Shell Museum Cavtat

The Shell Museum Cavtat showcases a private collection of over 3,500 seashell species from around the world, offering an educational experience in marine life and conservation.

Planning your visit

The Shell Museum at Cavtat holds over 3,500 species of seashell gathered across decades by a single collector, and its interest lies in the range: specimens from the Adriatic sit alongside shells from the Pacific, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and deep water, showing the extraordinary formal variety that molluscs have produced.

Some are famous — the giant clam, cone shells whose venom kills, the chambered nautilus, the murex from which Tyrian purple was extracted — and the collection covers the biology alongside the aesthetics.

The conservation dimension is present: shell collecting has damaged reef ecosystems, and the museum addresses the ethics of the practice and the pressures on marine molluscs.

Cavtat is a harbour town south of Dubrovnik on a wooded peninsula, quieter than the old city and reachable by boat.

Bookable options include entry with optional guided tours. Current availability is listed below.