Do you remember going to the beach as a child and walking the shores hoping to discover a collection of new sea shells? We used to come home with buckets worth from our trips to the ocean and the bay.

While ours was a opportunistic pastime, others enjoy shelling as a serious hobby and will hop from shore to shore in search of the best sea treasures. If you’re a serious sea shell collector you’ll want to check out some of these incredible beaches this summer.

10. Calvert Cliffs State Park – Maryland

Seashell lovers from around the country flock to Calvert Cliffs State Park every year. It’s here that you might, if you’re lucky, find a snail fossil or Miocene-era shark tooth washed up on the beach. You’re more likely to find modern day sea shells from clams and oysters as well as a few arrowheads and pieces of beach glass. You might even find a piece of quartz while you’re exploring.

9. Sanibel Island – Florida

Sanibel Island is huge – think the size of Manhattan – and is literally covered with shells. The island is best known for the junonia shell but good luck finding one. If you should happen to find the twisted shell with giraffe spot markings you’ll get to have your picture in the local paper. Try Bowman’s Beach for the best pickings and, if it’s a bad day, just go visit the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum.

8. Gulf Islands National Seashore – Florida

The Florida Panhandle itself is beautiful but just off the shores of these sleepy beach towns you’ll find a strip of barrier islands covered in white sands and incredible treasures. The most well known is the hurricane ball – an egg shaped ball that forms when the waters in the ocean force straw, seaweed, and palmetto grass to wrap around a shell or a stone as the waters churn during a storm. They waters will then toss them up onto the sand where they’ll remain until you come to hunt them down.

7. Cumberland Island – Georgia

Cumberland Island, in Georgia, is accessible only by ferry but is well worth the trip. Once you arrive you can rent a bicycle from the park ranger station and then cycle down to Dungeness Beach. Here you’ll find a myriad of shells and a huge selection of sand dollars. Other favorite finds include coquinas, augers, ark shells, and disc clams.

6. San Jose Island – Texas

San Jose Island in Texas is an incredible car-free barrier island off of the Gulf Coast of Texas. The 21-mile long island welcomes visitors by day and is a great place for campers who want to stay and explore the island at night as well. Keep your eyes peeled for sharks eyes, lightning whelks, and sundials as you explore!

5. Ocracoke Island – North Carolina

Only dedicated shell fans will drive all the way to the end of the Outer Banks in North Carolina to visit Ocracoke Island. They’re usually rewarded for their loyalty with a cornucopia of whelks, olives, sand dollars, and even cowrie helmets. The absolute best time to visit is the morning after a bit storm when you’re bound to find an incredible variety of treasures.

4. Point No Point Beach – Washington

If you move quickly you might be able to reserve a space in the lighthouse keeper’s house on Point No Point Beach. If you get the opportunity to rent the room (no, you don’t have to run the now automated lighthouse) you’ll have first dibs at the shells that wash up on the beach after the morning’s low tide. The views here are astounding, too – with Mount Rainier in one direction and the occasional whale passing by in the other.

3. Shipwreck Beach – Hawaii

On the island of Lanai you’ll find Shipwreck Beach. The waters off the shores of Lanai feature strong currents – making it unsafe for visitors to swim but bringing a myriad of treasures up to the shore each day. Visitors have found coral, leopard cones, and sea slug shells. If you’re really lucky you might find a blown-glass float that has detached from a nearby Japanese fishing net.

2. Point Reyes National Seashore – California

The beaches at Point Reyes National Seashore are just a hop, skip, and a jump away from San Francisco. Here you’ll get to not only collect shells but view some living wildlife as well. One hour before and after low tide you’ll see sea stars and sea urchins beneath the waves – just don’t touch them as they’re all fragile and some are poisonous. You can pick up the sand dollars, ocher stars, and goose barnacles you find while strolling the shores.

1. Silver Strand State Beach – California

Silver Strand State Beach on Coronado Island in California is an incredibly popular tourist destination and is usually littered with oyster and scallop shells. You can explore both the beaches by both the bay and the ocean sides and, if you’re lucky, will come home with sand dollars, limpets, and cockles as well. If worse comes to worse you can just head on up to the Hotel del Coronado for a massage using hot shells instead of hot stones!

Enjoy your hunt for the perfect shell and – please – remember not to disturb the living wildlife during your journey. There are plenty of sea treasures around the country for all to enjoy. Have a great time digging for your next great find!