beach. Mosquitos were a pest, but I always used Avon Skin-so-Soft in the shower which seemed to deterre the pesky pests....

[fredhashway]

Count me as another vote for Skin So Soft. It works, and it doesn't have any of the truly noxious stuff in it like some of the bug repellents. Come to think of it, I think either Cutter or Off markets a product with Skin So Soft in it.

Jenna

[bonniejoy03]

Hi. Yes, we always use Skin so Soft and Skintastic. We had a bad problem with bugs this past year in VG. (first time that they were really bad.) Hope this year is better.



I still have a question as to where are the main areas for these no-seeums? It seems like parts of Central America have tons of them. (so bad, that you can't go on the beach. We had this problem in the past and actually wore sweatshirts and jeans if we were going out or on the beach!). Are there any areas that are notororius for them. I had heard Roatan was bad. Thanks!

[marolyn]

Add my vote for Skin-So-Soft to make it unanimous. I always carry a supply of this product in my travel kit just to be prepared. We have run into swarms of critters in the Pacific Northwest as well as Central and South America. Cheers...Marolyn

[fredhashway]

Thank you, Bonniejoy! Skintastic was the brand I was thinking of. I work on a community farm in the summer and that's what I use to keep the bugs away.

[omegaet]

bonniejoy03 wrote:

I know we previously had some information on how to protect again these nasty bugs. My question now is where are they most prevalent? For example, I was reading about Roatan in Honduras. All of the information I read said that Roatan is notorious for these creatures. We have also stayed in Belize and found our area of Hopkins Village was also infested! These creatures make it almost impossible to go out on the beach. So far, we haven't been bothered in Costa Rica, Panama or Nicaragua. Anyone out there able to share where they are and more specifically, where they aren't!!! We are beach people and this really helps when planning a trip. I know you can have them anywhere but I am talking about infestation that leaves the beach unusable. Thanks!

bonnyjoy03....we know insects, especially those given to biting, are not your friends. Having walked, climbed, crawled and slithered around in a lot of insect infested areas, we have had our share of bad experiences with bites and itches. Of all the repellent we have tried, we have had the most success with Greenhead www.stopbitingme.com which we purchase over the Internet. We swore by Cutter's for years, but now we are sold on Greenhead. We like it because it does seem to hold up for many hours and actually seems to be fairly effective even when sweating or being caught in rain showers. We do not find thescent of the productoffensive and apply it to our exposed skin and liberally to our clothing as well. It does seem to be quite effective against those pesky no-see-ums! At least visit their web site andconsider the information provided.

[bonniejoy03]

Thanks everyone though I was wondering if there are any vacation spots WITHOUT the no-seeums? I was looking at holiday travel for 2008 and some Central America places I was looking in to were notorius for the bitty bugs. Is this a problem in the South Pacific, South America, etc? I wonder why it is prevalent in Central America more than the Caribbean. Anybody know of no bitty bug beach destinations?



PS- Skin so soft also has a sunblock/bug protection. I use it when going through the rainforest. Its great to protect from the sun and also the bugs.

[kyshel]

I've been badly chomped on in:
Guanacaste Costa Rica, Vieques PR/USA, Pensacola Beach, San Jose de Los Cabos.

My no chomp zones: all other carib islands, La Romana Domincan Republic, Recife Brasil.

The bites I've gotten are not necessarily from the beaches, tho. That short resort bentgrass harbors the little creatures, too. Particularly, Papagayo, CR. NASTY.

The worst degustation was Vieques in early summer. I'm itching even as I recall...

My husband was never badly bitten in any of the above locations, so go figger...

When I do take repellent:
I usually have good luck w/SkinSoSoft but the best I've used was "Muggenmelk" aka
"MoustiMug" brand roll-on w/20% DEET (bought in Brussels)
Sometimes I buy deet-based stuff at Big Lots to take along then leave it for the locals.
I'll ck out the stuff Omegaet recommended if I go to the "bad places" again.

[disneygal]

Thanks O for the recommendation of the Greenhead product! The mention of Skin-So-Soft reminds me that we always had a bottle for use on our dog, but never really use it ourselves.



My personal experience, for whatever it's worth...we had the insect problem in French Polynesia, Moorea worse than Bora Bora. In the Carribean, the worst we encountered was sand fleasin the Grenadines (Palm Island), although they said it was unusual there. Aruba was fine, and I have not had a problem on the Carribean coast in Mexico (been there a number of times). Of course it's nice if you can be on a boat, and not on the beach at dusk... Also, no problem in the Galapagos (but we were on a boat of course), and no problem in Quito.