Have the mosquitos been busy on the island lately with all the rain? If so, any secret potions to keep them at bay?

no secret potions, just good old fashioned DEET.

If you can tolerate high % DEET, this is quite good.

http://www.repel.com/ProductCategories/Insectrepellents/100Pump/

Thanks for the advice - husband has packed some DEET spray...

we've also had good luck with cactus juice. i think a lot depends on individual chemistry. i use cactus juice and rarely get bit...mary uses cactus juice, high deet products, and everything short of immersing herself in kerosene and still gets eaten alive. and she's starting to seriously consider a tub full of kerosene.

but with all her bites she's never gotten sick (just seriously p.o.'d). her friend visited us five years ago, doesn't remember getting bit at all but ended up with dengue. go figure.

They are just so darn annoying! The first time we visited Bonaire, we were seated outdoors at a restaurant and we were all getting ate up so bad that we actually took our napkins and wrapped them around our lower legs! This time we're planning on wearing pants at night and still dousing ourselves with bug spray! A few more days until fun & sun....

about 8 years ago we went to the riding rock inn on san salvador in the bahamas. the restaurant had a great bar with a nice deck overlooking the water. but every evening when we'd go there for a drink the no-see-ums would eat us alive. it was so disappointing to have that great place to relax but it was unbearable to try to sit there.

I was just on Bonaire two weeks ago. The mosquitos were bad. Late afternoon dive sites we would get eaten alive if the wind died down.

Most of the restaurants offered us spray if they sat us outside.

Deet is always my favorite. I would warn you that if you are spraying the deet on your skin you should use a formulation that is less than 25% deet. If you use the 100% deet recommended above use in on clothing. Products with high concentrations of deet can cause absorption of dangerous levels. I love that 100% product but I only use it on clothing.

Our favorite trick in Honduras doing medical missions (mainland jungles and Roatan / Guanaja) was to take daily B12 vitamins and garlic. It really does work, although DEET at 100% was our fallback trick that never failed us.

My father builds cabins in the woods of Arkansas, and he swears by vanilla extract. Sounds corny but he says he never gets bitten. I’ve tried it with some success, plus there's also the benefit of smelling like a big cup cake.

a couple of years ago there were swarms of midges at karpata when we were getting ready to dive. they don't bite but will annoy you to death. they look like mosquitoes though so the thought is there that you'll get bit. they seem to go for openings in your body (mouth, nose, eyes, ears). they were so bad they were even getting sucked down our snorkels as we started out...and they don't taste all that good. if anyone saw the indians/yankees playoff game in 2007 you'll have an idea what they are like when they swarm. i swear, if they bit you'd probably jump off a cliff to get away from them.

Arrived home a couple days ago from this diver's paradise and am happy to report that the mosquitos weren't as bad as we had anticipated! In fact, only two of our family of five, received bites. They were worse inside our beach house than they were outside! Hope everyone else had the luck we had...

Just returned home 12-27....they loved my blood (left leg, in particular) but my hubby, Joe, was pretty much OK.

Once I doused in OFF with Deet I was OK. Didn't want to use it at all for the first few days but they "got to me" and I broke down and bought some from Michael at Chat n Browse.

I'll take the skeeters over the sub zero wind chill hitting us in NJ right now, for sure!@! LOL. Carole

carole it's about 15 here in northeast ohio now...and we have 35 days and 12 hours till we land on bonaire (but who's counting?)

15 degrees? Why that's a virtual heatwave!
I was out with the dog this morning & it was zero in Ringwood and that's not counting the wind chill factor. Yes, believe it or not, there are mountains in north Jersey.

sun's out now...it still hasn't hit 20 but it feels pretty warm

Brrrr....you guys are making me cold just reading your posts.

So glad we moved to the PNW....it is going to hit the mid-40s today The rain isn't so bad, really. I don't miss sub-zero winters AT ALL! (Of course, existing in those temps all winter does make the escape to Bon all the sweeter, right?) We're only going to see a 40 degree temp change tomorrow, instead of the typical 80 degree change from Wisconsin in January.

Liz, have a fabulous time! I'm glad you are back Got your email and failed to reply; please forgive!!!

Hugs for safe flights and diving!

No worries, Kobi! I hope we end up on Bon at the same time someday, and can finally meet up for a drink.

I'm sitting here waiting for the car to pick us up for the airport. By tomorrow morning this time, I will (hopefully) be diving. Woo hoo!

Lucky ducky!!! Hope you're bringing your laptop

Yep, laptop is packed. We will be looking for wifi access once we get there, and I will try to post some trip pics during the week.