seashells??

[fowler100]

Hello, we will be doing the western carribean tour on the carnival glory in dec. and I was wondering how the shells are in Cozumel?? My daughter and I love the go seashell hunting and make collections. Thank you :)

[cruisinhs]

There may be someone with more information, but we were there three weeks ago and we didn't see a single seashell where we were. From what I understand, there are no true beaches in Cozumel. The island is build on a coral reef, so the area going down to the water is rocky. That said, there are man made beaches. Some are built up where there is a sandy area and then you sort of go down steps to get into the water and there are man made beaches that go right down into the water like you would expect.

[ScubaMare]

The entire island is surrounded by marine park. I don't know the exact specifications of the park. But, I do know that marine park regulations are that you are not to remove anything from the sea or its shore, even an empty shell.

 

Again, I'm not sure how far around the island the marine park goes. There may be areas on the eastside where you can collect shells on the beaches. I believe Playa Bonita is a spot where you can occasionally spot shells.

[fowler100]

Thank you so much, we can't wait to go. We can get our shells at home;)

[solita]

There are tons of shells here. I've collected on East side as well as south of Paradise Beach. And I find them everyday at work on Passion Island. You can not take some things though...conch shells, black fan coral or any types of sponges. Various white coral and other types of shells are just fine to take. I just confirmed this with customs 2 weeks ago - we had hundreds of conch wash up on Passion Island after Ivan went by. I checked with customs on board one of the Carnival ships.

[betsyrossapk]

Found this interesting information on the Cozumel Insider website re: shells

 

" I know it's very tempting to say "well it's only one shell so..." but if you keep in mind that according to Carnival cruise lines recently, there will be a couple of MILLION cruise ship visitors this next year to Cozumel, then you can see the impact if each person elects to take just one shell!"--Sherri, Cozumel Insider

Here is a link to their website:

http://cozumelinsider.com/beaches/

 

Just some food for thought.

[sddiver]

The issue is not if it is OK with Customs to collect shells. It is that a good part of Cozumel waters and beaches are within a National Marine Park. It is against the law to remove anything from the waters and beaches within the park. The park runs from approximately the southern cruise ship piers to the southern point of the island. This area inlcudes all the western shore beach clubs ie Playa Sol/Mia, Paradise Beach, Nachi Cocum et al. It does not include the eastern side beaches or those north of town. So all is good to collect shell from those locations.

 

Rich