Conch shells?

[excited1sttimer]

It has been several years since i have been to this port. There used to be an area off the right side of the pier where harvested conch shells could be found. Is this still the case?  I plan to rent a golf cart and explore the island. Is there anywhere else to look for conch shells?  

[crewsweeper]

Boaby Point is still the dumping grounds. 

Many years ago, coming back from the lighthouse there was an old guard shack on the left and that drive went down to the beach and there were conch shells all over, many were faded white with age. No idea if that's still around. But that was the only other place we ever saw conch shells in abundance.

[GreakLakes]

I saw someone with a beautiful conch shell near Jack's Shack.  I asked if he found it out there.  He told me, "go to the right of the ship."

[Organized Chaos]

Yeah, to the right of the pier (south), right before you get to the southern tip of the island, the restaurants dump the shells in the rocky area. It's about a 1/4 mile from the pier. You can tell they're from the restaurants because they'll have a hole in them where they harvest the conch. Last time we were there (June, '18) I don't think there were too many whole shells. Most were pretty busted up.

[CJDepew]

We were there in February of 19. I walked that whole shoreline and saw less than a dozen shells scattered about. I'd heard it was hit or miss getting one on a ship, and tried, but it was confiscated.

[Hsmama]

So are these not allowed to be brought home on the ship?

[pghsteelerfan]

9 minutes ago, Hsmama said:

So are these not allowed to be brought home on the ship?

When we were in Grand Turk in May 2010, on Carnival, we were allowed to bring them on (we got a couple).  But Carnival changed their policy in late 2016 and they no longer allow sea shells back on board their ships unless it was a purchase and you have the receipt.  This came from their spokesperson's announcement on his social media page in February 2017.  Will attach screen shot of that post.  Blurring out the social media logo since I'm not sure if that's allowed.  I don't know whether other cruise lines allow shells on board their ships or not.  Hopefully someone else can answer that for you. 

Edited January 14, 2020 by pghsteelerfan

[viperrtblck]

sorry to steal and trail off topic with your post.....but grand turk rents golf carts you can take throughout the island?!

[excited1sttimer]

Yes!  You can rent golf carts, regular cars and Jeeps!  Lots of info on this board about the different vendors. We used wet money. We had a ball.  Easy!   Never did find the conch shells but found flamingos so it was a great day!  

[B and B Rookie Cannucks]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:49 AM, excited1sttimer said:

Yes!  You can rent golf carts, regular cars and Jeeps!  Lots of info on this board about the different vendors. We used wet money. We had a ball.  Easy!   Never did find the conch shells but found flamingos so it was a great day!  

Where did you find flamingos??

[excited1sttimer]

We found the flamingos in the salt pond behind the salt house. It’s near a church. St Thomas Church i think. You turn just before the church. The salt house sign will be next to the road. They were back there.  I think the church was on the map but not the salt house. The lady at the lighthouse told us where to find them. 😊