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Jellyfish in Cococay/Blue Lagoon


jaedam0820

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Any experience? What did you do? We stayed at Chill Island last May at Cococay and had no incidents. However, a cruiser who recently went there and stayed at the same area confirmed there's jellyfish. I know that for our Freedom cruise this week, we'd be staying at Chill Island for the most part. I have a 3.5yrs old toddler who loves to swim and I want to know what to do if it does happen. Also, the Royal Caribbean staff help you when get stung?

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They are at Chill Island.  Not so sure about the bay area.  I've noticed jelly fish when the waters get warmer-it's likely why you didn't see them in May.Here in the Northeast there are typically more jellyfish the closer we get to August
A friend was stung in Europe and the lifeguard told her to rub sand into it. She said it helped.  She also had some benadryl she put on it and she said it was better. The lifeguard told her urine on it is a myth.  
 

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3 hours ago, jaedam0820 said:

Any experience? What did you do? We stayed at Chill Island last May at Cococay and had no incidents. However, a cruiser who recently went there and stayed at the same area confirmed there's jellyfish. I know that for our Freedom cruise this week, we'd be staying at Chill Island for the most part. I have a 3.5yrs old toddler who loves to swim and I want to know what to do if it does happen. Also, the Royal Caribbean staff help you when get stung?

Our daughter's ankle was stung by jelly fish in Galveston when she was small.  The beach concession stand put "Accent" (MSG) on the rashes.  Not sure if was the correct thing to do but she quit crying 🙂

 

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When the water is warm is you’ll see jellyfish. We have the clear ones that don’t sting right now at my beach but I was in the OBX in August and they had the pink ones and they sting. I was stung on my foot taking a walk down the beach. It stung felt kind of like a bee sting and was uncomfortable for about 20 minutes and then stopped. I didn’t do anything with it. If the jelly fish on CocoCay are the stinging kind I would keep a toddler out of the water and just let them swim in the pool. If they’re in the ocean they’re hard to avoid.

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4 hours ago, CanHardlyWait said:

First aid has spray. But you can get a small bottle of jellyfish bite spray online and just carry it with your sunscreen. That way you don't have to schlep all the way to first aid. I also use a ton of Safe Sea. 

I saw on Amazon the Safe Sea Jellyfish Sunscreen. Is it really effective? 

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4 hours ago, jaedam0820 said:

I saw on Amazon the Safe Sea Jellyfish Sunscreen. Is it really effective? 

I make myself white. I really cover up. Only got bit once. It stung about 20 mins. It's not a guaranty, but enough of it on makes it hard for anything to stick to you. I say it protected me 9 out of 10 times. Not too bad.

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There are usually very tiny ones around 1-3” at chill island  (although I’ve seen an occasional larger one). When we were there twice in August one of the lifeguards at barefoot beach (Labadee) was down with a net scooping up all the ones he could find. I don’t know if that is typical or not. Jelly fish are common from the east coast of the US southward, definitely always a possibility to get a sting. As noted by others, the lifeguards keep vinegar spray in their kits. Hopefully you won’t run into a problem.

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34 minutes ago, asquared17 said:

oh boy i sure hope the jellyfish are gone by december 😬 and february

Aug is the high season for them in the Bahamas. The longer the water has been hot (jun, jul, aug) the more likely to have larger numbers. But they can pop up anytime. One bite is just a sting for 20 min most times and the sprays really do help. Don't let it stop your fun. 

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23 hours ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

Just out of curiosity because i'm too lazy to look it up myself. Are jelly fish stings usually just an irritation (i.e. a mosquito bite or bee sting) or are they a serious thing?

 

It really just depends on the sting you get and your sensitivity. It's mainly about the tentacles on the jellyfish. The longer the tentacles and if they get wrapped around your legs, etc. the more sting. 

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I totally forgot about the jelly fish. Where I am we usually get in August but this year because of the many shark sightings I didn't go into the water much. I've had a ridiculous fear of jellyfish since I can remember (one of my first memories is my cousin carrying me on her shoulders because kids were taking jellyfish out of the water with buckets and burying them).

I feel like I need to prepare myself so I don't have an obnoxious reaction. 🤣

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I just bought some long sleeve rash guard spf 50 shirts for our trip because many excursions want reef safe sunscreen screen or non at all and recommend those shirts for Sun protection. I'm wondering if they will help keep things from coming in direct contact with skin as well. Hey, every little bit helps right. Note: I would still apply safe sea before putting shut on for this island to be extra safe.

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We just did a RC cruise aboard Harmony of the seas and has a stop at CoCo Cay Saturday 9/18/22 and I was stung by a jelly fish! There were what seemed to be A LOT of jelly fish that day. We had two day beds at chill island and spent a good bit of time in the water with my 11 and 9 year old boys and had to dodge jelly fish all day. Then, I was unable to dodge one and was stung on the right side of my chest and my day was done at CoCo Cay chill beach! 

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I saw something about this recently. The jellyfish population is growing massively all over and this is starting to happen more and more. They have no natural predators and many of the other animals they compete with for food and resources have dipped significantly in population. Jellies are more resilient and adaptable, so they've taken over where other species have disappeared. 

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  • 9 months later...

We were there last week and saw clear jellyfish.  I’m not sure which beach as my daughter and I walked through from the pool to go snorkelling (near where the canoes are) I didn’t hear of anyone getting stung (doesn’t mean nobody did) and a couple brushed our skin and we were fine.  That said at this point we got a bit freaked out and left the water as we were noticing more and more, small and large ones.  My daughter was stung a few years ago on a different holiday so naturally did not want to hang about.  I have read since returning home that not all clear jellyfish sting, personally wouldn’t risk it. It was late morning and they were not near the shoreline. 

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I was at the Coco Beach Club September 2022 and was out on a beach mat and had my goggles so I stuck my head in and was surprised to see how many jellyfish there were! I stayed out for a while longer with my feet dangling in the water and never felt anything, but about three hours later saw a rash on my foot that was a bit itchy. I am certain it was a jellyfish sting, but never noticed it when it happened and quickly forgot about it. I am going back at the same time this upcoming September and hanging out at the Beach Club again (honestly could just stay there every day) and am curious to see if there are more or less than the same time last year. 

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Man.... Why did I come to this thread...😭 This August will be our first trip to pdcc and of course I'm excited to snorkel..... But so scared of the idea of being stung...

I feel like I would be flailing so much trying to get away if I saw any that my fearful thrashing would be the exact reason I get bit/stung 😭

This sea safe..

Anyone with dark skin try it? I'm already looking extra ashy with the reef safe sunscreen.... Not trying to go full ghost if I can help it.

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like a lot of you i have been in the ocean many, many times and seen jellyfish often as well.  it's not worth fretting about imo - I've had much more pain from stepping on a sharp piece of shell or a bee sting than from anything in the water.  they don't want to bother you and usually brush right by.  in any case it's like being worried about getting run over in the crosswalk, you still gotta get across the street haha! live your life, hakuna matata, c'est la vie, etc etc

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We've gone 2018, 2021, 2022 for Thanksgiving and kids have gotten stung each time in the South Beach area.  The stuff they give at first aid makes it go away quickly, it's more of a nuisance than a pain.  None of my kids who have been stung were aware of it until after they left the water - it's never been some big dramatic thing.  More of a "my leg is itchy/irritated!" situation. 

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