So the wife and I spent our anniversary week on San Pedro last August. And while there, we met a man who made black coral jewelry and sold it from his "store" on the street down near Fido's on Front St. He said he was one of only a few artist allowed to harvest and sell black coral jewelry (not sure of the validity of this).

Anyway, I really wish I would have purchased a bracelet and I'm not sure when we will make it back.

What would be my options to find and purchase one now? Could I pay a local for their trouble? Is there an online store of some sort?

Thanks,
TB

Hi TannedBanana - I'm sure others here will have more info for you, but here's a link to the Shopping section of AmbergrisCaye.com.

//ambergriscaye.com/pages/goodscv/shopping.html

Good luck! I know I've had things I kicked myself for not getting when I was there. But - we're planning our return trip in October now!! I guess I could actually start my countdown!

Just a FYI- there is NO SUCH a thing as being allowed/not allowed to harvest coral. Selling them is a whole different story, I don't know what the laws are in Belize about this. Most shop owners will say they picked them up dead (hmmm).

Generally, corals are to be preserved and left alone, corals take years and years to grow and provide homes for fishes, there's been a lot of damage from anchoring, net fishing, people who take them for decoration/jewelry and irresponsible scuba divers/snorklers.

Here's an article from the National Geographic on Black Corals-

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0606_blackcoral.html

Licensed individuals can harvest and sell black coral.

That's a shame then..

i thought black coral was illegal to sell in Belize!?!? maybe that was else where...

To quote a recent newspaper article in the San Pedro Sun "It is illegal for any person to take, buy, sell or have in his possession any type of coral. An exception is made in the case of Black Coral (Order ANTIPATHARIA), which may be bought, sold or exported with a license from the Fisheries Adminstrator."

Thx Simon for clearing that up! i knew there was sumthing with coral being illegal but didn't know exactly what! i figured its just best to stay away from buying coral in the first place! JMHO...