Remedy for bugs in Roatan

[bbarada]

Does anybody know how to prevent no see um bites in Roatan? Looking for any and all remedies.

 

[mblazer]

We've used Off Deep Woods for Sportsmen, with 95% Deet. Worked great in Costa Rica and Utila - no bites at all.

 

[Kharon]

Deet eats diving equipment. I used Sawyer's Permethrin Premium Insect Repellent to treat my clothes and Picaridin Insect Repellent on my skin. I got no bites while the people staying at the same place looked like they had chicken pox. Oh yeah, and it's perfectly safe for diving equipment.

I used it on Bonaire after they had had a season of everyday rains and in Alaska in the summer. No bites!

 

[RTBDiver]

Deet eats diving equipment.

This is one of those posts that makes me wonder, Hmmmmm, Why would someone spray or rub any insect repellent onto their dive gear? Deet also makes cookies taste bad if you spray it on them so guess what? I don't spray it on them

As for the OP Question, I use off or cutters with 25-30 percent deet and it has worked well in all my time on the Island

 

[bkpix]

I used a Picaridin spray on Roatan and it worked quite well for both no-see-ums and mosquitos. Nothing I tried, including 100% deet, Deep Woods Off and Cactus juice worked on Utila. The little buggers seemed to love it all and bit continually.

 

[Doc]

I wonder why no one has ever asked about this before?

Pure fact:

DEET has been determined by the US Military to be the most effective preventative.

DEET in and of itself is not harmful to plastic material- what causes that effect is the inert material that it is suspended within. If you're not sure, spray it with extreme care. Yes- keep it off of your salad.

High percentage DEET is not necessary. They higher the percentage of DEET, the longer it is designed to remain on your body and working and not be washed off by what is considered to be normal human perspiration. Depending on your dive schedule, you may do just as well with the lightweight percentage DEET (cheaper).

Sand Flies (Sand Fleas, No-See-Ums) feed in still air, near moist decaying vegetable matter, around the hours of dawn and again about 1630 hours. Stay out of wooden sheds. Certain areas on the island are more conducive to their habitat.

I spray myself incoming at the airport if I'm going to be there longer than 5 minutes. I also keep a can in the dive locker area (warm, dark moist wood~ sounds like primo space for the little buggers) and we keep a can near the door of our room before exits.


But the question was... " Looking for any and all remedies " That asks, what do you do when you've been bitten?

A little dab from a q-tip. Instant relief.

 

[beaverdivers]

We used Skin-so-Soft ( SOS ) and Deet mixed together. I actually became an Avon " lady " so I could sell SOS. I "grew up diving " in Utila in the 70's, the only thing that absolutey works is to stay underwater ( preferably below 10').

 

[Damselfish]

When we were on Utila there was one person using the bug patches (vitamin B1) and she was the only person that didn't get eaten alive.

 

[jake11]

Bug patches??? Where would you find these? I used a variety of remedies and was still eaten alive when we were there! Yuck! I liked Roatan but have not gone back due to the bugs!

When we were on Utila there was one person using the bug patches (vitamin B1) and she was the only person that didn't get eaten alive.

 

[tridacna]

When we were on Utila there was one person using the bug patches (vitamin B1) and she was the only person that didn't get eaten alive.

She was lucky. It's absolute nonsense.

Vitamin B1 Patches Do Not Repel Mosquitoes — Infomercial Scams