I am looking for opinions on the value of visiting a tanning salon before visiting SXM. I am fair skinned and from MN so it seems like a good idea, however I have read that artificial tanning amounts to a SPF 4 in the real sun. Thoughts?

I am somewhat fair skin and I do it. I think it helps. I go 4-6 times before the trip. The sun I get there on day one is more than all of those trips combined. Seems to help me deal with the to UV at home rather than on the trip. The benefit to me is mostly aesthetic though.

I always tan before my April trip. I don't like to look pasty when putting on summer clothes after a long New England winter. I also find I tan easier after a fake bake. That's just me though.

I also used to pretan before our trip. HOWEVER, since I've now had *4* skin cancers removed, I no longer take that risk. It's 30 sunscreen applied at least 15 minutes before I leave the room and under the umbrella for me. Not saying the pretanning caused the skin cancers; it was probably the years of little and/or ineffective "suntan lotion" as a child/teen. But, I can no longer risk any additional unnecessary exposure.

I do consider our annual trip a "necessary" exposure though! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />

We tend to pre-tan before we go south. Whether it works or not as sunscreen remains to be seen, but as mentioned above you do look less pasty.

The greater benefit in my opinion - and I tanned this morning - is that it's like a 6-minute vacation. Warm sunlight colour lamps, a bit of music, no telephone. I leave there all warmed up deep into my joints. If you live in MN, you'll not understand how great this is until you do it. In dampy cold Toronto, it's the greatest thing.

Indoor ultraviolet (UV) tanners are 74 percent more likely to develop melanoma than those who have never tanned indoors. I am part of that 74 percent - I now use a spray tan.

Tanning salons will do more harm then help....Read the medical reports on a tanning salons ...not a good idea ...

Personally, I tan before going to the Island, or a cruise, or a state-side land vacation. But that's just me.

You will have to weigh the pros, and cons, and in the end make your own decision -- as it should be.

In tanning salons, they use a mix of ultra violet A and ultra Violet B, with primarily A, with A being the problem with people getting cancer, and the medical field calls this uncontrolled tanning. Tanning booths primarily emit UVA. The high-pressure sunlamps used in tanning salons emit doses of UVA as much as 12 times that of the sun. Not surprisingly, people who use tanning salons are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma, and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. According to recent research, first exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75 percent. Because of this, they don't want people going to tanning salons.

I'm going as a blindingly white northerner this year! Since I'll be there two weeks I don't feel a need to get a head start. Other years I've tanned a bit in advance, but I've never felt it was a wise thing to do.

I always go looking like the Pillsbury dough boy. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/chef.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/jester.gif" alt="" />

Nothing wrong with that! At least you are concerned about what the sun and tanning salons can do to your skin. I was one who in my teenage years laid on the beach with a bottle of baby oil mixed with iodine to get that great tan! Well have since ended up with squamous cell carcinoma, not a good thing. Folks, tanned bodies are out. Tan is not the trend anymore, your health is!

We have a lady at work who tans before her trip to SXM, and then spends a couple of weeks baking in the island sun, and she's starting g to look kind of scary. People are starting to talk. She's only in her 50's, too young to look so old and to be so "old-fashioned", too----tan skin is out. Has been for some time. So be careful everyone.

<img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Thumbsup.gif" alt="" />

Whether you decide to visit the tanning booth or not before you go, make sure you still use at least a 30 spf sunscreen, and reapply it often. Especially after you go into the water, or if you perspire, make sure you reapply the sunscreen. I would also avoid being on the beach between 11:00 am and 1:00 pm, when the sun's rays are the strongest. A gradual exposure is much better than a long time when you first arrive on the Island. A beach umbrella is a good idea, but beware that you can still get some sun exposure there too. Apparently reflection off the sand and water will give you a dose of sun, and you won't realize you got "too much" sun until you are already red.

On my honeymoon to Anguilla, I was red as a lobster and had to wrap towels around myself to avoid the sun. Recently I have gone under the lights a bit before I arrive in SXM, but I do use SPF 30 because I like to swim and snorkel out in the sun. With the pretanning and sunscreen I haven't burned so it has worked for me. I do agree the risks of tanning need to be considered especially for fair skinned people.

I have been going to a salon prior to our SXM visit for 20 years. BUT, let me qualify that.

1. The medical advice about tanning is another instance of exaggerated, one-size-fits-all medical admonitions. Some people are very sensititve to sunlight and others are less so. They really know very little why that is so. Like the advice to cut down on salt intake, they tell everybody to do so, when--in fact--fewer than 15 percent of the population suffer from high blood pressure as a result of excess consumption of salt. Likewise, they tell everyone to avoid the sun even though it has little or no effect on the vast majority of people. (I should clarify that I am not referring to the kind of compulsive tanning that turns some people the color of chestnuts.)

It appears that I am one of those people.

2. For many years I suffered from boils on the back of my neck and on my shoulders, especially during winter. Among the treatments my M.D. dermatologist used was UV light. Since he was a friend, he told me to go to a tanning salon once a week or two instead of coming to his office, as it would be much less expensive. I have been doing so for about 30 years. No more boils. Conclusion: One size does not fit all.

Since I am already going once a week or so, starting six or seven weeks before we leave for SXM in February, I gradually increase the number of visits per week until the week before we depart, when I go every day. Easy does it.

So I have already built up a bit of a tan before we arrive. but even so we limit our exposure the first couple of days. The sun is a lot stronger than most people realize. Following this course I have never experienced anything close to a burn during our trips to SXM.

Just remember, any tan, whether artifical or natural is damaged skin.

My rule is, if you lay out in St. Martin between 11:15 and 12:45 you will get burned. Instead, use this time to eat lunch, drive around the island and take photos of the island. If you avoid these hours and are otherwise careful, using some tanning lotion, you will get a nice tan without burning. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Just do what feels right for, don't listen to all the experts on everything on this board!!