Hi, Richard.

The 'model' collecting beach has to be Haleiwa Beach on the North Shore of
O'ahu, Hawaii. There is surf in the winter (seldom in the summer) but there is
a rapid rise in the offshore reef that forces the big waves to break and roll
before getting to the sand. There is ample shell life in that shallow area so
shells do get pushed onto the sand,... when the surf is, or has been, active.
(Shelling the beach is NOT safe in high surf periods!)

If you have access to the Hawaiian Shell News from 1960 and later (online but
not very searchable due to OCR--Optical Character Recognition--errors that were
not vetted), there are reports in columns like Recent Finds about beach
collecting on O'ahu. All beaches are Public Access (or were last I heard) so
you should be able to walk them, but so can others and, after high surf, LOTS
of people head to the beach to look for gifts from the ocean.

As with ANY beach park on O'ahu, observe RULE #1: Take nothing of value that you
are not going to carry on your person at all times. If a rental car is involved
(and they have group-numbered license plates that I.D. them as rentals), don't
lock the door but do leave the glove compartment (or whatever its new name is)
open and, if it isn't raining, leave the windows down. NEVER make a show of
putting things in the trunk; Big Bruddah get his eye on YOU! Nothing ruins a
shelling trip like paying dearly for the opportunity!

There are other beaches I've been to on O'ahu but as a rule, too quiet doesn't
get you much and pounding surf gets you tiny pieces of shells. Others on the
List will know some different sites and, if you're willing snorkel, there are
places to pick up dead shells. (Generally, NOT the North Shore due to pounding
surf. Haleiwa Beach Park is the exception.)

Oh, yes! There is a RULE #2,... See RULE #1.

Aloha,

Bob Dayle
http://cowry.org

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