Pristine white sand dollars have long been the souvenir to commemorate a successful day at the beach. But most people who pick them up don’t realize that they’ve collected the skeleton of an animal, ...

Sand dollar skeletons and fossils turn Ocean Beach into a living lab—perfect for a family day trip. Sand dollar skeletons, or “tests,” wash up in great numbers on San Francisco’s Ocean Beach.

The Oregon Coast offers beachgoers activities like hunting for glass floats, sightseeing, sand raking and collecting sand dollars. While finding a whole sand dollar can be rare, there is a rocky beach ...