Bites or Rashes?

[the_cat_keeper]

I dive around SE Asia.

I felt stung when I was in the water (it happened at different depths), and when I looked around, I could see nothing. Some people said it's jellyfish and some said it's "sea bugs". Whatever caused the stungs, my skin would get swollen (like mosquito or sand fly bites) and would get extremely itchy. Usually it would be groups of "rashes" and could be as many as a few dozens of "rashes". These "rashes" would last about a week to two. On a trip with say 30 divers, it is not unusual to see a handful suffering the same problem.

What is it? I have been diving since 2000 and still could not figure what mysterious creatures caused this. I sort of come to accept this but it's still annoying!

 

[vanbalenm]

Did this happen on East Coast Malaysia? I got stung a lot while snorkling Pulau Rawa. A burning sensation. Turned out to be sea lice. In my case, the itch didn't last that long and I didn't get a rash.

 

[the_cat_keeper]

I mostly dive on the east coast of Malaysia but I had the same encounter at Manado, Indonesia and also when I went to Tunku Abdul Rahman National park in East Malaysia. These bugs or whatever they are seemed to be everywhere... but strangely not everyone gets "attacked".