USVI-On-Line

Hello,
In February my wife(Deb) and I will be having our first vacation on STJ.
Deb loves to look for sea glass. Are there any good beaches to look for sea glass? She also likes to buy sea glass jewelry. Any good shop that sell any?
Thanks for all your help.....Al

Drunk Bay STJ is a fine beach-combing place.

i haven't seen much sea glass around on the beaches--I think it's too rough over on drunk bay for it to survive well--but there is lots of other flotsam and jetsam over there!

I love Drunk Bay but have never seen anything but the tiniest slivers of sea glass there. I think the place the glass is most prevalent is where there were parties at shore when glass bottles were used...just my guess.

That said, Vies seems to be very good for it.

I have a bunch of sea glass from our first trip to St. John--we stayed on Hart Bay and I used to go down every morning and look for sea glass while waiting for John to wake up.

Don't forget that anything you see on a National Park beach - even sea glass - is supposed to stay there!

Hart Bay is not in the National Park.

That does bring up an interesting point though--I know that you cannot legally remove any shells from the USVI, whether they are found in the National Park or not. Does that also extend to sea glass, rocks, etc? I truly don't know.

Vie's usually has sea glass.

liamsaunt wrote:Hart Bay is not in the National Park.

That does bring up an interesting point though--I know that you cannot legally remove any shells from the USVI, whether they are found in the National Park or not. Does that also extend to sea glass, rocks, etc? I truly don't know.

I don't think you are allowed to take anything from the park beaches, trails, etc. Anything -
I got chastised once for pulling a leave off a tree from a National Park Ranger in Philadelphia. I believe the same is true for the VI National Park.

I've always justified taking seaglass with the thought that technically seaglass is old garbage. If it wasn't tumbled enough to be smooth it's a sharp piece of trash that can cut you. I've found sharp pieces like that, that I've put in the garbage.

Interesting. I would think something that is man made would not be illegal to remove. If you think about it, the person who originally left the debris violated the law by littering.

To the OP does your wife have the book Pure Sea Glass? It's a great read for anyone who loves the beach and especially sea glass.

jofus wrote:I've always justified taking seaglass with the thought that technically seaglass is old garbage. If it wasn't tumbled enough to be smooth it's a sharp piece of trash that can cut you. I've found sharp pieces like that, that I've put in the garbage.

Me too. I would pick up a whole bottle or broken bottle so why not a small piece of a bottle? I consider it lovely trash.

One park's trash is another man's treasure!

I have no problem with it at all! And when I find a sharp piece, I don't just throw it back in the sand, so I am doing essential community service.

P.S.

I do know you can't take rocks. I asked a ranger in Hawaii...of course you get a major curse if you do (like in the Brady Bunch) but it is also park property/natural.

Frank Bay is the best for sea glass. I always find what I call " St. John emeralds"!