Conch shells

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Christi:
Two wrongs don't make a right though...do they?

That's my point. I'm not sure the second phase is wrong. There is one little caye near Placencia where some guys must go everytime they get conch. There are literally thousands of shells there on what used to be a sloping wall with live corals etc. Is that better than removing the shells?
 
Last time I saw any conch shells in Coz, they were not left by any fisherman, but were piled up outside an octupus residence .... and I think he's stilled allowed to take them!!!:wink:
 
Christi:
Two wrongs don't make a right though...do they?

No, but three rights make a left. ;^)
 
waynel:
OK. Don't want to offend anyone and don't want problems with US Customs. Thanks.

You wouldn't get crossways with US Customs. I have brought back beachcombed items from non-park parts of Cozumel and never had a prob with them. Well, there was that one time I "fit the profile" (long hair, unshaven, traveling alone) and was subjected to extra scrutiny, and their X-ray revealed a chunk of coral that I had found in a parking lot. They really wanted to see that; I'm sure that they thought it was a rock of something else entirely. ;^)
 
That's what I was refering to. Non-park parts of Cozumel. I don't know what those non-park parts of the beach look like now (but I will in 4 days), but 18 years ago, there were conch shells scattered everywhere, no was using that part of the beach, if fact there was a human being anywhere in site. And besides the fact that the attendant at San Fran directed to do this, there other people doing the same thing. Are there shops that sell conch sells in San Miquel? If I buy one, do I have to show a receipt. How about some other small shell, one of millions? Can I at least bring home something other some slick item in a souvenier shop? Collecting shells along the Florida coastline was always a big part of our beach vacations.

Like I said, haven't been to Cozumel in 18 years. San Miguel was a sleepy little village then. I've been reading a great deal of threads on this board concerning Cozumel. I hear "laid back". But man, between warnings about car insurance, parking, police, cab drivers and now picking up a rock...doesn't sound too laid back to me. I remember when it was 18 years ago. Hope I'm not disappointed. I stopped going to Cancun because of that same reason. Went from "sleepy" to "stress".
 
waynel:
Like I said, haven't been to Cozumel in 18 years. San Miguel was a sleepy little village then. I've been reading a great deal of threads on this board concerning Cozumel. I hear "laid back". But man, between warnings about car insurance, parking, police, cab drivers and now picking up a rock...doesn't sound too laid back to me. I remember when it was 18 years ago. Hope I'm not disappointed. I stopped going to Cancun because of that same reason. Went from "sleepy" to "stress".

It's called growth. Do you honestly expect ANY location to be the same after 18 years?

No one is going to arrest you if you take some shells home....I just gave you the generally accepted protocol and unspoken "rules"
 
If ya really need a conch shell...you can hook it over to Galveston Tex and buy all you can haul home from the shops along the seawall and who knows where they come from they all look a like :D you can just say they came from Coz....

I shouldn't tell this story but back in the early 80's we used to bring back gunny sacks full of Conch shells :shakehead YES they were empty you could find them behind restaurants after the removed the conch they would toss them out the back door....we gave them away to friends I don't think I even have one left.... of course back then customs could care less...they were only concerned about bring turtle products back

Only thing I bring back now is stinky gear :D
 
When we came back from Coz, customs in Atlanta asked us if we had any shells and I said yes. I did not want to lie. We had been on the east side and I picked up some very very tiny, smaller than my pinky finger nail - black and white striped shells. I had some from a previous trip that I had put inside a glass nautical candle holder and just wanted a couple more. Anyways I only had like 5 of them and they were empty when I picked them up from the beach. I told that to the lady when she asked and she asked if any of them were conch shells and I said no……..boom…… over to the left please…… and we were getting all our bags re-X-rayed and ruffled through.
So yeah. Customs takes it very serious…… at least in Atlanta.
 
waynel:
Like I said, haven't been to Cozumel in 18 years. San Miguel was a sleepy little village then. I've been reading a great deal of threads on this board concerning Cozumel. I hear "laid back". But man, between warnings about car insurance, parking, police, cab drivers and now picking up a rock...doesn't sound too laid back to me. I remember when it was 18 years ago. Hope I'm not disappointed. I stopped going to Cancun because of that same reason. Went from "sleepy" to "stress".

Well, you'll see some changes since 1989 (my cherry trip was in 1979), but mostly in spots along the west coast and the first block or two from the water in town (i.e., where the cruseros go). But not to worry; there's still plenty of Cozumel that's the same as it ever was. Compared to Cancun, it's still very laid back. One thing that will be new to you is traffic lights. I think that there are about 10 of them on the island now.

Some of the old haunts are still there; La Choza, Pancho's, Sonora, Pepe's, Las Palmeras, El Capi Navegante, the Museum, Neptuno, and El Moro are all pretty much as you remember them. Others, like Acuario, the Scaramouche, and Joe's Reggae Bar, are just gone. The Acuario is still standing but gutted by Wilma, but you'd never know the Scaramouche was ever there. Joe's moved a couple of times, briefly, but economics finally closed their doors for good.

Anyway, be not dismayed; it's still a great place to go, and it it retains a lot of what you remember. The only constant thing is change. BTW, I haven't seen a conch shell on the beach in a long time, anyway.
 
Remember, an empty shell is someone's potential home :D

That's what we teach the kids at the aquarium
 
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