Conch shells are beautiful souvenirs, but you need to be sure about what you’re getting. If you are planning on bringing a conch shell home from a tropical island, we strongly suggest you put it in your checked bag. Also, check to make sure to clean your shell. Better yet, buy one from a local vendor that has made sure it is cleaned properly.

There used to be an elderly gentleman at Sandals Royal Caribbean who found, cleaned, and sold all types of conch shells. He was very friendly and was willing to explain how he cleaned them and made sure to get the conch itself out of the shell. The last thing you want to do is take a shell home only to find out that the conch is still in it, and you’ll know if it is as it will start to stink pretty quickly. The way he made sure to get the entire conch was to break off the end of the spiral part of the shell so he could “unhook” the conch from the tip. This isn’t necessarily what people want to see, but it does have a couple of benefits: first, it guaranteed the removal of the entire conch; and second, it made it so you could use the shell as a “horn”. You could hear this guy blowing his freshly cleaned shell from almost anywhere on the resort. Sadly, this nice gentleman is no longer at SRC.

There are a lot of types of conch shells, from the light colored one shown above, to rich dark brown shells. So if you want to bring one home, make sure it’s properly cleaned, and first and foremost, make sure it’s LEGAL. Some places have made it illegal as over harvesting has reduced the conch population too much.