Shell Island
Shell Island
4.5
About
Ride the shuttle from Panama City Beach to Shell Island, where you can stroll along miles of white and soft sand as you spot dolphins frolicking and pelicans fishing from afar. Alternatively, make the most of your trip to the island by renting a pontoon boat to tour the area at your own pace. Swim in teal-blue waters, and don’t miss the peaceful Saint Andrew Bay on the other side of the island. Pack food, water, sunscreen, and other necessary supplies, as there are no amenities available. Also, pack a beach umbrella, as there is nothing to shade you from the Florida sun. – Tripadvisor
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- Rachel B3 contributionsAwesome crew. Beautiful island.The crew of the Shell Island Shuttle were very friendly. We had a great ride to and from Shell Island. The water is absolutely beautiful and there are amazing shells just a few feet in the water. We were lucky enough to go at low tide, that allowed us to go even further out into the water. I highly recommend this Shuttle for a great day on a beautiful island.Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 18, 2023
- Jennifer G1 contributionPerfectionWhat a tremendously wonderful day. We took Shell Island Shuttle out to the island, which was the right choice with low prices and accurate pick-up/drop-off times. The island itself…wow!! The sand is perfect sugar. My husband and I found many conch shells and sand dollars. Other people saw dolphins, but we were so distracted by the shells that we missed the dolphins. Next time. And there will be a next time. :)Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 19, 2023
- Kelly L1 contributionShell Island was definitely worth itThe Shell Island Shuttle was a quick 15-20 min boat ride to Shell Island. Keith and Captain Carla were wonderful, helpful, and very personable. We took our wagon with a cooler, chairs, beach blanket, snorkel gear, and sand toys. We took the first boat at 10am and came back on the 1:30 boat. It was a perfect few hours to relax and find shells. You really feel like you are on a beautiful deserted island. I would recommend getting to the dock maybe 10 min early and use the restroom before boarding. Shell Island is definitely worth going and taking the shuttle is fast and easy. Would definitely recommendVisited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 20, 2023
- Lindsey M1 contributionA PCB Must Do!One of the best experiences of our trip! Keith and Captain were very informative and helpful! We purchased tickets online and didn't realize we had to get our tickets from the kiosk, so even though we held up the ride out, we never felt like a burden. Keith kept the boat ride interesting and engaged with the crowd. Shell Island was BEAUTIFUL! We found plenty of large shells and saw a lot more sea life than we would have where we're staying. The walk from the shuttle to the "wave" side of shell island is a little far for a canopy, but HIGHLY recommend bringing an umbrella. We brought a wagon which was only a pain for a short time, most of the walk was hard packed sand. Only bring snacks that won't make a mess, the sea gulls are vicious lol. My kids are 6&9 and we had a great time; if they were younger than that, not sure it would have been! We are already planning next year's trip and Shell Island is included through Shell Island Shuttle!!Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 22, 2023
- Kacey C1 contributionMust do during your trip to PCB!My husband and I got the honor to go on this shuttle during our anniversary trip and it was great!! The two ladies were awesome and answered any questions we all had. On our way back they even stopped because there were dolphins and the kids on the shuttle were so excited!! We will definitely be something we do everything we come down from now on :) I highly recommend it!Visited October 2023Traveled as a coupleWritten October 23, 2023
- Resort247893668252 contributionsBeautiful time at Shell IslandY'all it was AMAZING!! We were able to bring backpack, coolers, chairs, umbrellas, food, just EVERYTHING BUT PETS!!! Literally everything I needed for the island I brought with me blankets and all! Keith and Mrs Carla showed us an amazing time!!! We will definitely be booking again!Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 25, 2023
- N2whitesandVina, Alabama11 contributionsNew experience.First time going to shell island. Rough waves at hotel prevented us from finding any shells. We went to the island and the waves were just as rough. But it was a nice ride over and we found lots of sand dollars on the shore line. Overall great morning.Visited October 2023Traveled with familyWritten October 28, 2023
- OnAir284888520651 contributionBest activity in PanamaBest time! Great customer service. Boat ride was informative and relaxing. Captain Carla was great. Seen dolphins on the way back from Shell Island. Island was beautiful and got tons of big shells. Would highly recommend this trip with this company!Visited November 2023Traveled with familyWritten November 25, 2023
