Help! Traveling to Raja and forgot malaria meds!

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BarnBrat

Registered
Messages
31
Reaction score
16
Location
Charlotte, NC
# of dives
100 - 199
Well, I knew we would forget something I just can't believe it was something so important. To top it all off we only have a limited supply of Deet. Not enough to throughly apply at the rate that will be necessary during our overnight in sorong. We have 2 days in Manado, please tell me I can buy DEET somewhere on that island?! Otherwise I'll be that girl walking around the Manado airport begging other people for a can of DEET they can spare.
 
If you are in a good hotel in Sorong, e.g. SwissBelHotel, I wouldn't worry about it. Maybe don't go for a walk and wear long clothes, although I would personally not think that were necessary in the hotel.

You have a few days on Manado at some resort? They may have some, more likely they have non-DEET stuff if anything. It might be as effective, not sure. Again, wear long clothing, which is always recommended in mossie areas if you are susceptible to bites.

The chances that you are going to get malaria are very, very small. If that soothes your mind at all. Much greater chance you'll have a car accident than anything.

Manado is not in RA.

- Bill
 
Can buy mosquito spray easily in Manado. Still got half a bottle in my toiletry bag that I bought there only 3 months ago.
 
Well, I knew we would forget something I just can't believe it was something so important. To top it all off we only have a limited supply of Deet. Not enough to throughly apply at the rate that will be necessary during our overnight in sorong. We have 2 days in Manado, please tell me I can buy DEET somewhere on that island?! Otherwise I'll be that girl walking around the Manado airport begging other people for a can of DEET they can spare.
Don't worry! You can buy auf DEET containing cream or spray called Soffell nearly everywhere in Indonesia. For us it worked well all time.
 
You can buy auf DEET containing cream or spray called Soffell nearly everywhere in Indonesia.
Exact, get the pink bottle, smells fine and on top of that the price is ridiculous, not like the regular you find in Europe/US.
I don't buy any mosquito repellent home anymore, I get them in Indo.
 
Ah, thanks so much everyone! Panic attack avoided. Now time to get this 30 hours of air travel officially underway! Everyone send good gugu that snowmageddon 2016 doesn't throw any more twists into this grand plan. We already had our first flight out of charlotte canceled and had to flee south!
 
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In Manado or even in Sorong, you can get pump spray type called "AUTAN", as shown above. I bought one from one of the local convenience store in Sorong within walking distance from SwissBelHotel.

On another occasion, I just walked across the street from the hotel & talked to a motor bike taxi guy (the local called it "Ojek") to take me to a pharmacy (called "Apotek") to get me another medicine. I just hoped on to the back of his motor bike had a little 10-minute tour around the town to the pharmacy, bought the medicine, hoped back to his motor bike, he took me back to the hotel, paid him Rp.15,000,- (about $1) for the 30 minute joy ride around Sorong :wink:

I took malaria med for my first trip to Raja Ampat, back in 2010, but didn't like the side effect of it. On my 2nd to 5th trip, including a trip to Manokwari to liveaboard dive with whalesharks in Cendrawasih Bay, I didn't take the malaria medicine any more and I'm still free of malaria (knock on wood).

The main thing you need to do to protect from mosquitoe bite is to apply the Autan spray on your exposed skin, while you are on the harbor, waiting a ride to the liveaboard or to the resort. That's all. No malaria on the liveaboard, nor on the resorts that I've been to, leaving from Sorong harbor (4 liveaboards, 3 resorts).
 
Our first time outside the carribean and we so so excited to check this off our bucket list!

No turn turn back you'll never want to dive the carribean again. You'll do every thing you can to get back to Indo. You will put the house in hock, sell your kids, maybe even cut a deal with the devil to do more diving in Indonesia.
 
No turn turn back you'll never want to dive the carribean again. You'll do every thing you can to get back to Indo. You will put the house in hock, sell your kids, maybe even cut a deal with the devil to do more diving in Indonesia.

:D I caught that bug after 5 years diving in Caribbean. With a roundtrip ticket Houston-Denpasar for $688, forget Caribbean :D
 

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