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For the second time in less than two weeks I had a young lady step on sea urchins at my beach and ended up with a lot of spines in both feet. It was obviously very painful and there really isn't anything you can do for them. All the remedies, hot wax, vinegar, ammonia, aloe and anything else your grandmother said would fix them are placebos. I put a little aloe on them because it helps the pain some, and some antibiotic on so they won't get infected. Other than that, you have to wait four or five days for them to dissolve in your skin. Imagine trying to walk with both feet full of splinters. That's what it feels like.
I said all this to stress the importance of not standing up when you are snorkeling. You never know what you may stand on. You may hurt some critter. It may hurt you. Sea urchin spines can come thru the bottom of fins and beach shoes. If you get tired or a little panicky while you are snorkeling, just spit out the tube, roll over and float on your back.
BTW, I'm a beach attendant at one of the resorts on STX. That's what I mean when I say "my beach".
Ric
Thanks for the good advice and info Ric. I've never been snorkling, but plan to give it a go during my next trip.
I'm thinking--second time in less than two weeks--this chick is a slower learner. Hee.
Thanks Ric for the good advice! We will be visiting STT and STJ in a couple weeks and will remember your suggestion when we go snorkling.
Last year when I was in Maui I did a snorkel trip and this teenager became washed up in the fire coral... he was totally helpless, everytime the waves would come in, he would float above it,then the waves would go out and he would be laying on top of it, since he was in a panic, he would try to stand up and the waves coming in would make him fall down hard on top of it again, the guys running the tour yelled to him to stay still and not move,they would swim to him, but he was so scared and in pain he would keep trying to get off the coral to just fall back on it again, I couldnt stand to watch it. They told us to avoid that area but I guess he didnt pay much mind to the warnings, anyway, back on the van after a 30 min ordeal, he look very bad and in pain, the van took him straight to the hospital, Ill never forget that and even though Im careful when snorkeling Im much more aware now of my surroundings since that happened.
for all first time snorklers who aren't good swimmers, let me once again add my two cents- be aware that the view you get looking into the water is quite magnified and you may think the water is much, much deeper than it really is, hence make bad decisions about how and where to place your body if you panic like I did my first time snorkling - thinking that somehow I had magically drifted out to very deep water (it was probably no more than 4 feet deep or less)- I panicked, floundered around and then sat, unintentially, on the lovely fire coral- I had a rash from that on my thigh that lasted about 6 months. So by all means go, just be aware that this magical underworld will look very different than you may think and give yourself time to step very gently into the water and time to relax into it once you're floating. Its worth it!!
Ric:
I would like to add to your excellent advice. If you are not a good swimmer and/or you never snorkeled before, consider a floatation device until you get used to it. I can't speak for the beaches at STX because I was never on that island. But in my experience on both STJ and STT, most of the sea urchins are between coral formations. Stay off the coral and you will not have a problem with sea urchins. If you don't think you can manage that, maybe snorkeling is not for you.
tmax
At the Cane Bay beach on STX there is a path that has been cleared of sea urchins. The route is clearly shown on a graphic map in the dive shop.
You just need to pay attention and come ashore in the area of the boat ramp.
Some people, my sister in law included, fail to follow instructions. This resulted in her stepping on a sea urchin. It is a hard lesson to learn,but unless you are totally stupid you don't make the mistake twice.
Jim
