Sea safe lotion necessary?

[DHSbutcher]

Hm never experienced/heard of sea lice throughout our 20 cruises, yearly trips to our time share in Cozumel, and various other caribbean vacations. But I can say, if you're going to worry about it the whole time, buy the stuff for peace of mind. In the freshwater lakes in Michigan at summer camp they use to have us shower off in cold water to avoid "swimmers itch", as others have mentioned, that practice might come in handy as well.

 

[Fuhnuh]

DD15 encountered what was most likely sea lice on our first visit. Thankfully, just a couple reaction spots, but we have had her apply safesea on subsequent trips. I understand both sides to this issue and fall somewhere between. For now, DW and I go without and she uses it. It may be that she doesn't need it or that we may regret not putting it on, but we are happy with the risks/costs (I hope that doesn't mean that I'll be posting a firsthand experience in late July). I think I have heard that freshwater will cause them to sting more and that you should only shower in freshwater after removing the infected swimsuit.