In article , Dan Stephenson
writes
In article , Fred
wrote:

Sandflies are midges on steroids.

Oh wonderful. chuckle

Are they the same things on the beaches amongst the seaweed that swarm
away by your foot when you walk through them?

Nope. These are kelp flies and they don't bite. You have no idea how
itchy and painful the sandfly bites can be until you have been bitten.
As a starter, take a mosquito bite and multiply it by a factor of 10.

There is an apocryphal story which comes from the Maori which says that
in order not to get bitten you must not stand still. (Indeed you do -
you keep running with arms waving about trying to stop the b*st*rds from
biting you).

PS. I did find that DEET 100% solution did help keep them off.

--
JohnM