What’s your Favorite Shelling Beach?

favorite seashell beach

The results from our Facebook and Instagram polls are in: Sanibel Island is the top choice of our readers for collecting seashells. Take a look at the list of favorite beaches all over the world and pack your shell pail for your favorite destination.

Top 10 Shelling Beaches

  1. Sanibel Island, Florida, USA
  2. St. Pete Beach, Florida, USA
  3. Fort Myers, Florida, USA
  4. Marco Island, Florida, USA
  5. Saint Barthélémy, French West Indies
  6. Liverpool, England
  7. Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, USA
  8. Grand Turk, Turks and Caicos
  9. Galveston, Texas, USA
  10. Stinson Beach, California, USA

Just in case your favorite isn’t on the top ten list, we received plenty of other votes for beaches in the Bahamas, French Polynesia, Guam, Mexico, as well as from states around the U.S. including Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, and South Carolina. We also got one response that said, “Not telling: my precious.”

Read more about the number one beach, Sanibel Island, in So much to shellebrate on Sanibel.


Learn more about seashells

nature and history of seashells and collecting

Learn more about identifying shells, the history of seashell collecting, great shelling beaches, and the lives of the animals who make the shells we find on the beach. Articles ›

This article appeared in the Beachcombing Magazine January/February 2019 issue.

No live shelling: Be sure shells are empty and sand dollars, sea stars, and sea urchins are no longer alive before you bring them home.

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