Conch Shells in Nassau

[Rambler5678]

My 9 year old daughter really wants a pretty conch shell. Can you buy them there and how much are they? Are they legal to take home? How do you get rid of the smell issue?

Thanks,

 

[cruisinaz]

My 9 year old daughter really wants a pretty conch shell. Can you buy them there and how much are they? Are they legal to take home? How do you get rid of the smell issue?

Thanks,

I was there in December and brought one home...they had cleaned it with bleach o get rid of the smell.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

My 9 year old daughter really wants a pretty conch shell. Can you buy them there and how much are they? Are they legal to take home? How do you get rid of the smell issue?

Thanks,

I did a Google search and on Trip Advisor there were several threads about conch shells.

Here are a few of the comments:

Anywhere around the straw market or the wharf area. There are usually a few enterprising souls with tables of various shells. Make sure you give it a good whiff, as some can still be quite "organix"


Be careful with the bleach baths, as it can ruin the vibrant colours of the shell. Less toxic is using a 1/3 hydrogen peroxide to water solution, and works just as well. Even better is leaving the shell outside on a back porch for a few days, as ants will do a thorough job of cleaning before using the "bath" solution.


and

The queen Conch shell is illegal to bring to the states.

It's similar to the conch shell you see allover, but the outside is smoother with less ridges, and the inside is brighter pink.. with a brown speckling.

 

[truck1]

We got 2 of ours on the wharf just before the customs bldg. Where the water tours were dropping off at. 1 was in the water the other on the wharf where the woman's boat was tied up at. There were 2 different kinds. 1 was cleaned of the inhabitant the other was not. They were like 5 or 10 dollars or so. Definitely less then 20. We got 1 free that day.

 

[ALCooper3]

We bought a nice one from a guy selling right beside the old straw market area. It cost $5.00. It was suppose to look like he was getting them right out of the water because he was on a boat, but it was much too clean for that. I believe we washed it a little with dawn detergent. The smell was not a problem. Neither was customs. On a side not we stopped at a gas station in Florida on the drive home and they were selling some like ours (only smaller) for around $20. Thought we got a great deal.

 

[SunDevilFanAZ]

Ahhh the memories of getting a conch shell in Nassau.

About 20 years ago, back in the Big Red Boat days, my parents and I took our only cruise. We thought it would be great to get a conch shell near the dock on the way back to the boat. Bought it and brought it back to the room on board.

Fast forward a few few days later to the flight home to CA. About halfway into the flight, my Dad started smelling something around us. No, not that. I was thinking he was losing it. Over the next couple of hours before landing he kept on it saying something stunk.

After landing, we opened the overhead and knew something wasn't in good shape in our luggage. The second we were in the door of our house, my dad got a bucket of bleach, dumped it in and tore open the bag with the conch shell in it. He nearly fell over from the smell. In went the shell. A few seconds later he pulled it out and plop! Went a little piece of a conch.

Despite their insistence that the seller had cleaned it all out, he missed just a bit. Needless to say the luggage was in the trash. However, we did keep the shell for about 15 years.

Hopefully you can find one that is truly clean and will enjoy at home.

 

[Jey12]

A few people were selling them along the dock by the straw market when we were there 3 years ago. It's sitting on my shelf still and no smell. I'm pretty sure it was around $5.

 

[jpod523]

Haggled mine down to about $10. But it was a really big one. They sell them all over. The ones in the little shop you first go through were cheaper though. Not as pretty IMHO.