This damn problem has been stalking me since I was a kid. I went swimming in La Jolla while everybody else was up on the grass watching the Sun go down. 2 scuba divers were 5 minutes ahead of me. Within a few minutes everybody on the beach looked like ants. To make maters worse a hulk of seaweed came along for the ride. That seaweed had an old friend that used to attack me in Guaymas Mexico back in the 70's : Jellyfish. ZAPPPPPP! Hurts like crap! Besides the painful shock, the scratchy seaweed gave me a rest for a few. I had to start back in so I swam diagonal once out of the rip. One of the scuba fellas popped up and decide to follow me back in. My tip : just don't freak and you'll get back. The real pain hit me on the beach : The Jellyfish. My legs looked like I had red veins up and down my legs.

Vinegar is suppose to help (pour it on and drinking bad wine does not count). Now you know why I don't swim.

From my days as a lifeguard, vinegar doesn't do crap. Meat tenderizer immediately eases the pain and swelling. Weird, but true. Rescued a few from those tides as well.

Ha! A lifegaurd eh? Very cool. A jellyfish attack is one freaky thing. I thought it was a shark because of the sudden zapp on my foot followed by 2 more quick zapps on my upper leg and stomach. Never heard of vinegar or meat tenderizer. They are coming for the ride next time out.

Did a couple of years as a lifeguard (including six months in the USMC), later was a swim instructor (for the Marines). Got stung dozens of time by jellyfish, and always packed my meat tenderizer (some generic, cheap brand) in the first aid kit. Learned the trick from a corpsman after I rescued one kid who went into shock from jellyfish stings. Poured this ammonia mixture that we had in the first aid kit all over this kid, and it didn't help one bit. Went to the corpsman the next day and asked what he used- he broke out the meat tenderizer from the locked drug cabinet (and, yes, I made some smart-ass remark about that). Later that week I got stung making another rescue, and it worked like a charm.