Nova Shell Museum — Attraction in Panglao

We shouldn't have been surprised that there is a shell museum in Bohol. After all, the country is made up of over 700 islands and is well known for beaches and corals and shells. But we were all pleasantly surprised nonetheless.

The Nova Shell Museum is not particularly big. It has two rooms of display cases and cabinets filled with all kinds of shells many of which I have either never seen or never seen one of that size. For example, they had sand dollars that were twice the size of those we've seen elsewhere (i.e. Florida). We learned that sand dollars from deeper depths are larger than those found by the sea shore. They had shells known as shell collectors. These shells adds other shells to itself to grow its' size. There are shells of all sizes and shapes. Spiny, spiky, tiny, very large, conical, cylindrical, tubular and round. I found myself very fascinated.

The museum also had 3 very large almost fossilized clam shells one of which was estimated to be over 1,000 years old by the time it died. Most Interesting was the fact that these clam shells were dug up from the hills of Bohol far away from the sea.

The museum houses the collection of Mr. Quirino Hora, a well known local shell collector. Mr. Hora himself was credited with the discovery of 2 new kinds of sea shells for which, the shells were rightly named after him. Among the thousands of shells in the museum as well is one Rotaovula Hirohitoi specimen, found in 1973 right here in Bohol. This shell is considered to be the smallest shell in the world and is sought after by collectors. This one specimen is valued at PHP 150,000 or about US$3,000.

I found the Nova Shell Museum, though small, to be a nice find and a...

The museum hosts a private collection of shells that are found around the island of Bohol. there may not be other collections like this because the government has made it illegal to remove certain species from the island. The museum itself is in a state of disrepair following some typhoons and earthquakes that have ravaged the island, so it is highly suggested to donate for maintenance and upkeep. it might be boring for the average tourist but it would be very interesting for students of marine biology. The curators and attendanta have a general knowledge of the collection, but have little knowledge on specific museum pieces. The museum also sells south sea pearla and mother of pearls harvested from the island...

Firstly this isn't a museum, it's a large personal collection. Some other reviews show disappointment because it's small and while this is true if compared to a museum, for a personal collection it's very large. Maybe the 100 entrance fee per person is slightly pricey, but the warm, friendly guides make up for this.

Their passion and eagerness to answer questions made the experience much more engaging (as there aren't any info boards about the creatures which make and live in the shells).

To make this collection a museum it would need to have more information boards and displays about the life cycles of each species. But as I mentioned, for a collection it is worth a visit if you are in the area on...