- Brielle JLos Angeles, California1 contributionGreat Experience!I absolutely recommend going to shell island! The shuttle is quick and easy and gives you options to get there and back on your timeline. The shells were AMAZING as long as you got out there right away in the morning and traveled fast! There are so many sand dollars too! Would be awesome to spend the day here since the waters are so clear and there’s great swimming!Visited November 2023Traveled with familyWritten November 25, 2023
- HolmesFamily1986Kennesaw, Georgia2 contributionsShell Island in February.We took the shuttle out to Shell Island and got the bonus of seeing some dolphins out swimming on both trips. The Tour guide was very knowledgeable and knows the area well. He can even give recommendations for good restaurants. They give great instructions for the trip/safety and the return pick up times. The island did have lots of shells , beautiful clear water and white sand. Trip was well worth it and we would return when warmer. It was a bit windy and cool in February.Visited February 2024Traveled with familyWritten February 28, 2024
These reviews are the subjective opinion of Tripadvisor members and not of TripAdvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Popular mentions
4.5
2,264 reviews
Excellent
1,375
Very good
438
Average
251
Poor
114
Terrible
86
MorganK
Clarksville, TN9 contributions
Nov 2020 • Couples
Positive: LOVE LOVE renting a boat and exploring the Lagoon. Husband caught about 6 fish ( we did catch release just because we had a decent drive). Negative: Biting Flies...We read the reviews and knew that biting flies was going to be a potential issue. I have never ran so much....we were diligent and took bug spray (thinking we we were covered) confidently anchored our boat (Best decision to rent our own boat). Those flies did not even blink at our bug spray. They covered husband and I as we walked from the boat parking area to the beach area. They seriously bite! Lasted about 20 minutes (at one point, I was in a beach chair with a long sleeve sun shirt and towel covering legs and flies sitting on the towel covering legs). I literally ran across island to get on the boat to get out of there. It took a good 5 to 10 minutes of swatting and wind to get them off the boat AFTER we left the island. Spoke to St Andrews staff, evidently there is specific bug sprays that do work. Do research and get that brand (we weren’t going back out so didn’t get all the info). Another group stated one of their members had over 50 welps.
Written November 16, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jshults1
Tunnel Hill, Georgia13 contributions
Jun 2020 • Family
We had to wait in the bus shuttle line for 1 1/2 hours due to only one shuttle being offered and due to the virus only 30 people per route were allowed. There were two boats running to take you to the island and back. On a red flag day it’s hard to collect shells and you’ll get slammed around getting in and out of the water in the gulf side. On a calmer day, walk around to the gulf side and get into the water. Use goggles and your feet to look and you can find some big shells.
Written June 26, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Outback Peddler
Richmond, KY27 contributions
Jun 2021 • Couples
This was our first trip to Shell Island. We have been coming to Panama for several years now. We took the shuttle over from St Andrew’s st park. The island it’s self is beautiful. The water was very rough on our trip which made the island miserable as we were looking to snorkel. There is a well known spot at the beginning of the island behind the jetties that is excellent for snorkeling, however the shuttle that we took dropped us of mid island and with all of our coolers and chairs it would be a miserable walk. I recommend if you visit the island spend the extra money and rent a pontoon or other type of boat to navigate as you want.
Written June 18, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Chris E
1 contribution
Jul 2021 • Family
DO NOT rent a pontoon from Shell Island Pontoons. The boats are old and ours had engine problems all day. We passed many nice pontoons at the marina as we were walking to our terrible boat. We rented for a full day but took the boat back 3 hours early because of its performance. All our party could do was laugh at the thing because it was such a POS. We did receive a $100 refund, but the advertising is misleading. Find another pontoon rental place
Written July 15, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Nora P
6 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
Very easy instructions on how to find them from point a to point c.
Crew very knowledgeable and the trip was fast and like they said is a round trip.
It is totally Worth the $20 trip to shell island.
At first I was going to spend on a $250 pontoon boat just to head to shell island For 2 people but the shuttle was economic and my intentions were to just get to the shell island to collect shells.
