Sanibel Island
Lee County. Sanibel lies east and west where almost every other barrier island on this coast lies north and south, and it sits on a shallow plateau reaching out into the Gulf.
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Where is the shelling in Florida?
Sanibel Island in Lee County is the reason people fly in with a bucket.
The island lies east to west rather than north to south, so it catches shells the length of the Gulf and piles them on the beach. Bowman's Beach, Blind Pass and Turner Beach are the collecting stretches, and the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on the island explains what you picked up. Cayo Costa and North Captiva, both boat-only, get the same shells with nobody ahead of you. Shell Island in Bay County is the Panhandle version. For fossil shark teeth instead, Venice Beach and Caspersen Beach in Sarasota County are where people sift the sand with a basket. Live shells cannot be taken anywhere in the state.
Where to go from here.
Bowman’s Beach
Lee County. At 1700 Bowmans Beach Road on Sanibel, and the walk from the parking area to the sand takes about five minutes, which keeps it quieter than the rest. Unobstructed white sand covered in shells, and you can walk several miles of largely undeveloped shore from it.
Open the guide →Blind Pass Beach
Lee County. Blind Pass Beach Park, 6497 Sanibel Captiva Road, at the northwest tip of Sanibel where the island meets Captiva across Blind Pass. The City of Sanibel runs it. The fast tides between the islands keep bringing shells in, which makes it one of the best shelling spots on Sanibel, and people fish from the shore and near the jetty for snook and redfish.
Open the guide →Turner Beach
Lee County. At 17200 Captiva Drive, just past the bridge onto Captiva, on the Captiva side of Blind Pass. Soft sand and wide water views, and it is known for the sunset.
Open the guide →Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum
Lee County. It opened in 1995 and is named for Frank P. Bailey and Annie Mead Matthews, whose sons gave eight acres of family land for it in 1989. The collection runs to roughly six hundred thousand specimens gathered from around the world, displayed alongside the Sanibel shells visitors have just been picking up off the beach.
Open the guide →Cayo Costa State Park Beach
Lee County. A 2,436-acre barrier island in Charlotte Harbor, four nautical miles west of Pine Island, reached only by boat or kayak. Nine miles of undeveloped shoreline, wind-shaped trees and dunes behind it.
Open the guide →Shell Island Beach
Bay County. An undeveloped barrier island reached only by boat. The official Shell Island Ferry runs from St. Andrews State Park between March and Labor Day; you board at the Pier Store and a tram carries you to the marina.
Open the guide →Venice Beach
Sarasota County. 101 The Esplanade, owned by the City of Venice and guarded during park hours. Sand volleyball, restrooms, picnic shelters and a concession. Fishing, swimming and birding. Open 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Open the guide →Caspersen Beach
Sarasota County. 4100 Harbor Drive South in Venice. The Harbor Drive way in washed out during the 2024 storm season, and the main parking, the restrooms and the playground are closed because of it.
Open the guide →Where can you find shark teeth in Florida?
Venice in Sarasota County calls itself the shark tooth capital of the world, and its beaches back it up.
Read the answer →More questions like this.
Where can you see manatees in Florida?
Manatees cannot survive long in water below about sixty-eight degrees, so from November to March they crowd into the springs and the warm-water outflows, and that is when you see them in numbers.
Where can you see sea turtles nesting in Florida?
Florida beaches carry most of the loggerhead nesting in the western hemisphere and the season runs from March to October, with hatchlings from late June.
Where can you see dolphins in Florida?
Bottlenose dolphins live year round in almost every bay, pass and inlet in Florida, and the sheltered water is where you actually see them.
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