Shells

Hi! Going to OC next week! (counting the hours!!), and I was wondering if there was anyplace in or near OC that is best for finding shells? Any thoughts??

Thanks!

Shells

Shells are hard to come by in OC. My husband is a beach comber and doesn%26#39;t find a whole lot. You have to go early and just walk up and down the beach, you may have better luck around the rock jettys that are up and down the beach. Good Luck!

Shells

All you%26#39;ll pretty much find are nondescript clamshells (some fairly large) and maybe an occasional black scallop. Good for throwing around my garden back home to liven things up a little, but not much else.

To put things in perspective--after about 10 seconds of shellhunting on a Gulf Coast beach in Florida, the worst shell I found there was better than the nicest shell I%26#39;ve found in 40+ years in OC.

thats because the gulf coast doesn%26#39;t have the large waves coming in to smash the shells into pieces. food for thought..

true, funky...that%26#39;s the reason!

but look anyway. up in dewey (same thing really as far as the beach goes) i found a stone in a perfect heart shape a couple years ago! still have it on the bedside table at the beach house. not a shell, but pretty cool nonetheless.

I actually think it is the beach replenishment they have done through the years that breaks up all the shells - Years ago you could find whole shells along OC%26#39;s beach everywhere. Now every thing is broken up into shell chips. When they pump the sand in from off shore the shells get ground up.

I also think the replenishment has changed the surf - When I was a kids OC had 2 sets of breakers - one out far and on in close. Now every time I go down all they have is one set - a severe shore break that smashes you on the beach if you try to ride the waves. Maybe that shore break also contributed to the shells being smashed. There is also a severe slope from the beach into the surf that didn%26#39;t used to be there %26amp; makes the shore break worse.

If you have access to a boat - if you go across the inlet to the norh point of Asseteauge - there are some nice shells over there.

Can%26#39;t beat the gulf coast for shells though