Sea Lice in Cancun

Every year, between the months of March and August, Cancun is affected by a phenomenon called “sea lice”.

These little beasties are not lice at all, rather they are the microscopic larvae of the thimble jellyfish. The larvae get between your skin and your bathing suit and cause large red welts to appear that itch like crazy. Given that it’s the areas that your swimsuit hides that are affected it’s not nice at all.

Last week we were doing one of our regular booze cruises to Isla Mujeres and we came across about twenty or so ribbons of the adult jellyfish, you can see one pictured above left. The ribbons were about 6-10 feet wide and stretched as far as the eye could see. 

Amazing how these ribbons could be so narrow, yet so long. In any case, where the adults are the larvae are sure to be there too. So I dare say there will be a few uncomfortable tourists over the next few days or weeks. One thing you can do to prevent being affected is to buy a product called Safe Sea. This is a suntan lotion which not only proetects aganst the sun but also contains an ingredient that protects against marine stings, including sea lice.

You can’t buy this locally in Cancun (at least I’ve never seen it) so you should bring some from home if you’re coming to Cancun in the next few weeks. Dive stores and marine shops may well stock it but if you can’t find it where you live then you can always buy it online from Amazon

If you want to read more about Sea Lice and how to prevent and treat the irritation then please check out one of my other sites: Sea Lice Cancun