St. John Virgin Islands: Mosquito Bloom
Posted by gerald in Life on St. John USVI, tags: mosquitoes, St. John Virgin IslandsIt was just before sunset when I took a little walk through our “garden.” Everything seemed to be in bloom at once, a function of the rain and the spring season no doubt. The mango, the lime tree, the gooseberry, the Barbados cherry, all in flower with the promise of sweet fruits to come. But I soon figured out that something else was in bloom, something not so nice…mosquitoes… I mean, MOSQUITOES!!! Swarms of them and hungry too!
It was so dry for so long, I was beginning to forget about the pesky creatures, but they’re back now, with a vengeance!
Slapping away I made it back into the house and decided to go buy some mosquito repellent, something I’m usually the last person to suggest, but this was different.
Jacob and I drove down to the Pine Peace Mini Mart. On the way I see a guy waving a mosquito wand. Interesting, I guess I’m not the only one the mosquitoes have singled out.
We make it to the store. There are three girls who get to the door at the same time as us. We all enter the store and without a moments hesitation, we all walk right over to the mosquito spray isle, where there are already two more customers checking out the options.
Not cheap either. It was just under ten bucks for a can of spray.
There’s the saying “every black cloud has a silver lining.” I guess the converse is also true.
And this too shall pass.
G
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Couldn’t tell if you actually bought a mosquito wand- we were in St John’s last week and the place we stayed had one- now that we’ve left the island we need a source to buy one , or three of them. It looked like a tennis racket, it was battery operated and shocked or fried the mosquitos. Can you help us ? thanks
They’re all over the place here on St. John. I don’t know how available they are in America.
Gerald
I’m staying at Maho Bay (arriving March 20) and am worried about Mosquitos plaguing us during the whole trip. Is there a “mosquito season”? Or is it a year round presence? Is the north portion of the island more susceptible to Mosquitos than the south? Many thanks!
Mosquitoes usually bloom after big rains. They are more common near marshes or standing fresh water. As the island has been rather dry lately, I haven’t noticed many mosquitoes.
As a rule, they don’t bother me unless they are really plentiful. Others are more sensitize.
If you tend to react to mosquito bites, I would suggest being prepared with a can of bug repellent with DEET like OFF.
Gerald
I would actually recommend against the DEET spray like off. You can pick up an all natural one which works as good (even better) comprised of eucalyptus leaf oil. Its a bad idea to cover yourself in DEET over and over again.
I was in St John VI early May of 2009 & was absolutely ATTACKED by mosquito’s. I heard it had been very dry there all year & thats why they hatched with a vengence. Not even the OFF spray did any good. Its like they all hatched at once because 2 days prior to that, we were fine. Not a one in site & then WHAM, they were allllll over the place. What is a better time of month to visit again when its not extremely hot with less mosquito’s?
Where were you staying? Cinnamon? Maho?
G
I was staying way up high in Coral Bay but the mosquito’s were at all of the beaches near by.
I just came back from st John. I’ve eaten alive. I was staying in Caneel bay. I had dinner at town. any where you go after 6pm you can’t get away from mosquitos. I used plenty of bug repellent. It just didn’t work. My back, chest, legs, and arms….. Who said long sleeve can help? They bite through your cloth. I’ve more than 30 bites….aaahhhh.