[cbope]

The only time I've had experience with sea lice is when snorkeling off of Koh Samet in Thailand about a year and a half ago. I wasn't wearing any kind of exposure protection. I wouldn't describe it as painful, but mostly just unpleasant. Luckily I didn't develop any serious reaction or skin rash from the exposure. I found that they generally sting all exposed areas if you swim into an area where they are present. I also found that by simply swimming fast out of the area for several meters that I could get away from them and then it was ok. I continued snorkeling after several of these encounters.