We got burned, A Mini-post

 

We've generally been very good with the sun protection while snorkeling.  We'd even gone as far as wearing shorts and T-shirts in the water, with SPF 80 on exposed areas that. But, over that time, we'd been getting good color.  Gradually, as we both got darker, we'd been reducing the amount of protection, until it was just the shirt and shorts for a few days.  No problem. 

The time had come, then, we reasoned, to get rid of the T-shirts, and see if we could get some color on our backs.  We only intended to be out for a short while that day.  We failed.  The fish were too much fun that day.  The corals were too fantastic (more than even earlier on the other part of this small bay).  Visibility was too good!  We could see 20m+, easy! 

After about an hour and a half, we started feeling the familiar warmth on the back that says you're getting to the limit.  But the water was cool.  Jime covered up a little bit, but I had no shirt that day, so there was nothing to do for it.  We started heading back, but we dawdled.  By the time we got out, it had been 2.5 hours, and my guess is the UV Index that day must have been spiked to the limit.  The sun was clear, without a cloud in the sky.  When we got out of the water, we knew we were burned, but, as these things go, there was no telling how bad yet. 

Sun burns don't hurt right away. We were actually quite FINE having a little sunburn.  It burns for a couple days, maybe it peels later, but eventually, it turns into color.  We scheduled our dive for the next day (this was last Tuesday, I guess).  By that evening, though, we knew the dive was at risk.  When morning came, I knew it wasn't gonna happen.  I walked over to the dive shop and postponed for a day.  Then evening came and I knew tomorrow wasn’t gonna happen either, so I postponed indefinitely.  We were fortunate enough that our little hotel had an aloe plant growing (sabila) in the garden, and they very kindly let us cut off a couple leaves.  There’s nothing better for minor burns than fresh aloe.  We also bought some regular skin lotion.  We used that stuff several times a day, and babied our backs as much as possible.

When all was said and done, we weren’t able to dive until Saturday (yesterday), and even then, it was touch and go.  I had to be very careful to keep my shirt on when I wasn’t wearing the wetsuit.

Burns get worse before they get better.  As you probably know, the definition of a 2nd degree burns is that blisters appear.  Jime’s had come and gone.  The day of the dive, I had a few small ones, but nothing major.  Today though, I look like a damned leper.  The skin over my triceps looks… textured.  Oddly, Jime learned an interesting and related fact today.  It turns out that leprosy has another name.  It’s also called “Hansen’s Disease”.  Great. Just what I need.  Anyway, I won’t show you a picture or anything.  You don’t need to be that traumatized.   I just wanted to share that I’d been stupid, and now I’m paying for it.  It’s mostly past the hurting stage, but it’s still in the “very unpleasant” stage.  You can rest assured, though, that neither of us will be pulling that kind of stunt again.  It’s shirts or SPF 80 from head to toe from here on out, or at least until I’m as dark as a local, and even then, we’ll still discuss it.