Seashell Collecting
We've been collecting seashells for a long time. Can't say we know much about them, because we don't. We collect them because we're enchanted by their beauty, colors and design. We are in awe of nature's craftsmanship and variety. To us, they are jewels from the sea. Aruba is not a shell collector's paradise but, if you keep your eyes open, you may be delighted by what you find. For any avid shellers - we have found bleeding teeth (the kids love these), a variety of turbans, olives and cowries, flamingo tongues, milk moon shells, bent-beak murexes, common dove shells, music volutes, alphabet cones, antillean cones, amber pen shells, and many others.Sea Shell Image Gallery
Hold your cursor over a picture for a better look!
There is no special secret place to find shells. Betsy found most of our collection over the years on her daily beach walks. Sometimes she'll walk a few miles down the beach from our house. Often she'll get in the car and drive to another beach. Some I found snorkeling around the island (on the light wind days).
There are a few important rules to observe:
- If some critter is living in the shell, leave it alone or put it back in the water if you didn't see it at first. To you it's a trinket. To the critter, it's life.
- It is against the law to take shells out of Aruba. We didn't make the law, so don't blame us. So if you find something special and leave it on one of our shelves, you'll be obeying the law and have something to see when you return.
- Our shell collection is on display in our house for our guests to enjoy. PLEASE DON'T TAKE ANY!!! Look but don't touch. The joy is in finding them for yourself.