We had quite an adventure on our iLoveShelling trip to Cayo Costa on Friday. The morning started out with rain but our die hard group of shellers waited it out until our Captiva Cruises captains Jorge and Carlos made sure we could make it safely to the island.
We ended up going to the north side of Cayo Costa to dock at the ranger station (which is not the usual place we go for the iLoveShelling trips). The we hopped aboard the “shell shuttle” (they really don’t call it that- I kinda just made that up. But hmmm.. but they should, right?) to take us to the beach and back.
It turned out to be a beautiful day and the beach was loaded with dried washed up SEA URCHINS.
They were everywhere.
The colors were abshellutely gorgeous with green, pink, purple, beige and lavender.
It was so much fun seeing Martha again from our July trip (CLICK HERE) and she told me she was still looking for a BABYS EAR. There were quite a few people on the last trip that found them but she wasnt one of the lucky ones. So on the boat ride over to the island this time, I told her the north side of the island wasn’t normally the place to look for them so she probably wouldn’t find one. Well she proved me wrong! haha As soon as we got to the beach, there was a BABYS EAR sitting right in the middle wrack line. Omigosh! And then Martha found another one. It goes to show you… don’t ever think that you can outwit Mother Nature. Congrats Martha!
Ron and Rene from PA had some shelltastic luck with finding not just URCHINS, but so many OLIVES too.
But I think Rene’s fave was that sweet double SUNRAY VENUS.
Jay and Jane from Georgia found all sorts of cool shell loot. Look at Jane… she can’t take her eyes off such fun finds. heehee
Tim and Fran (Ohio) found a few faves but check out the size of Fran’s huge SHARKS EYE. Y’all are so much fun! Oh and sorry again Fran for throwing you under the bus- haha.
John and Dee from Illinois along with Bart and Laurie from Pennsylvania found a few keepers but I think their faves were the SAND DOLLARS- look at those smiles. Dee, it was such a pleasure to talk with you and meet you. You are soooo dear!
Cuties Julie and Ron from California found a few treasures too. It’s always so much fun to hang out on the boat and to see who found what- shell ‘n tell!
I think Terry and Michelle from Arkansas were as obsessed at seeing so many SEA URCHINS as I was. Michelle and I kept saying “… and theres another one! … and look at that color!”.
As you can see, some of them still had some of their spines but the insides were completely empty. It was fun to see them in so many different variations.
Meet Jochen, Katja and their son Benedikt. They have fantastic sheller eyes especially for visiting from Germany since they are the ones that found the shells on the purple tray in the top photo. Way to go!
You have to meet Jessica and Trudy from Ontario Canada. Jessica scored the one thing she wanted find on our trip- a SAND DOLLAR. What I found out is that she is an artist and she makes SAND DOLLARS… out of dough. She is a master confectioner and she brought me some of her cookies!
OMG they are yummy and sooooo beautiful. Here’s a photo she took of the amazing sealife cookies on Instagram since they didn’t last long enough for me to take a photo of them … Clark and I devoured them. Thank you Jessica!
It was an amazing, adventurous day with such fun shellers!
And… as with all iLoveShelling cruises, Congress Jewelers (Sealife By Congress) gave everybody a $25 gift certificate to use in their store- they are so generous to the shelling community!
An adventure in paradise- It was surely a day to remember!
Pam, what a great trip. Wish I was there now. Those urchins are really special! Love Jessica’s cookies. Beautiful.
sea urchins and sand dollars-what great finds. which picture has the west indian sea egg? love the cookies that jessica made. i guess there’s not a good beach by the ranger station. i still have problems writing comments-using capital letters. i’m glad everyone had a great time. pat
Pam Jess and I had such a wonderful day with you shelling. It was the best part of our trip. Looking forward to cruising with you again the next time we go to Sanibel!!
Oh my gosh what great finds you all got and those cookies were just beautiful. I could see a full time cookie shop on the island with those!!!!! 🍥
Mad about Sea Urchins after my trip this past January!
And already cleaned!
Terrific post all around.
Thank you, Pam.
Looks like another wonderful ILS trip! Definitely envious of all the sea urchins that were found. But it’s the cookies I can’t stop looking at, they are amazing!
Pam, thanks for making our vacation perfect. It was great meeting you and the shelling cruise was fun. Can’t wait until next September. I will enjoy all your posts this long winter in IL.
Hi Pam,
Thirty-three of the thirty-six sea urchins I gathered made it home intact. I packed the biggest ones in the Tervis water bottle as you suggested. Also as you suggested we headed to Blind Pass the next day and ran into several shelling friends from the cruise. Thanks for a fun morning. See you next time we make it to Sanibel.
Linda Gammon (Martha’s niece-in-law)
Yay Linda, They made it! such a fun day :) see u next time