Fort Walton Beach
At this moment, it is not available. Bring your own. You can rent beach chairs and umbrellas. The store also sells sunblock and other accessories.
Shell Island is a local must-see location for Panama City Beach visitors looking for the unspoiled white-sand beach experience. The island offers plenty of beach space and peaceful inshore waters where swimming and snorkeling are great. Colorful tropical fish, dolphins, and sea turtles are common in the waters around the island. On land, hiking the interior of Shell Island is an opportunity to explore rare coastal plants, birds, and wildlife communities.
The 7-mile-long barrier island Shell Island is located at the south-eastern tip of Panama City Beach Florida's natural reserve, St. Andrews State Park. This undeveloped stretch of white sandy beach, coastal scrubland, pine hammocks, and sandbars seperates St. Andrews Bay form the Gulf of Mexico. Shell Island is an oasis for wildlife, marine mammals, and beach lovers who seek a day away from the condominiums, resorts, and condos along the coast.
At this moment, it is not available. Bring your own. You can rent beach chairs and umbrellas. The store also sells sunblock and other accessories.
Shell Key is the best place to start or end your adventure. Fort De Soto Park encompasses 1,136 acres, five interconnected Islands. Explore Fort De Soto Park, which is still equipped 12-inch rifled mortars and 2 British breech-loading 6-inch Armstrong rapidfire pistols. Fort De Soto has been ranked the number one beach of the United States.
In the early 1990’s, the sandbar just south of Pass-a-Grille Beach known as Shell Island joined with its neighboring island to the south to form one contiguous island. In 2000, Pinellas County acquired a lease from the State of Florida to establish Shell Key (a.k.a. Shell Island) as a Wildlife Preserve and today, Shell Key is a pristine white sand strip of Florida paradise.
For camping enthusiasts, we offer an overnight experience on Shell Key! All you need is your “camper” ferry ticket, a camping permit from Shell Key, and all your camping gear to have an epic night under the stars! This is an unbelievably unique opportunity to camp out on a secluded island.
There is always the chance of seeing dolphins while on the Ferry ride. Some dolphins may also be seen snorkeling around Shell Island. These dolphins are wild in their natural habitat so we do not offer scheduled encounters. Visit our Panama City Beach Dolphin tours to get a better chance of seeing dolphins.
Sand dollars, moon snails, conch shells, pin shells, periwinkles, whelk and olive shells are just a few of the indigenous seashells found here. And, as long as there are no creatures living in them, there is no limit to how many of these one-of-a-kind souvenirs you can take home with you
Go Where the Dolphins are
Shell Island is 7 miles of incredible beach bliss located across the water from Saint Andrew's Park. This natural wonder is one of your best bets for finding and swimming with dolphins in Panama City Beach.
There is no limit to the activities you can experience at or on Shell Island! You can swim, snorkel, paddleboard, go kayaking, sunbathe, hunt seashells, go hiking, have a picnic, and more!
When you visit Shell Key, you are essentially in the wilderness. There are no toilets – there is no running water – no trash cans or any other modern conveniences. It is up to you to bring everything you need to survive – and, more importantly – to leave nothing behind except footprints