Sand Fleas

Hi all,

Heading to western carib in less than 3 weeks yay! Hitting the beaches in Roatan, Cozumel and Belize. Should we be concerned about sand fleas? My husband seems to atrack anything that bites, green heads seemingly love to dine on him. What would be a good repellant to use specifically for sand fleas? I'm hoping to stay away from DEET if humanly possible. Anyone have any luck with natural insect repellants?

Thank you!!

DEET is the BEST stuff. There are some other more "natural" products that seem to work for some people, like extracts lemon eucalyptus oil, but not the essential eucalyptus oil). Picaridin may work as well.

Best way to avoid sand "flies" (not fleas), is to avoid shady areas on the beach.

This seems to get asked over and over... same response. Sand Fleas are there, anywhere there is a jungle and sandy beaches. They are cyclical, so one week zero, another week crazy bad.

I find DEET is the worst thing to use at the beach as it is harmful to all sea animals, coral, and my skin.

I like Cactus Juice spray (google it, or go on Amazon). It is all natural and does not burn, safe for kids skin too.

Just remember, whatever you use.... wash all salt water off your body first, then dry, and spray on. Noseeums love salty skin.

we have gone to Roatan 2 times for weeklong vacations. First time, they were really bad and we couldn't even walk around without them jumping on our feet. Cactus Juice saved us. People at resort who didn't use it were covered with bites. Our second trip, DH only got 2 bites all week on his back when using a restroom after getting out of water...took only a minute. They are vicious.

robin