I’ve been to Mexico twice, SCUBA dived and snorkeled, all without a base tan, and plenty of waterproof sunblock. Didn’t burn a thing, either time. One of the workers on the dive boat commented on my “nice, undamaged skin.” (I’m white as a sheet.)
Just don’t forget putting sunblock on your ears. I forgot once. Once.
They also make hair/head sunblock you can spray on your head and protect the part in your hair, if you don’t go full-ponytail.
If I were you (which I’m not), I think I’d go with a self-tanner and lots of sunscreen. I think they’ve got self-tanners now that allow you to build up some sort of color over a period of time. Or maybe try the spray tan stuff - perhaps once it starts fading, you’ll have gained some exposure through your sunscreen.
I’d really caution against a tanning salon - that’s concentrated UV, all concentrated right at your skin. It can’t be good.
But I’m a pasty white northerner. Seriously, I’m white white white. German and Swedish ancestry. I’ve made my peace with being ghost-white long ago.
Regardless or whether you tan, use sunscreen, or both, take scootergirl’s advice and avoid getting burned. Last time I went to Mexico we went snorkeling and I had every part of me covered with clothing or swathed in sunscreen… except my stupid bald head. I didn’t think about it because I always wear a hat. Except when snorkeling. My stupid bald head got so sunburned I couldn’t rest it on a pillow for 2 days. My head felt like a nuclear reactor. It was miserable. Even the part in your hair, like Sister Vigilante points out, needs protection.
For the best advice, ask your dermatologist.
Short of that, if you want to just not look like a ghost, pre-tan at a tanning booth. If you actually want to take care of your skin, use sunscreen, reapply frequently, and on the boat wear a cover-up.
**corkboard **has the best advice of any of us. go with that.
And keep these recommends in mind:
I tan maybe once a month in the off-season & a couple times a week during the summer–more often just before a vacation. I once asked about the spray-on tan and was told it would last over a week…but it will come right off in salt water. Don’t know if that’s true, but I wasn’t going to test it on a snorkeling excursion. When I’m tan-less, I’m so white I’m translucent.
What it comes down to kushiel is that our skin is our largest organ, we must take care of it. And that’s not preaching, that’s just common sense. 
I have to agree with other people in this thread that you should just get a spray tan to look cute in your suit, and protect your skin while on vacation. Tanning booths are directly linked with skin cancer risk, and they don’t have the benefit of natural sun exposure.
Building up a ‘base tan’ is a part of my life every year. Outdoors of course. I start in May on warm days, lay out at noon. It’s partially for vitamin D, which I only supplement when I am getting no sun at all, partially because I always assumed this was why I can get away with no sunscreen (which I hate, since all sunscreens except zinc-based, which is messy and greasy, make my skin burn and itch) in most situations and hardly ever get even a little pinkness. I am naturally pale, but don’t have burn-prone skin thankfully (I’ve had a grand total of three painful burns in my whole life) and by slowly building up through the spring I am tan enough to prevent burning, even with no sunscreen, while gardening or at the beach for a few hours. And I don’t get burned to get that tan, which many people do.
All the info I could find about the usefulness of maintaining a natural tan to help ensure against sunburn was entirely anti-sun-exposure and kept repeating that tanning does not prevent ‘sun damage’ because it itself is ‘sun damage’. Technically true. But, I think it’s ridiculous and potentially harmful to recommend NO sun exposure. It’s very important indeed to prevent burns, but moderate sun exposure and maintaining a (non-booth) tan is comparatively very low-risk to your skin, does mean you can spend longer in the sun unprotected without burning, and helps ensure you’re not deficient in vitamin D like 80% of Americans. Plus, heavy sunscreen use comes with some risks of it’s own.
“maintaining a (non-booth) tan is comparatively very low-risk to your skin”
I don’t know why the myth persists that somehow sun tanning is less dangerous or risky than booth tanning. It is all the same. Your assertion that I quoted above is completely baseless and incorrect. It is the same UV rays which cause your skin to change color; and ANY change in skin color indicates damage which increases your risk of cancer.
Yes, a tan is ‘skin damage’. But no, natural sunlight and tanning booths are are not the same. Indoor tanning vastly increases skin cancer risk, and damages skin at a higher rate than the same amount of natural sun exposure. This increased damage leaves the skin even more susceptible to further damage from the milder rays of natural light.
Despite the fact that I get tanned outside every year and rarely use sunscreen, my risk factors for skin cancer are much lower than those of many white people because: there is no skin cancer in my family, I do not have burn-prone skin (despite being fair), I never get sunburns (have had 3 mild ones in my life), I do not and have never used tanning beds, my total sun exposure is ‘moderate’ and carefully times (mostly because I don’t use sunscreen), I don’t live near or visit the equator, and I keep my vitamin D in the ‘optimal’ range mostly through sun exposure.
I am not saying that 10 minutes in the sun in is the same as 10 minutes in a tanning bed. Of course a tanning bed is more concentrated as far as it’s UV rays. What I am saying is a tan from the sun is absolutely no different from a tan from a bed. If you tan outside every year, you are damaging your skin every year. You say you rarely use sunscreens. If you are concerned about keeping your skin healthy and your cancer risk minimal, you should consider using them.
If I were you, meaning, the next time I’m going on a beach vacation, the best-sounding plan is
spray tan, and
get legs, underarms and bikini line waxed. Shaving on vacation is such a buzzkill.
Just coming back to say there was a Groupon today for 2 Mystic Tan spray tan thinger sessions at a salon, so I picked that up instead. It looks like I’ll probably use one session a couple weeks before just to test how it works and then do one more when I leave.
I know a few people who have attractive, natural-looking tans which are ‘fake’ - it’s just the people who ASK for the darkest Oompa-Loompa option that make us assume they are all orange!
Cite? To my understanding you can turn the same color from a sunlight tan and a tan from a bed, and yet your skin could sustain more damage from the indoor tan. Tanning bulbs are usually all-UVA, and much stronger than the sun at that. UVA rays (specially super-strong ones) causes more oxidative damage, but does not cause burning without crazy amounts of exposure for most people. Sunlight has UVB rays, which induce tanning (through a slightly different mechanism) and burning more quickly (and create vitamin D in the upper layers of the skin), so natural tanning is self-limiting and leads to less UVA exposure.
I’m only concerned enough to keep doing exactly what I’m doing. 
Lots of time outdoors with skin exposed during which I get a light tan, take care never to burn, use zinc sunscreen only as a last resort, and keep my vitamin D in ‘optimum’ ranges using sunlight only May-September. My doctor is on my side with this FWIW.
If you’re concerned about your skin health and cancer, the safe thing to do is to not set foot outdoors during the day unless you’re covered in fabric and wearing a hat. I prefer to live and enjoy my life while taking reasonable precautions for a light-skinned human being in a temperate environment (also while gloating that my family just doesn’t get cancer before we’re 75, I admit).
If you’re a sunscreen worshiper yourself, rather than just a basement dweller, you might want to look into the literature about the risks and many flaws of such products.
I’m not talking about coming by it naturally, I’m talking about OMG I NEED TO BE TAN AT ANY EXPENSE HALP HALP!
(Missed the edit)
I do and I’m not ashamed of that. For example I am baffled that someone would pay a stranger $15-$20 (maybe more) to file their nails and put nail polish on them. :smack:
“Hey Stranger! I’ll pay you $15-$20 to file your nails and put nail polish on them!”
Yeah. That’s baffling.
Just to defend myself, I don’t need to be tan at any cost, and although I live in the sunniest place in Canada, it is kind of winter and snowy and not exactly outside tanning weather.