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bringing home sand?


rdrewbydoo
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  • 1 month later...
I wanna bring some sand home as well, If i put it in a ziplock bag or something small can I go through customs in Brooklyn with it in my bag?? and what about the Sea water can I bring some of that as well??

 

*forgot to add this can I even get on the ship with this? Ive been stopped before for having Chinese Throwing Stars and I do not want to go through that again :eek:

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  • 2 months later...

I've been bringing home sand for years - not soil. I found some small keep sake bottles at the local craft store (also available on amazon.com) They call them storage jars at A. C. Moore (Product # 323304) a six pack of six oz jars with metal lids. I note the beach, island and GPS coordinates (thank you google earth) and label each one. I now have a nice collection of "beaches" complete with a few tiny shells from each one.

I transport in ziploc bags and have never had a problem. After all, there are worse things to smuggle home from Montego Bay than a bag of sand.:eek:

Ya mon!

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Dear Steve: I think most are talking about sand from the caribbean. We are going on a Baltic cruise in June. Has anyone found any shells along beaches in Baltic ports? Have collected many caribbean shells. Brought them home in ziplock bags, wrapped in washcloths, etc. Transper them into clear jars with lids when home. Have over 20 jars which i keep in my bathroom that has tropical theme. Elaine

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are just a few beaches where it is prohibited to take the sand, one being the Great Barrier Reef--no sand, no shells.

 

Others don't care so much. When we visited Mt. Etna they invited us to take us much lava home as we wanted to. They said, "Don't worry, we've got plenty to spare":D

 

Boy, do they ever!

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My DH has been bringing sand home from our travels for years. He buys a little corked bottle with the locations name on it and empties its' contents out. You can always find these at the souvenir shops, dirt cheap. Then puts the sand for that beach(Nassau, Grand Turk, Maui, etc) in the bottle. Looks like he bought it already filled. Never had a problem anywhere.:)

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  • 4 weeks later...

My wife used to collect sand from all of the beaches in the Caribbean. She used Zip Loc Bags. We never had problems with customs - But we created quite the scene with TSA in Miami. They later said when the bags of sand went through the screener, it had the same consistency as explosives!

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It clearly states "no soil" on the customs form but I have to admit I'm a sand collector. We put them in little bottles from Pier One that are made for spices (have a cork in the top). They are in a shelf in the family room and we must have almost 20 different ones. It's so cool to see the different colors/textures from around the world. It's quite a conversation piece when people come over.

 

I just take a film canister sized sample and when I get home, I put it in the microwave to kill any gross bugs/germs that may have been included. I know that still doesn't make it right, but I'm just telling you what I do.

 

Wow. I would have never thought of that on either level, thanks for the warning!

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  • 5 years later...
  • 3 months later...
  • 5 months later...

We were in Australia I'm October and didn't declare anything on the form, but when asked I did tell the guy I had kangaroo & emu jerky from a shop. He made us go through the screening. During the search for the jerky one of the girls pulled out the zip lock bags of sand. She asked a couple of people including one that seemed to be the supervisor/one in charge "do we care about sand?" Before putting the sand back in the suit case. We couldn't here the responses to her question, but the didn't seem to have an issue. The jerky was fine too and I'm assuming it's because it was processed and in a retail packaging

 

I didn't declare the sand as on the form the same paragraph that asks about "soil" also asks if you've been on a farm, ranch or pasture. I assume sand is not in their definition of "soil" as it appears, my interpretation, is that they are try to catch organisms that could hurt our agriculture industry. After that experience I won't declare sand.

 

Sent from my XT1049 using Forums mobile app

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I've never had a problem. I use the ziploc baggies and only put about an inch deep at most. I leave them sealed for a few months after we get home. After Christmas one year, I bought off clearance the clear ornaments at craft stores, and put sand and tiny shells inside (they are all over the beach by the water taxi in St. Marten, btw), then the year and place, I write on the outside.

 

The past few years I've brought back rocks and made a rock garden. Never had a problem then either. I did see on one cruise, security made a kid throw his conch shell back in the water.

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  • 1 year later...

