Are there jellyfish in Cabo de Gata?

It is the doubt that comes back every summer: you look up a photo of turquoise water and suddenly read that there are jellyfish, and you end up standing at the shore not knowing whether to go in. The honest answer is yes, like everywhere in the Mediterranean, jellyfish do appear in Cabo de Gata in summer. But it is worth putting that in perspective: it is not the usual thing. On most swimming days you will not see a single one. They come in bursts, driven by the wind and the currents rather than the heat, and when they arrive it is usually an episode of a few days, not the whole summer: a cove can be empty of them one week and full the next day. In other words, it is occasional, not the norm. And on top of that, this coast gives you an advantage others do not.

These beaches have very clear water and little swell. With jellyfish, that is half the battle won: in a calm sea with good visibility you see them floating around you and dodge them with a bit of attention, something almost impossible on a coast of waves and murky water where the first news of a jellyfish is the sting itself. It is not that there are fewer here, it is that here you keep track of them better. Just by walking in while watching the water, and not diving head first into a patch where several are floating, you avoid 90% of the scares.

It is worth telling them apart, because the intuitive rule (the bigger, the more dangerous) is exactly backwards here. The three you will see most:

Barrel jellyfish (Rhizostoma). The big, dramatic one: a whitish bell with bluish tints that can pass 40 cm. It looks impressive, but it barely stings; contact gives a mild irritation at most. The one you photograph, not the one you fear.

Fried egg jellyfish (Cotylorhiza tuberculata). Unmistakable: it looks like a fried egg floating, with a domed yellow centre. Almost harmless, with a very mild sting, and it often has a little fish living inside it. More of a snorkelling curiosity than a threat.

Mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca). This is the one to respect. It is small, pink to purplish in tone, and quite stinging: its sting hurts and in sensitive people can cause a strong reaction. At night it glows in the water (it is bioluminescent). It is also the most common stinging jellyfish along the Cabo de Gata coast, so it is the one really worth learning to identify. The good news, again: it is visible in this clear water.

Check the day's report. There is MedusApp, a free app where bathers report sightings beach by beach. It is not foolproof (it depends on someone having reported), but before deciding which cove to head for, it gives an idea of how the coast is looking that morning.

The landing-net trick. If you go to a small cove and see a few jellyfish floating, the tool used here is a landing net (a long-handled dip net, called a salabre locally): a pole with a net on the end. With it you lift them out of the water in your swimming spot in a couple of passes. It sounds crude and it is, but in water this calm and clear it works: you clear your corner and swim in peace. It fits in the boot of the car and it is one of the best things to bring on a jellyfish day.

Walk in watching. The simplest and most effective thing: do not dive in head first. Walk in, look at the water around you, and if you see several together, move a few metres along. In this sea you can see them.

It happens, and it almost always stays a bad moment and no more. The steps, in order:

1. Get out of the water and remove the remains without rubbing. Take off any bits of tentacle stuck to the skin with a card or tweezers, not with your fingers or a towel: rubbing fires off more stinging cells.

2. Rinse with sea water, never fresh water. Fresh water makes the cells that have not yet fired burst and makes the sting worse. Use salt water.

3. Apply cold in intervals. A cold pack or ice wrapped in a cloth (not ice directly on the skin), in short spells, eases the pain.

4. For the itch afterwards, an antihistamine cream. One over-the-counter option in Spanish pharmacies, authorised by the AEMPS with jellyfish stings among its indications, is Neosayomol (diphenhydramine cream). A practical detail: it is exactly the one the lifeguards tend to keep at the beach post, so if you are stung and there is a lifeguard service, you can go and ask for it. It eases the pain and makes the marks fade much sooner. Note what its leaflet says: it is not used on children under 2, you should check before using it on children aged 2 to 6, and as it contains menthol you should keep the treated area out of the sun to avoid reactions. It is for relieving the itch afterwards: it does not replace the sea water and cold of the first moment.

When to seek medical help. If the pain is intense, the reaction is spreading (extensive welts, difficulty breathing, dizziness), the sting is on the face or affects a small child, go to the beach first-aid post or a medical centre. Pelagia justifies this caution; the others rarely do.

Jellyfish are a normal part of the Mediterranean summer and Cabo de Gata is no exception, but nor is it a problem: between the clear water, the calm sea and a bit of common sense, it is one of the places where they are easiest to handle. Tell the small stinging Pelagia apart from the big, almost harmless ones, check the report, bring the landing net if you are heading to a small cove, and keep the basic kit to hand (sea water, cold and cream). With that, a jellyfish day does not ruin your beach.

See all the beaches Cabo de Gata off season