CAPTIVA ISLAND, Fla. – Southwest Florida is known as one of the best – if not the best – places to go shelling in the United States.
Locals and tourists alike will spend hours – sometimes even days – scouring our beaches for shells.
But where, exactly, is the best spot to go within our area?
NBC2 reporter Evan Dean and photojournalist Kirk Erwin went on a coastal trip to find out.
TURNER BEACH, CAPTIVA ISLAND
After crossing Blind Pass by foot, we start our search for the best shells at Turner Beach, the southernmost spot on Captiva Island.
It’s a beautiful morning with blue skies above and a slight breeze in the air.
We meet up with José Leal, the curator of the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel Island.
“B-a-y: bay scallop,” José says, quickly identifying a shell he picks up in the sand.
We ask him how long he’s been doing this. He jokes, saying he’d rather not age himself.
He knows more shells than anyone we’ve ever met. For him, it’s clearly a passion.
“There’s a lot to the beauty of shells and the way we, humans, appreciate the shapes, the colors,” he says.
We’re at the beach early, but not early enough to beat the crowds.
Kirk comes across one woman clawing through the sand, dropping what she’s discovered into a green mesh bag.
“We don’t know where the good spot is yet,” she says, eyes glued to the ground.
José does know, and takes us there – to the spot where the rocks meet the sand. There are a few people already there, combing through large piles of shells.
José says this is nothing compared to what he’s seen here in the heart of winter.
“Sometimes you have piles of shells that can be as thick as 3 feet deep,” he explains. It’s almost hard to imagine.
Kirk flies our drone to capture the view from above. From that vantage point, it’s easy to see why Turner Beach is such a hot spot for shelling. The current from the northwest pushes the shells onshore, and because the land juts out at Blind Pass, it almost ‘scoops’ the shells right into a specific spot.
“(The shells) accumulate at this end here. It’s like a trap,” José explains.
José advises that there isn’t a specific time that’s best for shelling. You want to be out at low tide, which varies depending on the day.
“They become up for grabs,” he says of low tide. “They’re there for the picking.”
LIGHTHOUSE BEACH PARK, SANIBEL ISLAND
From there, we make our way south to Sanibel Island and all the way east to Lighthouse Beach.
Once we park, José takes us across a boardwalk and over a dirt path. Palm trees shroud the sun above.
“You can smell the mangrove,” José says as we walk through.
We eventually make our way to the bay side of the beach. It’s not as crowded here as it is around the bend.
“From here, you can see Fort Myers Beach,” José says, pointing across the water. “There is a lot of accumulation of shells.”
We see people scouring the sandbar looking for shells. This activity has become famously known here as the ‘Sanibel Stoop.’
José explains that this spot tends to surprise shellers. The water is calmer and the sharp point catches shells that flow through.
“There’s a lot of current that goes through here, both at high and low tide,” he says. “A lot of good shells have been found here, especially in the small size range.”
We ask José what it takes to find a unique shell. You need a careful eye and some persistence, of course. But he jokes that something else is also helpful.
“It could be also a matter of luck, or the alignment of the stars, you know,” he says, smiling.
Further inland at the shell museum, José fetches a clear plastic container full of shells and sits down at a table outside.
He shows us what can be found when the stars do align.
“That’s a lettered olive,” he says, holding up a small, oval-shaped shell. “Very, very polished.”
In the container he has a variety of shells. Some of them, like the tannish-brown Florida Fighting Conch, are easy to find.
He then pulls out the rarest shell of them all: the spotted Junonia.
“People really want to find one,” José said. “It’s our holy grail here on Sanibel.”
José ends his tour with maybe the most impressive of all shells: the Florida Horse Conch. It’s the largest in the Atlantic Ocean, he explains. The one he’s holding up is about 20 inches long.
“It’s Florida’s state shell,” José explains.
It’s something to marvel at and aspire to find – because we aren’t done searching yet.
KICE ISLAND, COLLIER COUNTY
Our final shelling stop takes us way south, to Goodland in Collier County and the Ten Thousand Islands.
Where we’re heading now – you can’t get to by car.
“Welcome aboard,” Captain Richard Perez says, helping us onto a boat. We leave the dock and idle our way west. We’re surrounded by islands covered in green mangrove trees.
“We are in the Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge,” Richard explains, steering us out.
He’s a captain with Treasure Seekers Shell Tours. After a brief chat, he gets ready to hit the throttle.
“Alright, here we go boys,” Richard says, speeding up.
We cruise west, slicing over smooth, turquoise-blue water. Richard stops just south of Marco Island to show us dolphins at play.
Eventually we make our way to the gulf and navigate south.
“This is it. This is the mecca of shelling,” Richard declares. “When you come out here, there’s never a bad day.”
Alongside Richard is our shell guide, Amanda Collett. She’s known as the ‘shell-lebrity’ of the area.
“We’re gonna go find some shells,” she says to the camera, smiling.
Richard and Amanda eventually lead us to Kice Island. We step down onto a brown, spongy surface and quickly realize: this is no ordinary walk on the beach.
We have to navigate the natural hazards of the island. It isn’t just a sandy shoreline.
“We do call it adventure shelling – because it’s crazy,” Amanda says, laughing.
The number of shells on the ground is almost overwhelming. The coastline is covered with them. There’s seemingly more shells than sand.
“That’s a lightning whelk,” Amanda describes. She nabs shell after shell, scooping up a wide variety of shapes of colors. “The stuff up here – that just piles in.”
We’re the only ones within eyesight and have our pick of everything. We quickly discover how easy it is to lose track of time while scouring the island for shells.
Amanda says what’s here is nothing compared to what washes up after a big storm.
“Sometimes we’ve had ’em this deep,” she says, hands at her waist. “Shells will be this deep.”
Like the other spots we visited, the island sits in a perfect place to catch the current. The main difference here? There’s little to no competition.
“If you look real close, then you start finding these little tiny, just these little baby shells,” Amanda says, peering through her aviator sunglasses into the piles of shells.
Around her neck is a Junonia – that ultra-rare shell we saw at the museum.
Amanda has found six of them.
“It’s pride and joy, it’s my baby,” she says, laughing.
Amanda literally wrote a book about Kice Island, sharing her life story and stories of shelling. That’s why when it comes to this area, she at least, has no doubt.
“I’d say it’s number one in the United States (for shelling). This island,” she asserts.
Through our journey, it’s hard to argue against that conclusion. Another popular spot that’s often mentioned is Cayo Costa, which is also only accessible by boat.
But let’s be honest: on our beaches and in our waters, wherever you go, you really can’t go wrong.
REMINDER: Live shelling is illegal in the areas toured by NBC2. If you discover a live shell, please place it back where you found it.
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