Calm, with a side of sea urchin, at the beach

I’d say that I have mostly active vacations.  It’s definitely a rare moment for me, though it does happen, where you’d find me in a resort or by the beach.  I’m sure you’ve noticed this by now.

The other day, the original plan was to go on a boat to visit a national park.  However, due to choppy waters, the boat was cancelled at the last minute.  The boat was scheduled to leave at noon, and I didn’t have a Plan B for the day.  So, I decided to ask my Airbnb host whether she could recommend any good beaches around.

1. Selecting a Beach outside Pula

Now, Pula is on the coast.  But the coastline is more or less industrial, due to its large shipbuilding industry.  There aren’t any beaches in Pula itself, but there are some just outside of town.  In order to figure out the right beach for me, she asked two questions: crowded or quiet beach?  Rocky or pebble beach? The first question was obvious and of course, I chose a quiet beach.  The second question, however… rocky or pebble?  I wasn’t really sure how to answer.  I know that pebbles on a beach were annoying, so was a rocky beach the right choice?  It was the only other alternative, so sure.  Rocky beach it was.

For 50 kunas | $8.50 USD, my Airbnb host offered a roundtrip ride to the beach, so away we went.  And after a few minutes ride outside of town, we arrived at Lungomare.

2. Lungomare, the Rocky Beach

There was a small ladder, like in a swimming pool, leading into the water.  And although the water was brisk, at best, I decided to go in completely.  Go big or go home, right?

And wow.  The water was choppy.  But not only that, because it wasn’t a sandy beach that I was used to, the surface below was uneven, at best, and of course, still large rocks.  I was in the water no more than 5-7 minutes being tossed about, and even scraped the bottom of my foot at the surface of one of the underwater rocks.  Enough was enough.  I was here to relax, and sometimes listening and watching the sea are more relaxing than being in it.

As soon as I stepped foot on land, I knew something was wrong.  A stinging sensation from my right foot as I made my way over to my towel.  As soon as I sat down, and wiped the debris off my feat, I could see the spikes.  It wasn’t a scrape at all.  It must have been a sea urchin.

WARNING: 

there are ugly pictures of my feet coming up… stop now if that grosses you out

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I spent the next 20 or 30 minutes removing the spikes.  There was about 10 of them, no larger than a mechanical pencil lead.  One had gotten underneath my pinky toe.  That one hurt to pull out.  But the rest of them came out relatively easily.  But there was still something left underneath the surface.  A black dot where each spike had once been.  I sat there squeezing and scraping, as if it were a small splinter underneath the surface, until I could do no more without any tools.  I was googling sea urchin spikes and what to do, and there is a reason the black specks were left.

This is the site I referenced, and if you ever step on a sea urchin, READ THIS SITE.

You only see the sea urchin spike as a spike, but the tip of it is actually more like a barb.  Although you can pull out the spike itself, the barb is still left in there.  I decided to leave it be and to enjoy the warm weather and sounds of the sea.  Whatever venom was pumping through my body couldn’t have been much due to the small nature of the spikes itself and the fact that there were only 10 or so of them in my feet.  But, as a fair warning, people have known to die from being stung by sea urchins. I guess if I were truly honest, I didn’t want the Airbnb host to think I was a dumb tourist, for being stung by sea urchins within the first 5 minutes of being dropped off at the beach.

After about an hour and a half or so, I texted my Airbnb host, told her what happened and asked her to pick me up.  I asked whether she could bring me some vinegar or take me to the market to buy some.  From what she told me, almost everyone in Pula has been stung by sea urchins at some point.  That made me feel exponentially better.  And honestly, mine was not bad compared to some of the stories she told me.

3. Vinegar foot bath

When I got home, armed with a giant vat of vinegar and hot water, I began my foot bath.

For those who know me, know two things: One, I hate vinegar and everything to do with vinegar.  Two, I get very squeamish when there are injuries related to feet.  So this foot bath is literally my worse nightmare.  And the smell… Awful.

Soak your feet 30-45 minutes and the remaining spines should dissolve from the vinegar.  (Side note, this is also true if you accidentally get a fish bone stuck in your throat… which, ironically has also happened to me.  You should drink vinegar or something extremely acidic to soften the bone, so it will go down…).  Anyway, wanting the maximum effect from the vinegar, I soaked my feet for an hour.

4. Foot Surgery

The black specks were still in my feet after the vinegar bath, and I was getting conflicting advice on whether the skin would eventually push it out on its own or if I should continue my efforts to try and remove it.  I decided better safe than sorry, and thus began the “surgery.”  After disinfecting a needle and my nail file, I first filed off a layer of skin and then began removing the black specks one by one.  After a few hours, I finally removed them all (or so I thought).  Gross, I know.

In the next few days, as more of the spine came to the surface, I had to go back in with a needle and remove some of them.  So now, for the most part, it’s all gone.  I will say that the spines definitely go in deep, and you have to use the needle to get under the spine and push it out. 

5. Recovery

The next few days, I slept more than normal, not sure if that was effects of the venom coursing through my body or just physical exhaustion recovering from an injury like this.

In the end, I survived.  I think the important lesson to remember, especially when traveling alone, is that you have to remain calm.  Google is your friend.  You’re not the only person in the world that has undergone such an ordeal, and panicking will do no good.  Searching for a solution to solve it yourself is easy, if you can manage to stay calm.  Maybe it wasn’t such a great idea to stay at the beach, with the venom coursing through my veins, but that was all I could do to remain calm given the circumstances.  In the end I survived, and if this ever happens to you, you will too.

Lannie

Lannie is a perpetual wanderer and loves to share her travel adventures and the food she eats along the way with everyone.  She works during the day while bouncing around the world and dreams about new places and faces at night!  She has a home on the magical Isle of Islay in Scotland, where the whisky flows freely and happily.

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