We collect seashells and enjoy long walks on the beach. Our favorite place to do both in south New Jersey is in North Wildwood. Over the decades we’ve located a few great beaches to go shelling! Where we find the best seashells and when is the best time to go find them!
On a recent weekend down at the beach we struck gold! We were able to fill up a cooler full of vacant seashells. We don’t collect any shells that are inhabited at all. We don’t believe in killing animals just to obtain their shells. Shameful on those of you who do it. It’s okay if you’re eating them…but not okay to just take the shell. Just to be clear on that.
Best times to go shelling:
During Low Tide
Day or Two After a Big Coastal Storm
Early Morning or Later in the Evening
Low Tide – Look in Tide Pools
Seasonal – Late Fall, Winter and Early Spring (but anytime you can find them)
You want to wear water shoes if you have them to prevent cutting your feet on glass, fish hooks, broken shells, etc. Take along netted bags made for shell collecting or old lingerie laundry bags. We also take along a plastic bag to pick up trash while we’re walking the beach. Once you’ve collected the shells you need to clean them promptly to remove the fishy smells and sand. Hose them down with clean water to remove a lot of the sand.
Once home or indoors you’ll want to soak them in Dawn Dishwashing Liquid. Why Dawn? It does a wonderful job at removing sand, debris and fish odors. I let them soak for 30-45 minutes and rinse with clean water. Then lay them out to air dry.
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