Before I booked this listing I saw reviews that mentioned seaweed. I reached out to the host and asked if we were going during some kind of “seaweed season” and if so, was this something that could prevent us from enjoying the beach and patio. I was MOST excited about morning coffee and evening drinks on a patio during our vacation, so I didn’t want to book this place if for some reason we wouldn’t be able to enjoy it. The host was very dismissive about my concerns and said she was there all the time and it was never a problem. However, we arrived and the beach was caked in seaweed. We discovered this is actually sargassum, and it smells horrendous. The smell was so bad that we couldn’t sit outside. Even worse, every morning we were woken up to the sound of a tractor moving it. I understand sargassum is unpredictable, but I wish the host had been more honest about the possibility of the situation. Especially when I took the time to message her and ask. We learned there are areas on the island that are more prone for this stuff to wash up. The area in front of this condo is one of them. We actually went out on a fishing charter and the captain said they used to be based out of the marina next door, but they switched marinas due to the sargassum there.
My boyfriend was also bitten by some kind of bug in the bed. I didn’t believe him until I also got bit on our last night. I slept under the sheets and only have one bite, but he slept under the blanket and has bites all over.