Best beach for seashells??

[Troyfus]

My family will be driving to WDW from Texas this June. This will be our first ever roadtrip. Along the way, we plan to stop at a beach and hopefully find some seashells. It will be our sons' first time to sea the ocean. It will also give us a chance to stretch and relax a little before continuing our travel.

Which beach would be the BEST for us to visit, keeping in mind that we want to find at least a few nice shells (if not more)? Is Fort Walton Beach decent for shells? We'll be driving along I-10 once we hit Florida's panhandle, but we are willing to make a small detour for a great beach. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[NotUrsula]

The best for shells, hands down, is Sanibel Island, near Ft. Myers. The best time to hit it is just after dawn, when the tide goes out. The shelling there is so good that there is a universal joke about the "Sanibel Stoop," which is the posture assumed while shelling, walking bent double with your eyes on the ground.

The problem with shelling on the Emerald Coast (the area around Ft. Walton) is that because of the currents, the shells tend not to make it to shore. The best shells there are found by divers on shallow-water sandbars (there are some REALLY nices ones out there.) However, you can take a ferry from Panama City out to Shell Island, it's a barrier island with very good shelling. That excursion takes the better part of a day, however. You have to leave I-10 at 83 and go down past Panama City to St. Andrews State Park to get the boat. Here's the website for the boat company: http://www.shellislandshuttle.com/

If you really want to stop in the panhandle, Grayton Beach Rec Area, near Destin, is a very nice all-around beach that has been preserved with no development; I think it would be a good "first beach" for a kid. Close to Orlando, I've found some pretty decent shelling at Canaveral. It's not going to impress the seasoned beachcomber, because there is not much variety, but for a kid new to the ocean, it should be fine.

 

[Troyfus]

Thank you so much for the response! It looks as though Grayton will be it for us then. The extra time and money we would spend going to Sanibel or the others would not be cost effective for this trip. Perhaps a quick visit to a souvenier shop will fix the shell problem.