How bad is the mosquito in Jul/Aug
 

Hi, how bad is the mosquito in Arenal and Tortugeuro in the months of July and Aug? Can I possible live without any insect repellent? I dont feel comfortable putting insect repellent over my sunblock or vise versa because I dont know what will happen mixing DEET with Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide. Between these 2 essentials, I always chose sunblock and, I virtually got hundreds of bites in my each travel to Malaysia, Thailand, India, Mexico, etc - even I wore only long sleeves and jeans. I'm going to stay at Laguna Lodge in Tortugeuro. I was assured by the tour operator that "there is no need for mosquito nets at the lodge. The rooms are screened with overhead fansLaguna Lodge". However, I'm still worry about it. Has anyone tried Off!Bontanicals which comes without DEET? If I really need to put both sunblock and insect repellent on my skin, what should be applied first ?

You raise an interesting question. We have never thought twice about mixing sunblock and repellant. Surely people do it all the time! You may not need repellant while inside the lodge at Tortuguero, but do you plan to get out a bit and travel the canals? Last year, there was a higher than usual incidence of dengue fever in Costa Rica (cause by mosq bites)--at least carry some DEET with you in case you find you need it.

Don't avoid those!
CR's highest rated Ultrathon (Walmart) and Walgreen's Ultra 30 are great products and inexpensive. By no means mutually exclusive.
Trust me, you do not want Dengue (nor Yellow Fever, encephalitis, and especially not Africanized bees swarming on your face)! Get your Hep A vaccine tambien!
M (MD ABIM ABNM ABR)

mikemo and shillmac, thanks for your advice. we have Walmark but we dont have Walgreen in Toronto. Will search Walmart for Ultrathon. However, I still love to hear someone's experience about the effectiveness of Off!Bontanicals.

There are a lot of companies that make combo sunscreen and insect repellant products. You might try Avon's new products if you don't like Deet.

We tried Off!Bontanicals in Alaska, then in Belize. This thing did not work at all! To protect ourself we use sunscreen, then OFF with DEET making certain we don't have this stuff on our hands. It worked great
We won't waist any more money on Off!Bontanicals. If you worry about chemicals remember everything is chemical including water we drink, food we eat. Everything!