Those Beautiful Sea Shells
Let’s think about your next visit to a Caribbean Island and a peaceful walk on the beach. In St. Thomas, some beaches are made up of pristine sand. Others have some sand down by the water, but above the tide line there’s a shelf, made rough for bare-feet walking because of thousands of pebbles, broken sea shells, and bits of driftwood. I imagine the other Caribbean islands are similar in their beach options.
As you walk along, you may decide that a sea shell could be a fantastic choice as a souvenir of your visit. It’s not too big, not too breakable, and each one is unique. My wife collects a shell at every beach she visits. Ah, but that conch shell you see above is from a tourist store. It’s big, measuring about 8 inches. To find one of these on a tourist beach is impossible.
Hmm, what to do? There is another option, and that’s to scour either the sandy beach, or even better, the rough shelf. Look for smaller shells. Often they are completely formed miniatures of their large cousins. I suggest starting your search on the rough shelf, because the hunting is usually lots better. Simply sit on a towel to keep the rough stuff from spiking you legs and rear end, and sift through what you find with your fingers. A rum drink is a logical accompaniment for this type of exploration.
As a kid doing this at Frenchman’s Bay in St. Thomas (without the rum), I always found tiny conch shells, less than an inch in length. Most retained their bright colors, some had faded a bit. There are other types of shells, as well as small bits of interestingly-shaped driftwood. The photos show examples we found.
You may find that these are excellent mementos. They are so easy to wrap and carry, though do be careful to observe local prohibitions about taking shells from beaches.
Have fun, and good hunting!