When I get to spend a gorgeous morning on the water with a bunch of happy, silly and extremely fun shellers… I am over the moon shell! This little shell scrabble tile art started the day off with so many warm and fuzzies… Thank you Janet for making this for me!!!
We even had a birthday party for Lynnda. Briggs, Lynnda, Craig, Laney, Ken and Katie came all the way from Nebraska to spend their time together doing what they love. Such a fun family shellebration!
We had another birthday shellebration too! Super Sheller Sawyer and his mom Melissa from Minnesota found all sorts of cool shells and beach bling.
Sawyer found this awesome dried STRIPED PUFFER FISH (aka PORCUPINE FISH or BURRFISH). After I identified it for him he said “They should call this place Treasure Island… it’s full of cool treasure”. Be still my heart.
Arriving on our Captiva Cruise to the secluded island of Cayo Costa on our iLoveShelling Adventure is always such a treat to begin with.
It was a great day to hang out with Diane and Valerie from Ohio
Seeing all the different variety of shells and bling they found.
This gorgeous day was a fun getaway for Connie (Ohio) and Al (Iowa)
To find a few of their favorites like dried STARFISH, SEA URCHINS, ANGEL WINGS, LETTERED OLIVES, a SPECKLED TELLIN and lots of colorful JINGLES.
Alyssa from Pittsburg was happy to find her favorite too…. candy! haha A teeny little orange juvie HORSE CONCH.
Such pretty day for Rabon to find a several large SUNRAY VENUS doubles- love that smile.
Gail from Kentucky is definitely living right…. Chillaxing. Or shall we say Shellaxing? ;) es
It was a special day. We didn’t find the hundreds of SAND DOLLARS that we did last time but I feel very fortunate to have been able to hang out with such a fun group of shellers- Thanks y’all!
I still have more Shell Festival photos to show you and catching up on showing Sanibel beaches- stay tuned for more Shell ‘n Tell! 
Is there a summer month that’s best for shelling?
Well that’s a hard question to answer- we’ve had many Summer’s with amazing shelling in different months- lots of time associated with summer storms. Look at my archives -either listed in the menu on a phone or on the right side of my blog if you are on a computer. Just scrolling through the different month/year to find things that you like sinc everybody has a different meaning of “good shelling”. Sorry I can’t give you a date… But Mother Nature isn’t working with me on that answer.
Thank you Pam!! I’ve been searching through your tide charts and the archives.. Maybe multiple trips to Sanibel are in order. 😂
Always such a joy to see your postings Pam! Brings back memories and keeps us sane during the winter months.
Ah Pam, I see you found one of those “tartan” coquinas! That one is so pretty. :)
A beauty right? I didn’t find it- a gal on our trip did and showed it to me- I named it a purple plaid. (American style tartan haha) :)
So funny. I call them Plaid!
Aren’t they the best?!!!
Nature has such a great sense of humor sometimes and giving us outrageously colored Coquina is one of my very favorite things.
Pam: Your site is so delightful! My name is Marianne & I was named after my grandmother, Marianna. I love collecting seashells & always have. It makes me
feel so happy to view your site & the live web cams that are available too. I was
born in the 50’s when the song, “Down by the sea shore sifting sand, all the little
boys love Marianne! Marianne, oh, Marianne, oh, won’t you marry me?” My mom
told me that song was very popular back then! Therefore, keep the shells on
coming forever! I’m a big fan of yours so maintain this fascinating & intriguing
hobby of yours that we all share with you, obviously! Thanks for being one of the
best shellers ever! I’ve only been to Sanibel once but plan on coming more often
now that I have a connection with you, Pam. YAY!
Such a sweet note Marianne! I just googled “your” song and now I’ve been singing it since- such a fun song to have as your “theme song” haha. Don’t you worry, with comments like yours it gives me lots of fuel to keep posting to share this love of ours for the sea and shells. :)
We will be on your tour in a week or so , coming from Oregon. We are so excited we can hardly stand it! Can’t wait to see what we might find! I am sure the shells will be quite different than the Oregon coast. The Marsh Family
It’s always fun to see what everyone finds on their shelling adventures! Thanks for these posts and photos, Pam!
Wow! Smiles all around.Amazing beach bling! That pufferfish is simply amazing! What a find!
Pam.
What’s up with all the dead fish at Gulfside Park? Just came for the day and the beach was covered. Thanks
Michelle from NJ
Whoa. I couldn’t get to the beach yesterday and they weren’t there when I was. Ive heard south of us in Marco had some red tide but not here.
So I asked lots of people if they saw lots of dead fish on the beach at Gulfside yesterday … Nobody knew what I was talking about. So I just got back from going there myself… I didnt see any dead fish. So I got to thinking …. Ooooohhh! You mean the fish bones and such in the high wrack line. Those are still there from the high winds and crazy storms we had in January. Check out my video about that… http://www.iloveshelling.com/blog/2016/02/05/sanibels-crazy-storm-of-beach-bling-and-horse-conchs/
That was a very pretty scrabble/shell art display that Janet made for you. I liked the picture of the striped puffer fish, buI couldn’t enlarge it. Love the coquina. Hope the great shelling continue. Pat
Hi pat!!!! Maybe try now to enlarge it? Thank you for always helping me make my site working properly xoxoxo
Haven’t written to you in almost a year.. Due to Husbands health we have just sold our beach house in Cholla Bay, Puerto Penasco, Mexico. No more shelling for a long while. Your Sanibel is still on my bucket list. Maybe next year. Janet/Surprise, Az
I’m sad to hear about the changes in your life and hope that escaping to the cyber beach can offer you a bit of beach therapy as I know all of us beach combers need for our souls to heal. Thinking of you, Pam.
Pam, thanks for the great update! Love the tile art. We are big scrabble fans. We take our board on every vacation. Can’t wait to go back to one of these Treasure Islands with you! We will see you in May! 👏🏻🏖
Hi Pam! This message isn’t actually a comment, but a request. Your tide chart information is for the year 2014. Could it be updated to 2016, please? Thank you. I’d really like to know the name of the beach where you found the enormous horse conch also. My guess is Gulfside City Park.
Pam, thanks for an amazing morning of shelling on Caya Costa & all the fun info (sticker & gift card) you shared! We had So much fun on the adventure & the Shellapalooza cruise!!! So glad we lucked out to be there when you did it! We left the marina & continued to shell at the Lighthouse (crowded & LOTS of lightning whelk egg casings) & on to Blind Pass (lots on minis!)! We stayed at ‘Tween Waters Inn & the beach there had lots of shells at High tide…there were lots of small dead fish almost up to the dunes. Looked like they got washed up there with a storm & couldn’t get back out with the tide. Found good nutmegs, turbins, small conchs, etc. buried at the same high area. I recommend for ALL to go on the Shellapalooza cruise if you’re in town…lots of laughs, great info, & beautiful scenery!!! Thanks again, Pam! Happy shelling!!!
We are coming middle of October. What shelling dates are available !