Sand Flea's in Little Cayman

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acj

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Messages
62
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Location
Austin, Texas
# of dives
1000 - 2499
I am heading to Little Cayman (Little Cayman Beach Resort) in a week....

Does anyone know what the sand flea situation is there? I am VERY susceptible to their bites and am wondering if I am going to have to bathe in 100% DEET the entire time I am there or not.

Thanks!!
 
Can't speak for Cayman, but in other parts of the Caribbean they usually only come out towards the end of the day. Just break from the beach early, and I would expect you to be fine.
 
I don't ever remember having any problem with them on LC or Brac. My wife is their favorite flavor too, and I don't recall her ever having any problems either in 1 trip to LC and 3 trips to Brac.
 
Haven't experienced sand flies (as opposed to fleas), but have experienced mosquitoes. Usually no bites from insects.
 
I've never experienced sand flies in many trips to LCBR.
 
Just got back a few weeks ago and never a bite at all. I don't think they are a problem there.
 
I didn't have any problem, nor did I hear of any problems.

Then again, I never hung out of the beach. I was either sleeping my room, diving on the boat, eating in the dining room, hanging at the bar or walking along the dock to and fro.
 
I've heard of 'sand flea' problems in central america .. either I don't know what they are, or LC / Brac doesn't have a (significant) problem with them. My "bug-sweet" wife tends to sit on the beach all morning while I'm diving and while she occasionally gets a couple of bits on the shins, its hard to say what they were.

You will certainly find mosquitos under the usual conditions ... sunset, particularly when there's low wind conditions ... as well as probably some other critters. I've never seen biting flies in Cayman (such as you find in many areas along the US Eastern Seaboard). As of a month ago, they were having a pretty severe mosquito outbreak.

One of these critters that one should keep an eye out for was locally known as a "coconut bug". To me, it looked to me like a lightning bug (same look & shape, but slightly smaller). Its noteriety is because its juices are acidic and can cause a mild burn if you squish/kill it on you - - so the trick is to not kill it (at least while its on you), but to sweep them off. Oddly, they have been rampant on one of my LC trips and absent from others, so I don't know if they are seasonal, or that I simply hit one single year with an unusually high spike.

In general, I'd recommend taking some bug spray, be aware that sunset & dusk is the hour that they'll be most active, and to look before you smack: if its not a mosquito, brush it away.

After a couple of days & sunsets, you'll have a good idea what the rest of your week is going to be like and to plan accordingly.


-hh
 
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