Legality of taking live sand from Turks and Caicos while on vacation

mattnano · Sep 9, 2023

Hey all, I am currently on vacation in Turks and Caicos and will be starting back up a reef when I get home. I was on the beach today wondering what the legality’s are of filling say a 1 gallon bag with live sand (from the beach) on the morning of my last day and putting it on my check on bag to help seed my tank when I get home. Would be maybe 10 hours of transit. Plus how awesome would it be to have sand from my favorite beach in my living room. Just curious if anyone has ever done this? Previously I was considering buying live sand and having it shipped from the Florida gulf coast to help seed my reef with ocean micro biome. I haven’t ran a reef since the days of buying live rock from my LFS so I’m really keen on getting some real ocean micro biome to start my reef off right and help avoid some of the ugliest or at least shorten the ugly period. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

vetteguy53081 · Sep 9, 2023

mattnano said:
Hey all, I am currently on vacation in Turks and Caicos and will be starting back up a reef when I get home. I was on the beach today wondering what the legality’s are of filling say a 1 gallon bag with live sand (from the beach) on the morning of my last day and putting it on my check on bag to help seed my tank when I get home. Would be maybe 10 hours of transit. Plus how awesome would it be to have sand from my favorite beach in my living room. Just curious if anyone has ever done this? Previously I was considering buying live sand and having it shipped from the Florida gulf coast to help seed my reef with ocean micro biome. I haven’t ran a reef since the days of buying live rock from my LFS so I’m really keen on getting some real ocean micro biome to start my reef off right and help avoid some of the ugliest or at least shorten the ugly period. Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

Check with TSA
We had an interest in bringing back seaweed from Hawaii and a conch from Florida. TSA Hawaii mentioned $500 fine for attempt and TSA Florida said up to $1250.

BZOFIQ · Sep 9, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Check with TSA
We had an interest in bring back seaweed from Hawaii and a conch from Florida. TSA Hawaii mentioned $500 fine for attemp and TSA Florida said up to $1250.

You just killed this guy's dream!

vetteguy53081 · Sep 9, 2023

BZOFIQ said:
You just killed this guy's dream!

A fine would have been worse and as stated- check with TSA. Each location may have different guidelines

CoralsAddiction · Sep 9, 2023

I brought 2 small rocks from Hawaii in 2015. I did not remove it from the ocean. It was dry/dead and at the time Hawaii restrictions were limited to “live” animals/ rock. Had no issues with TSA or Department of Agriculture screenings. Granted the rocks were small.

CoralsAddiction · Sep 9, 2023

I still have the rock. It was not even on the sand when I found it. Kinda closer to the road. It houses some zoas. Cool memory. Pic from when I found it and today.

JayM · Sep 9, 2023

Even if it was legal to take, not likely legal to import without proper permits.

Sebastiancrab · Sep 9, 2023

May not be legal to take! Many countries/cities have passed laws that will fine you big time for taking sand etc. from beaches.

CoralsAddiction · Sep 9, 2023

OP, check local rules.
It seems that USDA is protective of certain items. For example beach sand is on the okay list from Hawaii.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/plant_health/fs-bag-inspection-travelers-notice-hawaii.pdf

CoralsAddiction · Sep 9, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
Check with TSA
We had an interest in bringing back seaweed from Hawaii and a conch from Florida. TSA Hawaii mentioned $500 fine for attempt and TSA Florida said up to $1250.

Yeah those are not in the same category as sand.

CoralsAddiction · Sep 9, 2023

CoralsAddiction said:
Yeah those are not in the same category as sand.

Those are as close to plants and live animal/insect as you can get so I can see where TSA was coming from.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Sep 9, 2023

CoralsAddiction said:
OP, check local rules.
It seems that USDA is protective of certain items. For example beach sand is on the okay list from Hawaii.

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/plant_health/fs-bag-inspection-travelers-notice-hawaii.pdf

Beach sand is not the same as live sand...

Rtaylor · Sep 9, 2023

CoralsAddiction said:
Those are as close to plants and live animal/insect as you can get so I can see where TSA was coming from.

Actually it should have been ok as long as you have a valid Florida fishing license. It is legal to transport plants and native inverts like snails on a plane with an origin and destination within the USA. As long as it was legally collected there shouldn’t be any fines. Certain things can only be carried on, not checked, but sand, algae, and snails legally collected are allowed.