Hiya kerebear.
Panic not i,m in the sea all the time and i,ve never come across one floating around,felt things brush past :lol:like a goan, trying to get too close to a white woman which happens all the time. Getting back to the subject no they are not sea cucumbers.Don,t let it put you off going in the sea other wise you ,ll be in melt down. Hope i,ve not alarmed you too much.

only suspicious thing I've seen in the sea is ME!

del

DEL. Let me know the next time your in goa and i,ll try inland for a change.

next march, can't miss me when I'm swimming.
the locals bring tourists in their boats to view the "great white whale"
del

Well del there i was thinking my eye sight was getting worse or i was seeing things, i really did see a whale. I should be there myself in march so i,ll keep my eye,s focused for a group of visiters in boats all watching the great spurts of water.

The world has 76 species of sea snakes.

Goa to date has 6 of these and india as a whole has 26 species.

India has no anti venom production so if you are bit you are kind knackered.

Sea snakes are among the worlds most venomous snakes gram for gram their venom is far more potent than land based snakes.

Now if you want to read a decent account rather than the tit bits i have taken out to scare the pants off anyone then click the below link

BTW never seen a sea snake in goa, seen plenty of land based snakes but never a sea based one.

http://www.goacom.com/news/getStory.php?ID=861

And there I was just starting to feel better!!!

If Mrstella hasn't seen any and neither has sleep_r_us, I certainly hope I won't. Still looking forward to Goa though!!! Only a few more weeks to go.

Thanks Kere

MrStella. I,ve read the report on the above and i think or should i say its swimming pool for me, still won,t keep me away from goa .

Ah...the dreaded swimming pools....THEN you can look forward to....tummy bugs...ear infections....... SORRY!!

My one hate is snakes of any kind sea or land and of corse all the snake charmers in India seem atrackted to me from the minute I land. Do these guys not understand that when a man starts screaming like a woman and running as fast as his overweight body will let him, he's not interested in there show and to stop running after him.
Please no more storeys of snakes.

lol pam

Please don't laugh at me.. I have this real problem with sharks. I have been to Cyprus for the last two years and have got really confident in the water and I absolutely love snorkelling. I can now swim right out and also jump off boats etc when out at sea. When I first went in the sea two years ago I was such a wreck . The crystal clear waters of Cyprus (an the fact there is nothing in the water that can GET you?) really helped me get over my fears as the visibility was very good under water.

So basically my question is.. Are there sharks in Goa or the Arabian sea? Or any other sea creatures I should be wary of? I'm such a water baby I'll be in there most of the time and would like to know what to look out for.

My 2nd question is what is the sea like is it relatively still (i.e. Cyprus) or rough? Also how clean and clear is the water.

Oh and my final question. How hot will it be around 24th Dec to 9th Jan? Around 32c?

Thanks in advance. SO excited now.

Don`t want to put you off mate but there are plenty of sharks in the Arabian sea, some of the nastiest around but in all honesty i doubt they would be a problem to us and would keep well away from shore. There are sea snakes also but i reckon its very rare that they have bitten or killed anyone in Goa for quite some time.
A few years ago a bloke stood on a scorpion fish or something while in the water on Vagator beach and his foot went 3 times the size and turned purple, painful yes but not life threatening, i would wear sandals in the water just to be safer.
The water isn`t really clear enough in most parts of Goa to snorkell in because of the churned up red soil that gets deposited in it from the river estuaries, it can be pretty rough and dangerous sometimes too, so just take care

I bet the above post has really put your mind at rest and I bet you just can't wait to jump in !! Seriously, of course there are sharks in the sea, but they stay in deep waters and will not be a problem to you. I'm a bit of a scaredy cat and have similar thoughts to you when swimming, but in fifteen years in Goa I have never heard of or seen anything shark like. People mention sea snakes, again don't worry, what a lot of people think are snakes are eels that are caught on the fishing trawlers at sea and thrown back overboard and then washed up.
It depends on where you are going in Goa with regards to sea conditions. In general, the south has calmer and clearer seas. The area around Candolim, Calangute and Baga is quite rough with an undertow, great fun but be careful if you are not a strong swimmer. Because it's rough, the sea is not clear. if you head further north to Morjim, and on up to Arambol, the water calms down and is clearer.

There are no sharks in the waters that you are going to swim in. Have fun and do not forget to pack your manners and smiles. Have a fantastic holiday and do not be scared. TTW

The first time I went to Goa, I loved jumping the waves in the South, the second time, on my second day on Baga beach I saw a young lad pulled from the sea drowned. This put me off going in the sea for the rest of my holiday and I was on tenderhooks all the time my partner was in the sea. My advice would be, if you are not a strong swimmer and the sea is rough, steer clear and stick to the hotel pool.

Hi

I had similar fears when I went to Egypt this year, I was worried about seeing sharks in the Red Sea.

There are numerous sharks in the Red Sea but I didn't see a single one.

For your information.....

http://www.wildlifeofpakistan.com/sharks.html

Pippy

Hammer heads!?! Thats not good. Not liking sea snakes either..

Ah well, think i'll just go for a paddle. Were staying in a beach hut for a few night think its in the south. Not entirly sure which part yet. SO i'll definatly be swimming I wont be able to help myself

Thanks for the replys they've me me feel.... more cautious

You get Blue Bottles in the sea in the North certainly but I have only seen baby ones (an inch or two long)....they can still give you a nasty sting although it goes pretty quickly (24 hours).

If you see one do not poke it, kick it, flick it or do anything else to it. It is almost irrestible not to, but just let it be.

You might know Blue Bottles better as Portugese Man O War.