Huntington Beach State Park

Shells you'll find at Huntington Beach State Park

The shells the wrack line reliably delivers here, plus the rarer finds patient collectors chase after storms.

• Common find

  Lettered Olive

  Americoliva sayana

• Common find

  Knobbed Whelk

  Busycon carica

• Common find

  Moon Snail

• Common find

  Ark Shell

• Common find

  Atlantic Jingle Shell

  Anomia simplex

Notable finds

• Rare / notable

  Scotch Bonnet

  Semicassis granulata

Reading the beach

The jetty at the north end catches shells on every falling tide — plan to be there an hour or two before low water.

Habitat features · Barrier Island · Wrack Line · Sandy Intertidal

Shelling tips

• Walk the jetty first, then work south along the wrack line as the tide keeps dropping.
• The state park requires a small entry fee, but the shell density is dramatically better than the nearby public accesses.
• Post-nor'easter mornings deliver knobbed whelks the size of your hand — worth planning a trip around a system.