Here, on our otherwise wonderful island, we have a few small details that may upset you, worry you, or even make you scream!   But don't fret - here's how to handle them (or just get away from them!)

Cockroaches

These are the horrible reddish-black creatures that inhabit all the little nooks and crannies. They don't bite or sting and are probably more scared of you than the other way round! Either try to ignore them or just squash them! Be warned that like ants, cockroaches are attracted by food, even bread crumbs left on table tops. So to reduce the chance of an encounter in your accommodation, try to ensure that all food is put away in boxes and not left out on surfaces. It also helps if you take your rubbish out on a very regular basis rather than letting it build up in a bag.

Jelly Fish 

The tiny invertebrates you'll see swimming around are, happily, not of the stinging variety. However, should you encounter one of the larger ones - swim away! If you are unfortunate enough to be stung, (there is no polite way to put this…) pee on it! If you can't face that, find a chemist and get some cream.

Mosquitos 

These are nasty little creatures, but unfortunately, they just love our tourists! There is no way you can completely avoid them, but there are a few ways of limiting the nuisance. For the night time, you can buy a small electric mozzie deterrent. You simply pop a tablet in it (don't eat it, please!) and plug it in. You can also buy a spray from the chemist to use about your person during the daytime or early evening whilst out and about. If (or should we say when) you get bitten you can buy a small pen-like tube which you dab on the bite and will soothe the irritation.

Garlic in your diet also seems to be a deterrent. Each as much of it as possible so it gets into your blood stream and this seems to put the mozzies off. Of course if you're on a romantic holiday you might want to make sure you partner eats it in equal quantities!

The mosquitoes found in the Mediterranean do not carry Malaria so you don't need to have injections before you visit but of course if you scratch to the point of bleeding you could get an infection - so DON'T!

Sea Urchins

Sea Urchins: Tasty insides - great with lemon!If you enjoy  snorkelling you may see some areas in the shallow water covered with small hedgehog type creatures.

Please make sure you don't tread on these, as the spines will stick on your foot, and they are painful and difficult to remove. If you soak your foot in vinegar, this apparently helps to loosen the spines.

But that's not very helpful advice if you happen to be on a beach! So we advise you to keep a pair of tweezers in your bag along with your sun lotion. It's also a good idea to visit a doctor when you get back to town, because even a tiny bit of spine left behind, can fester and be a major nuisance.

Some of this text with kindly supplied from The Yachting Club.