- Parking
- Boat access only
- Typical crowd
- Usually quiet
- Best for
- Kayaking, Shelling, Birdwatching, Genuine solitude
- Facilities
- None. No restrooms, no water, no shade.
Shell Key is an undeveloped barrier island between Pass-a-Grille and Fort De Soto, managed as a county preserve. There is no bridge, no facilities and no development of any kind.
Large parts of the island are closed seasonally as a bird sanctuary, and those closures are the point of the preserve rather than an inconvenience attached to it. This is one of the most important nesting and wintering sites for shorebirds on this coast.
What is open is superb: quiet sand, good shelling, and clear shallow water on the bay side for paddling.
What makes it worth the trip
The bird closures
Posted areas protect nesting and roosting shorebirds. The reason there are so many birds here is that these zones are respected.
Paddling in
A well used kayak route runs from Tierra Verde across to the island through shallow, protected water.
Shelling
Undeveloped, unraked and rarely picked over. Better than anything on the developed coast.
Parking
None. Access is by kayak from Tierra Verde, by private boat, or on the shuttle that runs from Pass-a-Grille. Park where the shuttle or launch tells you to.
Rates and hours change. Confirm the current cost with the city, the county or the state park before you go rather than trusting any published figure, including ours.
Crowds
Quiet by construction. Busiest on calm summer weekends when boats raft up on the sandbars.
Rules
- Stay outside every posted bird closure. These are not suggestions and they are the reason the preserve works.
- Camping is permitted only in designated areas and requires a permit.
- Carry out everything. There is no rubbish collection.
- Bring water and shade. There is neither on the island.
- Glass is banned on every beach in the county. Cans and plastic only.
- Sea turtle nesting runs 1 May to 31 October. Fill in holes, knock down sandcastles, take gear home at night and keep lights off the sand after dark.
- Shorebird nesting areas are roped off in spring and summer. The nests sit on open sand and are nearly invisible, so stay outside the posted zones.
- Beach warning flags are not advisory decoration. Double red means the water is closed. Purple means dangerous marine life, usually jellyfish or red tide.
- Most beach towns clear unattended chairs, tents and umbrellas overnight. Take it with you.
Getting there
Kayak from Tierra Verde, private boat, or the passenger shuttle from Pass-a-Grille. Check current shuttle operation before planning around it.