Your Guide to Collecting Pearls in ‘Animal Crossing: New Horizons’

The summer update for Animal Crossing is officially here and we seriously couldn’t be more excited about it. Swimming! Diving! Mermaid furniture! This utterly delightful Nintendo Switch game just seems to be getting more delightful every season.

Depending on how much time you’ve already invested in your game since the update, you might be aware of the fact that you can now collect pearls in the game. And you’re definitely going to want to do so — you need pearls to craft some of the pieces of mermaid furniture! Here’s how to get pearls in Animal Crossing. It’s pretty easy, but it will take some time!

So, as you’ve probably already figured out, you’re going to need to go swimming in order to collect pearls. Just as in real life, Animal Crossing pearls are located in the water. Thanks to the update, going swimming in the ocean is now possible.

If this is your first time going swimming, you’re going to need a wetsuit — you should be able to buy one from the cabinet in Nook’s Cranny (It costs 3,000 Bells). Just as an FYI, there are several styles of wetsuit available, so be sure to check the cabinet and the Nook Stop terminal to order different suits (or trade with your friends!).

Head to the ocean, and dive in! As you swim around, you’ll start seeing bubbles rising to the surface from underwater shadows. When you do, approach the shadow and hit Y to dive down and retrieve the sea creature. 

Sometimes — albeit rarely — you’ll come back to the surface with a pearl! There is also a sea creature called a pearl oyster, but (confusingly) you can’t get pearls from it. Pearls are a rare item, so don’t be discouraged if it takes you a while to find one.

You have a few options for what to do with your pearls. You can sell them to Nook’s Cranny for 10,000 Bells a pop (!), or you can keep them to use in crafting DIY mermaid furniture. Or you can just hoard them in your home for decoration. They’re similar to gold nuggets in their rarity, value, and the fact that they can be used to craft. You cannot donate pearls to the museum.

You can also get pearls by trading with Pascal the otter. In order to meet Pascal for the first time, you’ll want to retrieve a scallop from the ocean. You do this the same way as diving for pearls. The first time you get a scallop, Pascal will appear and offer to trade you for it.

Sometimes, Pascal will trade you a scallop for a DIY recipe. Other times, he might offer you a pearl instead. The most surefire way to collect pearls is to keep diving (they’re available all day!), but this is another option to stock up on the valuable crafting item. Good luck and happy swimming!