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SWANSBORO, N.C. – Hammocks Beach State Park recently won an award for their efforts to keep their beach clean. Officials say they did it by removing all the trash cans.

At Hammocks Beach State Park a group, of eager shell hunters board the first ferry of the season headed to Bear Island. Betsy Marcum holds out a horse conch she found and talks about why it was such a find.

"These are rare. I rarely find these," said Marcum.

She says she enjoys the seclusion of the park.

"Sometimes like today, I was the only person walking on this end of the island and you're just alone with the beautiful ocean and the sky and I love that," said Marcum.

Out here she'll find lots of shells but something she wont find are trash cans. Park Ranger Jake Vitak says that helps keep the island clean.

"It's a unique habitat and we want to try to keep it as pristine as possible, so when people pack the trash out that they pack in, not only does it keep the beach clean but it also promotes better ethic," said Vitak.

In March, the park won an award from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources for their program to keep trash off the beach.

Visitor Nancy Zier says the pristine beaches are why she keeps coming back.

"We love it here,” said Zier. “This is one of the cleanest parks that we go to and that includes cigarette butts. I haven't seen a single cigarette butt on this beach."

New air dryers in the bath house are cutting down on paper waste and with less garbage, the park saves money and the environment.

The Hammocks Beach State Park ferry service departs hourly beginning at 9:30 a.m. Round trip tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for children and seniors.