Why we don’t use chemical sunscreens
Hi! My name is Emmy Pearsall, co-owner, merch designer, website creator, social media manager and now blog post writer of Local Mocean Charters - also wife to Captain Tony. Both Tony and I were born and raised in the Virgin Islands, myself on St. Thomas and Tony on Water Island.
Needless to say we have been playing in the sun all of our lives. And we want to tell you a secret! The SUN HERE IS INTENSE. We are 1,104 miles southeast of Miami… that’s a thousand miles closer to the equator than one of the sunniest U.S. cities. While out on charter, sunscreen alone will not protect your skin from our harsh tropical rays.
UPDATE: NO CHEMICAL SUNSCREENS ARE ALLOWED IN THE VIRGIN ISLANDS
Because a recent law was passed that bans the use of chemical sunscreens in the Virgin Islands - you are also going to be shunned by locals if they see you with that gross sunscreen. It’s ok though because I’d wager most of those chemicals actually cause skin cancer some way or another. But besides that, those chemicals definitely have an impact on our ocean life, especially the reef. We’ve seen the damage it has done to the reef over our lifetime and we want it to stop. We’d at least like to talk our guests into covering up instead of lathering up - at least until we are done snorkeling.
Since we were kids, we’d surf, wakeboard, kiteboard, snorkel, dive and sometimes all day and we’d like to share some tips & products that we have found work the best for not getting burned during a day on the water:
Wear a rashguard, or other types of high neck, long sleeve shirts that have some kind of thickness and color, or promised UPF protection. Why color? It has been proven that the darker the shirt, the less UV rays can get through. If you snorkeled in a thin white shirt it is still possible to get sunburned as it becomes see-through when wet.
Anytime its possible wear your hat, neck buff, and or hood if possible.
I personally love to bring a sarong or turkish towel to use as a sun cover for my legs or any part of the body honestly.
We have tried and tested a ton of different face sunscreens while surfing (ie: face in water & constantly rubbing your eyes) and we love the Avasol face sunscreen the most. We love it because it comes in three shades to better match your skin, it comes in a cardboard container and, most importantly, every ingredient is natural. We love it so much we carry it in our little store at Compass Point Marina called The Gear Shack, or at www.thegearshackvi.com
For body sunscreen we do not recommend any spray sunscreens. First of all, it turns our boat seats yellow and secondly mostly all are chemical based, even if they say reef safe they still contain most of the forbidden chemicals (though smaller percentages) Third, you get really funny looking sunburn streaks.
Look for body sunscreens that contain non-nano zinc and other natural ingredients and that do not contain oxybenzone, avobenzone - we don’t like them EVEN if has small percentages and it says reef-safe.
That being said, it’s safer for you and the ocean if you wear no sunscreen at all, at least not right before you jump in for a snorkel. Put on a sun shirt instead and we recommend applying sunscreen after you snorkel and dry off so it can soak into your skin.