TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Jellyfish, where aren't anyway?

Got stung at the Dogs and Bitter End. Does anybody know where they are jellyfish free?

We had fairly good luck with minimal stings at Monkey Point 3 days ago and Sandy Spit 2 days ago. Zero jelly issues at White Bay JVD. The Dogs was the worst - they were pretty thick there.

In our experience, Guana was the worst... didn't really have a problem anywhere else but didn't hit the dogs or swim in the North Sound this time.

Just found this from a weather site I use regularly. The linked page is chock full of useful stuff. Scroll down to The section titled QUICK WEATHER REFERENCES, VIRGIN ISLANDS AREA. Find the link marked "Beach Flags." Lists prominent beaches. Purple flag means J-Fish. Not sure how reliable this is. Maybe others can comment.

http://www.weathercarib.com/

Gosh the keepers of the ocean must have missed the memo that they needed to make all the wild places safe for humans on vacation, and off limits for ocean natives who actually maintain the ocean ecology.

A little apology for being hugely sarcastic, but sheesh........ there are villas and marinas with pools.

I've been chartering in the islands since 1976 and this past trip was the worst for jellyfish and sea lice. I don't complain much, we did a lot of snorkeling in long sleeve shirts, but still got stung pretty badly on the face several times. The comment about marinas and pools is cute, but unless you experienced swimming through the swarms of small jellies, you don't understand. The best I can describe it was like walking through a swarm of gnats that sting. At the dogs, the caves and Maho the water was thick with them. I even saw a local family whose child got stung on the face just minutes after entering the water... about knee deep. They left immediately. It has been worse than I can remember. The beach at Maho was glittering from all the jellies washed up.

http://www.tripadvisor.co.nz/ShowTopic-g...in_Islands.html

Someone always has to be sarcastic or snarky.

We encountered jellies during snorkeling. As far as I know, snorkeling in a pool would be kind of pointless.

I guess I should stop walking around the pool deck with my metal detector too. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

We'll be there next week. Were you guys seeing jelly fish or the sea lice/larval jellys or both? The only time I've had a problem was some sea lice around the other side of Monkey Point. Not even sure I ever remember seeing a jelly fish, if so there were so few it didn't register. I was thinking of trying Safe Sea but the reviews were almost worthless on Amazon.

Typical reviews: "We bought it but haven't tried it, we tried it but never saw anything, it's a good suntan lotion"... thanks that's not helpful. I read it's about 80% effective, not sure what that even means! Has anyone here tried it, been exposed to sea lice or jelly fish and actually thinks it worked? If I ever get any I'll be the guinea pig and use it except on one arm and swim thru some sea lice or jellys - I promise. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" /> It's too late now to order it but maybe for next time.

I consider myself pretty environmentally friendly but jelly fish, mosquitos and sweet gum trees were all just bad ideas.

We have not seen one jellyfish and have been in the water every day? We have, however, seen tons of bees looking for fresh water. We put a large container of fresh water on the bow of our boat and they decided that was a better place than out cockpit. FYI the rain in the last couple of days solved the bee issue. As for jellyfish....NONE

Thanks Mike. The only problem we've had with critters is someone was sampling our fresh fruit. We wondered if we had a mouse/rat aboard. We were swimming behind when we spotted the culprit - a bird!

We left on June 3rd, so my experience is a bit dated, but... the north shore beaches of St John was the worst, followed by The Dogs. There were tiny jellyfish in swarms, I later was informed these were sea lice. There were also some normal (not large) jellyfish on most every snorkel. They were easier to avoid than the sea lice. The Safe Sea seemed to work for my boys because the only place they got a rash was under their swimsuit and shirt, where I did not apply the Safe Sea.

The real annoying critter was the bird at Leverick who I caught driking my Presidente!

Most info about jellies in the BVI is that they are most prevalent 8-10 days after a full moon and mostly come during summer months. The last full moon was June 2, so it does not fit that pattern.

We are there in 28 days. By my calculations we should not have problems until the very last part of the trip. I'm sure I can find something to amuse myself as we will be at Guavaberry by then. I will get some Sea Safe just incase we encounter the rogue packs of jellies.

Just got back yesterday (sailed June 13-23rd). Jellies were everywhere with the exception of the Baths, Anegada, White Bay, and Cane Garden. We would send the men in to do a "jelly check" before snorkeling. The stings weren't too bad; felt more like a small prick vs. full on jelly sting. All of us ended up with red welts all over (similar to mosquito but a tad more painful and itchy). Snorkeling was worth it though and nothing a Benedryl won't fix. This was my seventh time down there and the first time I have ever encountered the number of jellies in the water. They ranged in size from two to four inches. A little disappointing for the newbies on the trip but means they need to go back!

weird how some people haven't seen any, and others see them all over...
must be good (or bad) timing...

Here in Little Apple Bay some have complained and seen em..I have swum every day and not seen one or been stung..I have felt some tiny fish brush against me but think those are just our bait fish...our neice and beau are here now and they have no complaints. I think they drift with the current and can show up anywhere if they are carried that way and it changes hour to hour day to day..

absolutely Mal, they are not territorial.

When we were down in April, we saw them sporadically. Monkey point for sure can't remember where else.

But I was the only one in the group of six who didn't get stung while snorkeling. Either it's the vitamin B shot and the daily B supplement or it is the vinegar in my veins. Didn't get one mosquito bite as well.

definitely with the current, of all our trips the most we ever noticed them most heavily was around Saba Rock into North Sound area where they seem to "funnel" in with that current.

I was down the end of May into the 1st of June and didn't see any and we were snorkeling and in the water everyplace from Norman to Monkey Point to North Sound of the 6 of us the only casualty was a bee sting at CGB, but no jellyfish stings