What is 367 miles long, made of finely granulated rock, and is accessible by foot, canoe, kayak, motor boat, ferry or cars? The Texas Coast! Yes, Texas has 367 miles of beautiful sandy beaches open to the public for your enjoyment. Someone trekking down a Texas beach is sure to discover fascinating finds like exotic fruits and seeds from other countries in the Caribbean and Central America, Mexico, and even from other continents such as South America. You can find a myriad of colorful seashells, sharks teeth, interesting driftwood, sea glass and even some man-made treasures that were abandoned or lost over time.

The most successful beachcombing is usually right after a storm when strong currents and waves have replenished the beach's treasures. During the winter months beaches are often less "picked over" increasing your chances of finding goodies and that elusive prize. The spring and summer months also bring in more than its fair share of treasures. The orange and yellow seaweed often thought of as a nuisance by beach goers is coveted by beach combers. This seaweed, called sargassum, is from the Sargasso Sea and is brought to Texas beaches by the ocean currents. Traveling with the sargassum are hoards of interesting items that end up cached on Texas beaches waiting to be found and treasured. Patches of broken up shell or shell hash also have hidden gems such as sharks teeth, sea biscuits, and the dainty but beautiful wentletraps. And don't forget to look for sand dollars, usually in the wet zone of the beach.

By Texas law, all beaches in Texas are open to the public. The Texas Open Beaches Act guarantees free and unrestricted access to Texas beaches from the water line to the mean hide tide line (termed the "wet beach"). The public also has free access from the wet beach across the dry sand to the vegetation line, regardless of private ownership, where the public has establish an easement. (For more info see Open Beaches.)