While Florida’s west coast gets most of the shelling glory, Ashley Oliphant—a nationally recognized shell hunter and the author of The Ultimate Shell Seeker’s Guide: Building a Better Beachcombing Strategy (University of Georgia Press, $30)—insists our coast is an unsung treasure trove.
“Palm Beach County is such an incredible place to beachcomb because of the diversity of prized species that wash up here,” Oliphant says. “It’s perhaps the best place I know to find Scotch bonnets, which are difficult or nearly impossible to find in other locations. On a good day, I might find 20 or 30 Scotchies near the Juno Beach Pier. Remarkably, this shell is a once-in-a-lifetime find in other locations in America.”
The key is strategy. Consult tidal charts and walk the uppermost band of debris, where the waves deposit their best bounties. While conventional shelling wisdom suggests hunting at low tide, Oliphant recommends the six-hour receding tide period prior to low tide: “that way you will see everything the ocean deposits for the whole tide cycle.” Prioritize days around full or new moons to optimize your prospects and don’t forget to account for wind; storms and steady onshore breezes tend to churn up deeper, richer treasures.
Oliphant’s local go-tos are Juno and Jupiter beaches, particularly the dog beach starting at Marcinski Road. Several miles in both directions are consistently good for shelling, she says, but scooting south to a beach like Dania can yield some of the state’s best sea beans, seedpods that fall off tropical plants all over the globe then ride currents to distant shores.
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