Our Captiva Cruises boat pulled up to the shore of Cayo Costa at low tide around 1:30 yesterday …
Within minutes, Rachel (KS) found 4 LETTERED OLIVES, 2 FALSE ANGEL WINGS, and AUGER and the colors of the rainbow in JINGLE SHELLS.
Leanne (PA) strolled along the shore to find a true ANGEL WING and a few other goodies…
Ahhhhh. It was so good to get back to Cayo Costa!
I had the pleasure of meeting so many beautiful shellers while on the boat and walking the beach like sisters Beth and Barb (KY) who found SAND DOLLARS, WHELKS and OLIVES. Barb told me they have been hanging out with iLoveShelling.com since the very beginning… almost 4 years ago! She said she still has it bookmarked on her computer under my first blog name “My Shelling Blog”. Ha! I felt like I knew them already!
Patti and Tim (FL) were delightful! While Patti was shelling her heart out, Tim was photographing and videoing their whole day. What a good team!
Nancy and “Babe” looked like they were in heaven together all day. She was glowing! Then I found out why. Cameron had surprised her with the cruise for her birthday and she was thrilled. Happy Birthday Nancy! You guys are so stinkin adorable! (heehee his name is Cameron but I just kept hearing Nancy say “Good find, Babe!” …. “Oh! Come here, Babe!” so cute)
John (MA) started out his trip to SW Florida as a birder but found that looking for different species of shells was just as much fun as looking for different species of birds. Here’s John picking up his first BABY’S EAR…
Boating was so much fun to0 as we got to see a BALD EAGLE in a nest, OSPREYS catching their fish lunch from the water, DOLPHINS playing…
And seeing that the WHITE PELICANS are back on the islands…
When we arrived back on Captiva, we had a little Shell ‘N Tell so we could share some of our shells and finds. Sharon was a joy to meet !
She picked up WHITE CRESTED TELLIN on Cayo Costa. I only see these on Cayo Costa. I dont think Ive ever seen one on Sanibel.
I’m so happy I got to meet Jan (KY) since I think she must be an artist as well. Jan showed me one of her favorite finds which was covered in BARNACLES and other animal growth marks. I love that kind of stuff too!
Jerry found some really nice WHELKS on our trip but he told me also found a really large 10 inch empty WHELK at Blind Pass on Wednesday. He couldnt believe it because he thought he had stepped on a big rock in the water at low tide… then reached down and pulled up that huge LIGHTNING WHELK. WAHOO!
I was amazed at all the true ANGEL WINGS, FALSE ANGEL WINGS and even FALLEN ANGEL WINGS we found this time. Awesome!
The MANATEES even came over to send us off with well wishes…
It was a beautiful shelling cruise in paradise with a beautiful bunch of people.
Join us on the next iLoveShelling cruise! CLICK HERE FOR DATES.
Before you go….
We have TWO Winners to announce for the Shelltastic SW FLorida Vacation Giveaway! :)
Drum Roll Please! …..
Our first winner for the Sealife By Congress stunning sterling silver Starfish Reef Pendant is………
Kathie Porter!
The Grand Prize Winner for 4days/3 nights stay in Fort Myers Beach is…..
Denise Stahl (AS, FL)!
Congratulations to you both! Sealife By Congress will be contacting you Kathie and Pointe Estero will contact you as well, Denise. So hold tight until you get your info! Thank you all for participating!
Another great blog about another fantastic cruise/shelling experience. Can’t wait to go on my next one. ;-)
Looks like everyone had a great time. Nice shells and the wildlife showed up too. Pam I have found white crested tellins on Sanibel. The first time was on Bowmans and the last couple of years at Gulf side city. Only 1 or 2 each visit. Pat
Looks like you left from the Marina that some of us thought we were leaving from for the day cruise during Shellaballoo 2 – yes we were wrong but did like seeing the marina and manatees! Best part was we got our $5 entry fee back when we exited after figuring out we were in the wrong place :)
Congratulations girls! So excited for you! And thank you Pam for the great post….someday I WILL join you on one of your cruises! :)
Congrats to the winners!
Looks like a nice day on the beach. We had our 1st cool day today in a long time – jacket weather.
Hi, this is Sharon who found the white crested tellin. What a find. I had a great time on this trip and would do it again when I come back in Feb. I left the cruise and stopped at Blind Pass to look for more sea treasures and what a surprise, my shipmate John from MA was there as well. He said it was too nice a day to quit so early. I spent another hour doing the Sanibel Stoop looking for more finds. Pam thanks for a nice afternoon. It’s nice to put a face to the picture, :)
“Within minutes”, daaaang. Lucky! Manatees! fantastic!
Congratulations to the winners!
Three more weeks……………….ahhh
Congrats to the winners!!
Another beautiful shelling trip that I missed out on! PLEASE keep doing these because one day in the future I will be living down there in the area (retirement) and the hubby wants to fish and I want to shell and the highlight will be joining you and all the other shellers on these trips!!
PLEASE don’t stop having these shelling trips!
Can’t wait until I get down there but it may be a few years when hubby retires!
Keep up the good work with this blog, its the highlight of my day when I find your email in my mailbox!
Janice from GA
Congrats to the Winners! I’m looking at the up and coming dates for the next trip to Cayo Costa. Must. Make. Time. To. Go…. ;-)
Oh I would love to see those manatees!
Like Pat Bradley I have also twice found white crested tellin valves on Sanibel, but all three of them were rather worn and one was cracked. But they were still recognizable, as the shell is so flat and such an unusual shape, even with the crest worn off.