Mosquitoes

Hi,

I am on the 7 day Society Island Cruise and notice that there was an outbreak until recently of the Chikungunya virus in the South Pacific...

I know the risks are small, and prevention is the key which is fine, but I just wondered if anyone knew how prevalent mosquitoes in general are on the islands?

Is it only if one travels inland on an excursion?

Apart from the virus, I react very badly to bites, so do take extreme precautions, but this sometimes can really spoil a trip...

Anyone have any experience / thoughts about this?

In 8 trips I have yet to be bitten by a mossie.

However I do understand that there is dengue in Tahiti, inland.

Also there are no see ums on some islands. DH was badly bitten in Moorea while eating dinner ...not on ship but in hotel. However unlike the sand fleas in NZ the bites disappeared over night.

Mosquitoes love to bite me. My first trip to Tahiti I found in Le Marche natural mosquito repellant works like magic. Used it for subsequent trips and never a bite. Worked inland while touring as well. I now bring bottles home for family. I think it's called le mustique.

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Princess Jessie, Mosquitoes love me as my DH says being close to me is the best repellent he has as they will attack me and avoid him. We had two encounters during our trip where they were awful....first during our pre-cruise stay when we left the Hilton Moorea to dine off the resort in the evening and second was during our tour Trail of Ancients . I wore repellent , replenished as needed , took all the precautions (wore long sleeves etc.) and happy to say not one bite. You will have a wonderful trip !

I should of added that we had a four night pre-cruise stay ( one at IC Papeete followed by 3 nights Hilton Moorea ) and took a ten night itinerary with PG and only had two incidents. We also did a mixture of land and sea tours.

What time of year is your trip? That can make a big difference.

I only started carrying repellent with me on my latest trip in September 2014--there were a few mosquitoes on Moorea, but very few really, around our hotel bungalow, where there wasn't a breeze. I also experienced a few mosquitoes on Moorea, in the "jungle" in April once. Luckily one of my fellow travellers lent me some of the local repellent.

But otherwise I have never worried nor been bitten, on two trips May/June and another in December.

I too react very badly to mozzie bites--I have a bite right now that I got somewhere a couple of weeks ago and you can still see the spot. Guess scientists now think it's genetic, so not much we can do about it, other than whatever strategies work for us. My latest is Deep Woods Off wipes--individually wrapped, so easy to carry.

Thank you everyone for your input.... I feel reassured!

I am travelling end June / July.... if that makes a difference....

Thank you everyone for your input.... I feel reassured!

I am travelling end June / July.... if that makes a difference....

Are you on the 27th June sailing, 7 nights on the PG? If so that's the sailing we are also on. :) The mosquito info is really useful for me also as I tend to get a bad reaction to bites.

Don't know for sure, but based on my experiences, and guessing, late June/July would be a fairly good time, bug-wise.

Don't know for sure, but based on my experiences, and guessing, late June/July would be a fairly good time, bug-wise.

Good time for bugs.... meaning lots or not :D

The mosquitoes were brutal on Tour of the Ancients. We applied bug spray and they left us alone. We also ran into them at the Tahiti IC after sunset--we didn't want to put on bug spray before bed, so ended up having to go inside and close the doors to the balcony. This was in May.

Good time for bugs.... meaning lots or not :D

Sorry, that was ambiguous. I meant a good time for humans.

But if ducklite's experience is typical, then if you're at one of the resorts, you want bug repellent at night, even at that time of year.

I haven't done the Tour of the Ancients, but I have wandered through those maraes (temples) up near the Belvedere on Moorea, and I don't remember any bugs (September, May, June, December.) But maybe I was just lucky, and didn't get deep enough into the woods.

Sorry, that was ambiguous. I meant a good time for humans.

 

But if ducklite's experience is typical, then if you're at one of the resorts, you want bug repellent at night, even at that time of year.

 

I haven't done the Tour of the Ancients, but I have wandered through those maraes (temples) up near the Belvedere on Moorea, and I don't remember any bugs (September, May, June, December.) But maybe I was just lucky, and didn't get deep enough into the woods.

At home the mosquitoes are really only a problem at dusk and on days with no breeze at all. We have 2 nights pre at the IC- first night is a late arrival. So we should be careful the next night- what about our overnights in Moorea and Bora-Bora. I don't think we'll be off ship in the evening those nights, but is there a possibility of mosquitoes on board those nights?

At home the mosquitoes are really only a problem at dusk and on days with no breeze at all. We have 2 nights pre at the IC- first night is a late arrival. So we should be careful the next night- what about our overnights in Moorea and Bora-Bora. I don't think we'll be off ship in the evening those nights, but is there a possibility of mosquitoes on board those nights?

I've never experienced a mosquito onboard the ship, no I wouldn't worry about that. As for the IC, the large resorts spray, if necessary, but there's usually that famous tradewind blowing, so little to worry about.

We had no problem on the ship at night. It stays far enough away from the shore that the bugs don't visit.

Zika fever is active in tahiti and is transmitted by daytime mosquitos

I was on PG last month. We had problems with mosquitoes on Moorea and Tahiti. Both times only when we were inland, away from the beaches. I had read that mosquitoes can be a problem so I kept a few "OFF" towelettes in my day bag. They came in handy and are easy to pack.

A horsefly bit my upper thigh, just below my swimsuit when we were on the motu off Taha'a. That left a swollen sore on my thigh that lasted about 5 days. I wish I had been wearing some "OFF" then, but it probably would have washed away since I was getting in and out of the water.

Next month will be our ninth trip with six being in the June/July time frame. The other three were over New Years Eve. The December/January sailings can be a bit more humid and have a few more bugs of all sorts, but never have we experienced anything too bad. The interior of the islands is not as bad, mosquito-wise, as I have experienced backpacking in the High Sierras.:eek:

Never had an issue at all on the beaches and certainly not on the ship, even when at anchor.

We are currently using Repel 100 (100% Deet) that we bought from Amazon.

We had no problem on the ship at night. It stays far enough away from the shore that the bugs don't visit.

During the day though while anchored off Motu Mahana, we were surprised at the number of flies that had (obviously) flown from shore to the ship to try and share the buffet luncheon with us in Le Grill.

During the day though while anchored off Motu Mahana, we were surprised at the number of flies that had (obviously) flown from shore to the ship to try and share the buffet luncheon with us in Le Grill.

What month was that? We saw no flies on the Motu, in fact it was pleasantly bug free. :)

What month was that? We saw no flies on the Motu, in fact it was pleasantly bug free. :)

We didn't notice any flies on Motu Mahana, but we did not stay for lunch there. Guess they all flew over to check out Le Grill. We were there in January.

I've noticed the odd fly on Motu Mahana at times in the past. Not a big problem, but a few.

It's probably impossible to eradicate all insects on the Motu.

There is a wooded area behind the parking lot at the IC Tahiti that is infested with bugs. Flying ones, crawling ones, if you stop walking you will be covered in ants in under 30 seconds. It could be the basis for a new horror movie! That said, it's not really an area where they expect guests to be wandering around.

No trouble at all on the ship or when we stayed ashore in Papeete or Moorea both on the sea front but when we did an excursion inland there were plenty!

No trouble at all on the ship or when we stayed ashore in Papeete or Moorea both on the sea front but when we did an excursion inland there were plenty!

Thanks Karenjnz. We go next month. Do you have a review of your time in the area? :)