sea lice and jellyfish protection

I may have been the woman mentioned in the previous post--the one who was highly allergic. I had a VERY severe reaction in St. Croix last October. Not just a skin reaction but a significant systemic one that was bad. Last month I was in Belize and was pretty nervous about the Sea Lice situation there. It's a hot spot for them, and I was almost reluctant to go in the water. But, being the addicted open water person that I am, I ventured forth. I tried Safe Sea for the first time and I have to say, I am a convert. I did numerous swims of various lengths, the longest of which was 2hr.15min. I hade very little reaction, except on that long swim--because I think the Safe Sea had worn off. In the future, I would get out an reapply, even though that psyches me out slightly in terms of feeling like I've done a continuous swim. On that longer swim, I did get very chewed up, but did not have a repeat of the full-body, systemic meltdown I had last time. My other recommendation would be to wear the smallest suit you can. I am desperate for the sun coverage, but the sea lice seem to get to the places under your suit, and it's even worse if you wear some kind of rash guard. When I wear a smaller bikini, I definitely get less bites. Now those weird silver fish that kept nipping at me--that's a completely different story... I was truly a skeptic about the effectiveness of Safe Sea, and now I don't think I'll go to an infected area without it. I was seriously considering not doing St. Croix again because my reaction had been so severe, and now--sign me up! I got mine at Drugstore.com Hope it helps! Sydne

I may have been the woman mentioned in the previous post--the one who was highly allergic. I had a VERY severe reaction in St. Croix last October. Not just a skin reaction but a significant systemic one that was bad. Last month I was in Belize and was pretty nervous about the Sea Lice situation there. It's a hot spot for them, and I was almost reluctant to go in the water. But, being the addicted open water person that I am, I ventured forth. I tried Safe Sea for the first time and I have to say, I am a convert. I did numerous swims of various lengths, the longest of which was 2hr.15min. I hade very little reaction, except on that long swim--because I think the Safe Sea had worn off. In the future, I would get out an reapply, even though that psyches me out slightly in terms of feeling like I've done a continuous swim. On that longer swim, I did get very chewed up, but did not have a repeat of the full-body, systemic meltdown I had last time. My other recommendation would be to wear the smallest suit you can. I am desperate for the sun coverage, but the sea lice seem to get to the places under your suit, and it's even worse if you wear some kind of rash guard. When I wear a smaller bikini, I definitely get less bites. Now those weird silver fish that kept nipping at me--that's a completely different story... I was truly a skeptic about the effectiveness of Safe Sea, and now I don't think I'll go to an infected area without it. I was seriously considering not doing St. Croix again because my reaction had been so severe, and now--sign me up! I got mine at Drugstore.com Hope it helps! Sydne