Marco Island, FL is pretty good for shelling. It's just south of Naples, and that's the Gulf coast. You might give the Marriott resort a call. As August is low season, you might get a decent room rate. It's perfect for a 6 yr. old and their parent. Lots of kid/family friendly activities. It sits right on Tigertail beach where we've found loads of sand dollars, conchs, shark eyes, augers, etc. We don't necessarily take them off the beach, but finding them is loads of fun. What a wonderful way to spend time with your 6 yr. old daughter....one of my best memories as a kid was doing just that.

What you find on the beach is seasonal. My friend was at Ft. DeSoto last week (St. Pete area) and found buckets, literally, of sand dollars. I frequent Treasure Island all year round and sometimes there are lots of welks on the beach. Sometimes there is lots of spindley red coral. Sometimes it's sponges or pieces of white brain coral. I think it depends on what's happening out in the ocean, storms, dredging, etc.

But the prevailing lore, correct or not, is that Sanibel has the MOST shells.

I've also heard that Sanibel has the most shells, and that Bowman's Beach is good for shelling - also the beach between Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Cayo Costa Island had a lot of shells, too, probably b/c it's only accessible by boat.

Tandori - Is Fort DeSoto good for sand dollars in the spring, too? All the sand dollars I found in Cayo Costa have seen been broken - little hands around here can't seem to keep their mitts off them!

Karens, it would be a good idea for me to keep a journal on something like this as I don't live at the beach so I don't know what happens on a regular basis. What I know is that RIGHT NOW they are there. whole ones with no little mitts on them.

Had to add my 2 cents here... We have vacationed on Sanibel in February for more than 20 years. I have more shells than I know what to do with, and that's after giving away loads of them, too.

We started going to Sanibel when our daughter was 8 and son was 4. Now they are grown and have children of their own, and we all still love to go there, grandchildren too.

Sanibel is acknowledged as one of the best shelling places in the world (after some islands in the Phillipines, I believe). That's because of its unique geography -- it sticks out into the Gulf of Mexico like an elbow, and the prevailing current washes the shells onto the white lovely sand (especially at the most southerly point, near where we stay). The island even has a Shell Museum!

Best time for shelling is after a storm. The fun lies in the hunt -- but you don't have to hunt too far or too hard on Sanibel beaches for a 6-year-old to find buckets full!

I have to agree with SB!

Yes, San-Cap beach where the little bridge connects Sanibel and Captiva is a great place to get shells!

But a 6 year old won't really know the difference, so go for the best airfare!

Enjoy shelling with your daughter, no matter where you end up!!!