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Sand flies/fleas still an issue?


Liverpoolfan181
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First time to this port and after much research, a theme that seems to be repetitive was Sand flies/fleas (seen both listed).

Was hoping for more recent updates from those cruisers who have been just off the new year. We were considering Infinity Bay resort as one of the top contenders.

Is West bay typically better to avoid these pests?

A couple members in our family react heavily to bug bites (even with DEET), and don't want that to overshadow the port/trip or them having to stay on the ship if it is quite bad. Will then have to consider a non beach excursion

 

Thank you in advance! :)

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Roatan is a JUNGLE island...The sand fleas (noseeums) are prevalent on the island as a whole.  No one area is immune...BUT....  they are cyclical, some times none, sometime lots of them.  BEST prevention is spray oils like Avon Skinsosoft or CactusJuice.  You need to avoid sitting in damp areas, and rinse off salt water immediately after getting out of water.  They tend to live around docks and wooden structures from what I have found.  We have done 2 weeklong vacations to Roatan...once during rainy season (Nov) and they were vicious, but CactusJuice worked perfectly as long as we put it on immediately after getting out of water.  The second time was in June, and it hadn't rained much, so we barely saw them (DH got one bite on his back).  

 

DEET doesn't really work on them, plus it is toxic to ocean creatures.  It burns my skin so I only use it at night on clothes to fend of mosquitoes at any tropical location, not just Roatan.  

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I  believe there are three more factors to consider...

 

1) DEET works fine for me and unless someone can point me directly to facts about deet being harmful to the sea then DEET I will use when needed. 

2) the first year I was down the bug were relentless, so bad that two weeks after arriving home, I was still itching. The second year not as much. I do not have facts but there is a possibility one builds a small amount of immunity. 

3)I believe much of the issues people have are body chemistry related.. so one need find a repellent which works well for them and apply often. 

 

A small back story on me, for 15 years running I was on the island annually for up to three months. 

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Some people get very little reaction to the little buggers, other get horrible sores and it itches for months.  I have a friend who has that problem every time he goes to Roatan, he comes home covered in big red bumps that itch.  Me and my DH got tiny bumps that disappeared in days.  And as I said, it can be cyclical when the buggers are present.  

 

As a scuba diver, I can tell you that even going in the water with a sunscreen on will make most dive ops angry.  Coral in particular is very sensitive and chemicals like DEET wash off into the water.  How detrimental, who knows, but that doesn't mean I will disregard the locals wishes and wear it in the ocean.  There are lots of studies out there about DEET in fresh water killing fish.  And as a back story for me, my DH and I have been scuba divers for 20 yrs, diving all over the world, and it is always a part of briefing at every country that you don't want to use DEET around the water.  

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  • 1 month later...

It probably depends on where you are, when you go and what the weather is.

 

We were at West Bay beach last week.  I brought a can of bug spray with us, but never used it.  Belive me, if there is a biting bug within a mile of me, they will find me!!!  I too was very concerned about sand flies.  Next week could be a whole different situation.

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One thing that I noticed on our last trip they have been very good about "raking" the beaches in the morning to help with the issue.  DH who is a sand flea magnet only had a few bites this time.  DD had about 15.  Neither of them swelled up like they normally do.  I usually take benadryl and bug spray for these trips.  I ended up with 3 or 4.  (We were there the week of March 11th)

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We were in Roatan with the Caribbean Princess three weeks ago. Even though I sprayed insect repellent,  and we spend few hours at the beach, I didn't notice such problems, and insects love my skin. But somehow I was safe in the beach in Mahogany Bay.

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I will add that I never had problems with sand fleas on the Mahogany Bay beach even when sitting right in the sand. On the first time I went on Carnival's private island excursion, I really got eaten. I did spent lots of time sitting directly on the sand and didn't notice all the red speckles until we went to lunch. They didn't touch my wife. The worker told me it was no see ums, which was the first time I had heard of them. I thought he was kidding, but the name was so accurate since I had so many bites it looked like I had red freckles yet had not seen even one of the critters. Good thing they didn't swell or itch and were gone the next day.

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