If you have ever been on a boat in open water, you have probably witnessed someone around you enduring sea-sickness or maybe even experienced it yourself! Do not fright, there’s nothing wrong with you, you might just not have your ‘sea legs‘ yet. It is perfectly normal for people who have not spent much time on the water to feel this way. Even the most seasoned sailors feel ill from time to time, it’s just the way humans are. If you have experienced this or not, you may wonder why it happens and can it be prevented?

What Is Sea-Sickness?

First off, what exactly is sea-sickness? Sea-sickness is motion-sickness that is caused by the instability of boats floating on water. Boats rock-and-roll on the water, just not like a musical rock-star. In boating this is called pitch and roll . I could go into why boats “pitch and roll” but then you’d be reading this all day, so we’ll same that physics conversation for another day. Your body’s balance comes from your inner ear sending signals to your nervous system and that relays to what your eyes see. Sea-sickness comes from your inner ear sending signals to your brain that differ from the signals that come from your eyes. This causes nausea in many people, and if you have experienced it, you know that it is an extremely unpleasant feeling.

Can Sea-Sickness Be Prevented?

There isn’t one single cure to this nausea, but there are various ways to diminish the effects of it. Firstly, there is your grandfathers method of “get used to it” or “suck it up”. Although I guess that is an option. In other words it would be to expose yourself to that feeling more often, but not everyone has the privilege or means to be on a boat more frequently. The most effective solution for most is to take an over-the-counter medication called Dramamine , or another brand of the medication. It is recommended that you take one of these the night prior to boating and about an hour prior to boating. However, like most, those medications often come with side effects, which in this case is drowsiness . So there must be another option? Luckily for you, there is.

The Best Way To Prevent Sea-Sickness

One of the best ways to prevent/relieve sea-sickness is by wearing PSI Bands . PSI Bands are a holistic method of nausea relief. You wear one of these bands on each of your wrists and they half a semi-sphere on the inner side of the band that will tighten on your wrist, about where you would place your fingers to check your pulse. This semi-sphere suppresses pressure points which prevents and relieves nausea through acupressure . These bands do not only help with sea-sickness, but all kinds of nausea like car sickness, morning sickness, people even wear them on airplanes if they know they are susceptible to motion sickness. These PSI Bands can truly make a worlds difference in your experience on a boat tour by enabling you to feel good and be able to fully enjoy your experience! Make sure to ask your guide for a pair on either Dolphins and You: Dolphin Tour and Turtle Snorkel or on Turtles and You: Turtle Canyon Snorkeling Tour