I'll be down for Thanksgiving and I have been warned about the bugs. Being from Southern California (virtually free of mosquitoes) can anybody recommend a good bug repellant? Thanks

I use Deep Woods Off, and didn't have one bug bite. Have a great trip!

Any repelent heavy on DEET will work fine.

I didn't notice any bugs.

Hey, another left-coaster. Welcome to PBA (Pre-Bonaire Anticipation). Its a lot more fun than PBD. I have been an addict since '88. Love the place and the people. Waiting to win the lottery so I can move there. I have never had bug problems there, but my favorite bug juice is Skin-so-soft from Avon. Works for skeeters and no-see-ums.

Julie we will be there at that time too! I bring Deep woods off and have no problem.Have tried other stuff but this works the best for us...I use to bring perfume with me but that was just making it worse....I bring the creme kind and the spray...put it on before you venture out at night, on all exposed areas...specially ankles and calfs...We were at Captain Hooks for dinner one night and used the spray to spray the table cause of some "landings" people started asking us to share....It is not as bad as it sounds...it is not like a "plague of mosquito's" just alittle annoying....But the deep woods works well....Maybe we will see you during your stay....if not have a great time!

Julie,
a french solution consist to rub hardly your armpits with a french cheese called "camember".
Note that this procedure remove not only mosquitoes...but buddys too.
Oo°(;){)

Julie, it is interesting about those mosquitoes. The first night we arrived, we made the mistake of leaving our room door open for about 10 min while bringing in luggage. The place filled with about 100 mosquitoes. I never got bitten once the entire time we were there, but they loved my roommate and she was almost sick she had so many bites. The resort gave us spray for the inside and she started spraying Off when she went out and before going to sleep at night. They are not mosquitoes like we have in FL. They don't seem to buzz, but they do bite! However, it seems they are very discriminating about who they bite.
Be prepared

I got bitten to bits at the airport!(83 bites, I counted them as I tried not to scratch in the night.) Remember to put some on in the plane if they love you as much as they love me. Jungle Formula is available in the U.K. and works well.

Thanks for the all the advice. I'll definately bring a can of spray and I'll cross my fingers that the mosquitoes don't care much for me.

Jean, forgive me if I don't try your cheese technique. It was good for a laugh though!

Meryl, where are you staying?

I actually found that the Bonairean mosquitoes were easily cowed by the unscented kids' formula pump spray bottle of OFF. The skeeters up here in MA laugh at the stuff and go swimming in it just to annoy me -- it takes the DeepWoods stuff up here, or I get chewed to death.

That being said, I did forget the one most important thing while we were down there in October -- if ya don't spray the stuff on, it doesn't keep the skeeters away! I'm -still- dealing with the welts... (dumb, dumb...)

Faith

The Divi must spray really good because I have never experienced a mosquito problem. I do spray just before dinning in the evening just as a precaution. We are always out walking at dusk, without any problems. Maybe it could be because we are close to town.

It's probably more that the mosquitoes didn't find you. In the 2 weeks we were there, I got bitten up pretty well, while Dan got maybe 2 or 3 bites. It did take the little buggies several days to find me, too. And as 2Nancys mentioned above, she was untouched while her roomie was eaten alive.

The one that always annoys me is if there's a mosquito in the bedroom at night, it will -always- find me, and it will almost always find the soft fleshy spot right under my eyes. I wake up looking like someone punched me -- swollen, bruised area just below the eye. Last year, I got bitten twice there and once on the upper lid in the same night -- I could barely see out of that eye for several days, it swelled so badly. Northern mosquitoes have never done that to me.

Faith

p.s. while I was typing this, I typoed mosquitoes into "misquoties" at one point. Cool word!

I'm puzzled about the mosquito situation. I never put on repellant and didn't get one bite while in Bonaire. However, when I came home to FL, the little devils here were all over me and left 1Nancy alone! Difference in regional tastes I guess!

Are the mosquitos and no-see'ums a seasonal issue?
I'm thinking of coming to Bonaire and would like to be there with minimal bugs.


I'm not a bug person and getting a couple bites really bothers me. When it gets bad here in New Hampshire with black flies, people break out the 100% deet solution!

Brighid,

As someone who moved from NH to Bonaire I can tell you that the bugs here don't come close to the annoyance and pain of those in New Hampshire during mud and black fly season. One of the many reasons we moved was to get away from that scourge of humanity known as the "black fly". Nasty beasties. The mosquitos in NH are also much bigger than the ones here on Bonaire, and you can feel them when they bite (they also have something akin to zebra stripes too). Bonaire's mosquitos are a bit more stealthy - you generally don't feel them bite, they are quite a bit smaller, and the real annoyance comes a day or two later when the bites start to itch.

Generally, if you spray your legs with Off (doesn't even have to be the Deep Woods version), before going outside during the evening, you will be fine. A mosquito hunt in your bedroom is also recommended if these guys like you.

Mosquito season is pretty much related to wet season ("wet" being a relative term). When it rains on Bonaire, you'll see mosquito populations pick up within a few days or a week, and continue for a week or so.

So, getting back to your question, the times of year when you will find the least numbers of mosquitos here is when it's been dry for a while - usually from about Feb/Mar onto about October or so. Rains start in late October and go on (and off) through January.

Jake

Bonaire isn't really known for it's mosquito problem. I travel quite a bit and find Alaska and Honduras (Mosquito Coast-Duh!) the worst places to be for the buggers. The mosquitos in Alaska make anything in the NE seem like migets.

Here's what we do, which we learned from Alaskan natives:

Take your shower either morning or evening (depending on how long you want to look at that 'do) and after you rinse off, rub Skin so Soft all over. Don't rinse off. You can pat dry or air dry if you have the time. Guaranteed you won't have a problem, until you swim that is. Lots of people swear by SSS and many say it doesn't work. The nay sayers are those who just slather it on. It smells better than Off too.