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Seashells You Can Find Near Sarasota
The beaches of Siesta Key, Sarasota and Anna Maria Island give up a surprising variety of shells. Tap a shell to learn how to identify it, where to look, and how it shows up on our night tours.
Photos show representative specimens and are credited on each page and on the photo credits page.
See them live, in the water, after dark
Reading about shells is one thing. Watching a fighting conch hop across the sand under a light pod, or a moon snail out hunting, is another. Our guides know which shells turn up at each of the three beaches and point them out as the group finds them.
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.