Check this recent post - https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/sardinia-sand-theft-arrest-scli-intl/index.html.

 

"We've all been tempted to bring a little bit of paradise home from our holidays. But the urge has backfired on a French couple, who are facing up to six years in prison for removing sand from a beach in Sardinia, where they had been on vacation.

The Italian island's white sand is protected, and tourists face fines and even jail time for removing it from local beaches -- but the couple say they did not realize they were committing a crime.
Police in the northern city of Porto Torres found the sand while making routine checks on cars waiting to board a ferry to Toulon in southern France.  
They spotted some bottles filled with sand through the window of the car, and arrested the couple, a man and woman in their 40s, police told CNN.
Overall, 14 plastic bottles containing around 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of white sand were seized, police said.
The couple were reported to a court in the city of Sassari for aggravated theft and they risk a fine of up to €3,000 ($3,300) and between one and six years' imprisonment"
 
DON
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 9/4/2019 at 1:12 AM, donaldsc said:
Overall, 14 plastic bottles containing around 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of white sand were seized, police said.
The couple were reported to a court in the city of Sassari for aggravated theft and they risk a fine of up to €3,000 ($3,300) and between one and six years' imprisonment"
 
DON

 

88 pounds of sand? What the heck were they going to do with that? That's a little excessive.

 

I do collect sand as well and usually put a little in my dive socks and then when I get back to the room I put it in ziplock baggies. I put the sand in little glass miniature bottles with corks on them and write on the outside where they are from and I have a curio cabinet that has all of them in it.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've been collecting sand & soil from all the places we have visited since I was a kid...I have over 40 bottles (sand from the Colosseum in Italy, black sand beaches, etc). Like most people here I take baggies with me from home, I make sure I label them because even though you think you will remember once you get home it is hard. I have them in a golf ball display holder with tiny spice shakers. I label the front with the country and the bottom with the year. 

 

We did get it confiscated once coming through security on the boat. Now my husband puts the bag in his pocket as we go through and it obviously does not come up on the metal detector. 

 

It is a pretty small amount...I would say two tablespoons or so?

 

I travel for work some times and even my clients know that if we are going somewhere I have never been they have to help find a place for me to collect!!

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Please do not do this! Leave the things on the beach as you find them. Imagine how much sand that it takes when 100 people all take "just a little bit" of sand, multiplied times all the cruises? That's super destructive to the areas that you are visiting even though you think that it's not. Leave things alone! Just take a photo. Or buy a magnet. 

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  • 5 months later...

I collect a small amount of sand from beaches we visit. About 1/16 of a teaspoon at each beach at most. I bought a collection of tiny glass message in a bottle type bottles on Amazon. Once i get back to the ship I glue the cork in permanently. I print the name of the location on labels I cut out and place on the bottles before the trip. The corks have one of those hooks you fasten to a charm bracelet with a pair of needle nose pliers.

 

I have always worn the bracelet through customs. I get a lot of compliments and comments on it. I check if they prohibit taking sand from the beach before we visit online. never had a problem. I probably take more sand back in my clothing than in those tiny bottles.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 year later...

I was a sand collector - and have hundreds of small glass bottles with clip closure for storage (and a printed sticker with the destination - the display is by country).

 

I stopped a few years ago when one time the shelf broke and all bottles crashed down (no - I did not get a nice sandy beach in the room - no bottle broke). But I felt "this is a sign to stop collecting....".

 

I used the little storage containers from photographic film.

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I remember a couple of cruises to Bermuda years ago, a few tried to bring sand aboard the ship and as we were all going through the xray machine, we also had to empty pockets and such onto trays and a few had their ziploc bags of sand confiscated at the ship and the bags tossed into the garbage bin an they were told if they wanted to bring sand, they had to buy the lil bottles an such from souvenir shops as most likely that sand had been cleaned, as just taking sand from the beach, who knows what was in it, plant life, bacteria from the waters and other things. Personally if I collected sand, I'd only buy the souvenir ones from repudable shops so I knew was safe to bring onto the ship. I think it was NCL, they confiscated a lot of sand and shells, unless they were from souvenir shops and tagged or stickered.

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