They will float for thousands of miles but as far as them getting to California that would depend on the previaling currents and the directions they flow.

andy, thanks for the posting. I wonder if it has ever happened before? I wonder if the current ever went the right way. I did a Google search but yielded no evidence posted to confirm that this has happened in So Cal but who knows maybe it has.

I'm germinating a store bought coconut by the way. It has the white dot growing. Very cool. Wish I could find a natural unhusked one at the beach tho.

Hey if a Bull Shark can swim from the Gulf of Mexico up the Mississippi up to Lake Michigan and bite a poor kid in the '50s I guess a coconut with the right current can make it to California. I'm sure they are very strong nuts and can withstand the water.

Hi
I have been unable to find any evidense that this happened in S. Florida and I know it does have seen it with my own eyes.lol. In fact the whole county is named after them . Supposedly they are from a shipwrecked boat .
So as far as I can determine there were none here before the 1890's But given the MANY uses for coconut why wouldn't the Native Americans have transplanted them??
The origin seems to be Africa but they were in Hawaii as well as all over Asia long before the "explorers".
None of the early New world explorers seemed particularly interested in plants though there seems to be some mention of them in Cuba.
Cook described them for sure on his journeys around the S. Pacific. not natural though were brought by the Polynesians.
I find this fascinating as the Coconut is one of the very few plants that can survive being soaked in saltwater for months maybe years, while at the same time it's not necessary. They certainly will germinate without it.
i see no way you could elimate they could have expanded the range without help. Certainly not outside the tropics though obviously. I can find no place within the tropics where coconuts don't grow??
I would guess it didn't happen naturally in Califfornia though due to the climate.
If you find any more info on this please share.?? Another remarkable thing is that in spite of the huge range all the types are merely cultivars of Cocos nucifera. and most of these are man made. gary

Cute story I found about coconuts.

Knowing now that the coconut grows on beaches of tropical islands, you may like to hear the popular myth from eastern Papua about the origin of the coconut. Each day a man came home in the evening with a basket filled with large fish. Naturally, this villagers went to spy on him, to find out how he was so successful. At dawn, the man removed his head, placed it under a shrub,
and then waded out into the ocean, where the fish would be attracted to him and be swallowed through his neck. The man spewed out the many fish on shore, placed his head on again, then sorted the fish to return the small ones to the water. Then next morning the jealous onlookers stole the man's head and hid it in the sand. When he could not find his head, the man changed into a fish and swam away, but his head subsequently grew into a coconut tree.
Is this were the saying 'I lost my head' came from. LOL

Hi: I think it's likely that coconuts wash up in California. When you have a strong onshore wind flow for a few days, that should bring them in. My guess is that they would come from Mexico and Central America with the same winds that steer hurricanes north toward Baha in the late summer and early fall. They wash up all the time here on the east coast of Florida, usually with a strong onshore wind that blows in Sargasso weed and other detritus. The Gulf Stream carries them north from the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico, the Keys, etc. I collect the ones that still have water and bring them home. About 10% are still viable and sprout. They take high heat and humidity to sprout. I have a really nice Yellow Malayan growing in my backyard whose nut washed up a couple of years ago.

Rick Filkins
Cape Canaveral

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/California_Current

The Akaskan current prevents any Coco invasion. Hawaii and Tropical Mexico are so far south that combined with the north to south Alaskan and California current it would be like water running uphill.

Did anyone else hear about the plastic particles trapped in the Gyre? I guess the whole thing is like a snowglobe of garbage being sloshed around.

What was really scary about that current is that the plastic particles werent just the visible bags and toys junk,but that plankton trawlers seined more microscopic plastic particles than plankton. Whales are somehow sifting through that for food.

It's reckless that this is allowed to continue.

Rick in Florida,

Could you ship a few of your Yellow Malayan coconuts to me in Texas? They are one of my favorite varieties, but it is hard to get them here. If you have a sprouted nut of this variety that you could send to me, that would really be great. Let me know how much the shipping cost is and how to get the money to you. Also, I am looking for Golden Malayans too, if you know of anyone who has these too. You can reach me at: mr.coconutpalm@yahoo.com

Thanks,
John

P.S. We get a lot of Mexican Tall coconuts washing up on our Texas beaches, so if you would like me to ship some to you this summer when I get back to the coast, just let me know.

Yes Coconuts do wash up on the Beaches of Southern California. I know because I just found one at the water line while jogging! I'm in Marina Del Rey and a friend of mine found one a few years ago too.

I very curious were it came from and came online to try to find out and then discovered this post.

No way possible. The California current would prevent this from ever happening.

I think it's definitely possible. California constantly has debris from Asia washing ashore so some coconuts from Asia could get end up on the shores of Cali. It's a long trip and the cool waters would probably kill the coconut palm before it ever even gets to California though.
I've heard of coconuts from the Carribean being carried to Northern Europe by the Gulf Stream and it's possible that they actually stay viable since they would not be in cold water for long.

-Alex

I think it's definitely possible. California constantly has debris from Asia washing ashore so some coconuts from Asia could get end up on the shores of Cali. It's a long trip and the cool waters would probably kill the coconut palm before it ever even gets to California though.
I've heard of coconuts from the Carribean being carried to Northern Europe by the Gulf Stream and it's possible that they actually stay viable since they would not be in cold water for long.

-Alex

Hello, I found a coconut this morning on the beach in berkeley, ca. I wondered if it could have washed up from far away or how it got there. It has coconut water still sloshing around inside. I wanted to open it and drink it but my boyfriend said if it did float here it would have spoiled by now or soaked up too much ocean water to be good anymore. Just curious.
Thanks.

Hello, I found a coconut this morning on the beach in berkeley, ca. I wondered if it could have washed up from far away or how it got there. It has coconut water still sloshing around inside. I wanted to open it and drink it but my boyfriend said if it did float here it would have spoiled by now or soaked up too much ocean water to be good anymore. Just curious.
Thanks.

I just found a coconut washed up on the beach in Albany, CA (right next to Berkeley.) Interesting that someone else found one around here. I also found this discussion while searching to find out if it is possible that it came across the Pacific.

Try to sprout it, doesn't hurt to try!

Coconuts didn't reach Hawaii until the Polynesians took them there. So it doesn't leave much possibility for them to make it all the way from Asia (South East Asia in fact) to California. With the ocean currents the way they are Coconuts would have to drift in from Alaska to get there. A lot of stuff is dumped out at sea from ships and that's probably the most likely source of a lot of things that get washed up. Some stuff gets dumped on land (or in rivers) and ends up getting washed out to sea. Then there's also counter eddies or currents inshore of major ocean currents which could bring some stuff into Californian waters from Mexico. Just because something has a "Made in China" tag on it doesn't mean it drifted naturally across the ocean from Asia.

Me and my friend Shannon just found a coconut washed ashore on a beach in Southern California in Malibu CA on the PCH! Amazing all the finders of coconuts from overseas/mexico have congregated here. I have yet to find another form where this is discussed!