Shells you can find on these beaches
Thirteen shells that turn up on Siesta Key, Sarasota and Anna Maria Island, with photos, how to tell each one apart, where to look, and how each one shows up on our night tours.
Where and when
Low tide, the morning after a front, the cooler months — and after dark. Get the details for each beach.
Where to shell ›Rules and safety
Take only empty shells and leave living animals. Learn the basics before you collect.
Rules & safety ›Find them with us: the night shelling tour
The best way to see these shells is in the water after dark, when the animals that make them are out and moving. Our guided 75-minute tour wades into shallow Gulf water at Siesta Key, Sarasota or Anna Maria Island under a bright LED light pod, and ends with show-and-tell on the sand.
Fun Florida Tours runs a guided night shelling and snorkeling tour in shallow Gulf water at Siesta Key, Sarasota and Anna Maria Island. You wade in from shore with a guide, the group shares one bright LED light pod that lights up the bottom, and the water stays under 4 feet deep, so you do not need to be a strong swimmer. After 60 minutes in the water we spend 15 minutes on the sand for show-and-tell, where guides name everything the group found. Empty shells are yours to keep; anything alive goes back.
How the tour works
1. Meet on the sand
Pick Siesta Key, Sarasota or Anna Maria Island and arrive 20 minutes before 8:30 PM. We hand out snorkel gear, aqua socks, a glow stick, a safety noodle, a whistle, a shell bag and a net.
2. Search under the light
The group wades in together and one bright LED light pod lights up the bottom. Shells, crabs, fish and the occasional seahorse are all easier to spot at night; empty shells are yours to keep.
3. Show-and-tell
After 60 minutes in the water we spend 15 on the beach. Guides name everything the group found, and anything alive goes back in the water.
Choose a location & book About Fun Florida Tours
Also from us: bestshellingtour.com (our main shelling tour site) and nightsnorkeling.com (the same tour from the snorkeling side).