Tips for Collecting More Pearls in Animal Crossing

Pearls are a coveted resource in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, essential for crafting the mermaid-themed DIY recipes introduced in the summer update. Currently, there are two primary methods to acquire them: diving in the ocean or trading with Pascal. If you’re looking to boost your pearl collection, here’s how to do it.

**How to Get Pearls in Animal Crossing: New Horizons**

**Dive to the Ocean Floor** – While swimming, keep an eye out for bubbles rising to the surface. Dive down and pursue the deep-sea shadow until you catch something. Most of the time, you’ll snag one of the 40 new sea creatures from the summer update, but if luck is on your side, you might just find a pearl.

**Trade Scallops with Pascal** – Pascal is a new visitor who shows up once a day when you dive and find a scallop, though he may not appear with your first catch. He’ll offer to trade for the scallop, and while you’ll usually receive a mermaid DIY recipe or some mermaid attire, there’s a chance he’ll gift you a pearl. The exact rate at which he gives pearls compared to recipes and clothing remains a mystery.

These are the only confirmed methods to obtain pearls in Animal Crossing: New Horizons at the moment. Neither requires special tools, but you will need to buy a wetsuit to start swimming and diving, as pearls can only be found in the ocean.

**Farming or Grinding for Pearls**
Currently, there’s no official way to farm or grind for pearls in New Horizons without resorting to “time traveling,” which involves adjusting your Nintendo Switch’s system clock to skip days. If you choose to time travel, the only way to potentially increase your pearl count is to repeatedly hunt for sea creatures until you encounter Pascal. He might offer you a pearl in exchange for a scallop.

The time or day doesn’t seem to influence Pascal’s chances of giving you a pearl, so this method is simply a way to maximize your encounters with him in one go, hoping for pearls. Keep in mind, this approach can be time-consuming, some players view it as cheating, and your turnips won’t survive the time skip, so proceed with caution.