I can handle mosquito bites but seem to have an extra bad reaction to the sand flies--"no see'ums". I have been to Utila three times and Tobacco Caye, Belize once and have suffered tremendously while there and I get home looking like I have a severe case of chicken pox for about 6 weeks.
It does help if I resist scratching, but it is like the difference between having a piece of sand in your eye or a three inch long splinter. It itches sooo bad if you don't scratch then it itches worse if you do. I can't win.
I went to Utila all times before Belize so I was worried about the sand flies and heard from several sources that Tabacco Caye doesn't have sand flies because there are not mangroves. I didn't take anything.
By my third trip to Utila, I started using the Cutter sparingly in conjunction with very generous amounts of "Off, Tropical" scent. I would take my own can and apply liberally and it helped. I have thought about taking Benydryl sometime to see if it helps my reaction but haven't tried it yet. Everyone else in the family gets a few bites that annoy them but I end up miserable...(but not miserable enough to stay home and miss out on the diving)
Anyway, because I heard that Tabacco Caye had no bugs, I didn't take anything. MISTAKE!!!!!
The first day, we all got eaten alive. I was almost in tears thinking about staying seven more days without any protection at all and there are no stores on the island to buy anything.
I remembered a friend telling me that the old-fashioned yellow Listerine has been found to be effective on mosquitos. I always take a 3 oz. bottle of green listerine with me everywhere, so, desperately, I started slathering it on my body. I swear that the discomfort I felt the rest of my stay was from the original bites from the first day. I am positive that I only got a few more bites in odd places the rest of the stay and I attribute it to the listerine. I was worried I was going to run out since it was such a small bottle but it went a long way even though I drenched my skin several times a day. I also wore my dive skin whenever reasonable and stayed in any breeze I could find. I think the sand flies are so small, they have trouble navigating the wind.
My upcoming trip to Roatan is going to have my arsenal of Off, dive skin, wind, Benedryl and Listerine, I'm taking several bottles.
I'll let you know how it goes.