For the shells I bought a shoe laundry bag at Walmart for $1.79 and I put all my shells there. Easy to carry, has a zipper and it kept my shells clean and secure.
I’ll suggest the pontoon boat rental for a family of 3 and more as it’s easy to just stuff all you food and coolers, chairs etc. The shuttle it’s just a little hard to carry all the items you need for the time spent at the beach, so just to walk to the shell island gulf coast side It will take you around 10 minutes. But Unless you don’t pack a lot of stuff then just take the shuttle, it’s fast, affordable and convenient.
Regardless of the items I carried, the experience at the island 🌴 was great. Thanks
Crew very knowledgeable and the trip was fast and like they said is a round trip.
It is totally Worth the $20 trip to shell island.
At first I was going to spend on a $250 pontoon boat just to head to shell island For 2 people but the shuttle was economic and my intentions were to just get to the shell island to collect shells.
For the shells I bought a shoe laundry bag at Walmart for $1.79 and I put all my shells there. Easy to carry, has a zipper and it kept my shells clean and secure.
I’ll suggest the pontoon boat rental for a family of 3 and more as it’s easy to just stuff all you food and coolers, chairs etc. The shuttle it’s just a little hard to carry all the items you need for the time spent at the beach, so just to walk to the shell island gulf coast side It will take you around 10 minutes. But Unless you don’t pack a lot of stuff then just take the shuttle, it’s fast, affordable and convenient.
Regardless of the items I carried, the experience at the island 🌴 was great. Thanks
Written August 3, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kristen K
2 contributions
Jul 2021 • Family
We reserved the snorkeling trip for 8 (5 adults, 2 teens, 1 child). When we arrived, there was only snorkeling gear for 2 children available. Woman at the desk was awful to deal with. She was just rude and basically told me that we didn’t arrive early enough, even though we reserved in advance. There were eyerolls and snickering between her and the other girl in the booth. They refunded us $44 of our trip (our choice) because I was told “I can either refund your snorkeling gear or cancel your whole trip”. Not what O wanted to hear after driving over an hour to get there. Captain and mate on both trips were great. No issues either way. Lines were long to get over and back - we were going to rent a pontoon boat instead, but after reading the reviews for those, glad we didn’t do that either. Definitely wouldn’t recommend - only gave two stars because the boat crew was good.
Written July 23, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
srz4778
Lanesville, IN117 contributions
Jun 2020
Going to Shell Island was all of my families favorite part of vacation and that's saying a lot considering I have 4 kids ranging from 13-19! The water is beautiful, we saw a couple dolphins in the distance, sea turtles, a sting ray, sea urchins, crabs, a baby puffer fish, and lots of schools of fish. Next time we will rent a pontoon for the day instead of 4 hours. Just be careful who you rent from, we rented from FunPCB DO NOT rent from them. See my review on here from that company. We can't wait to return.
Written July 10, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Allison H
19 contributions
Oct 2020 • Family
This was a great short day trip. I hesitate to say everyone should do this because part of the appeal is that everybody isn’t out there with you. We rode the shuttle both ways which seems better than renting a pontoon and going yourself. The pontoons kind of clutter up the path as you walk from the drop off to the gulf side of the island. The gulf side is where the clear water, shells, and beautiful views make you glad you came. We encountered biting flies on our trip so bring deep woods off if you can. I also want to thank the St Andrews Campground staff for giving me a golf cart ride from the store to the shuttle line. I was in a knee brace this week, and that helped so much. Know that there is quite a bit of walking for this adventure so don’t make your cooler too heavy or go when you can’t walk well. Also, I would plan to go early as the line was LONG for the shuttle as we returned.
Written October 8, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Kaydi
1 contribution
Jun 2020 • Family
Shell island shuttle was awesome for a short family girls trip! The only thing the website didn’t mention was that there’s a fee for the state park entrance. The woman at the entrance told us the park was full and told us to come back later until we showed them we had reservations. The address given takes you down a service road for workers, without directions to the dock or how to get your tickets. It wasn’t hard to figure out, but would be nice to know before!
Written June 13, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
plb278
tn60 contributions
Oct 2021
We bought tickets the day before. Website said the jetty leaves every hour. We got there before 11 and was told we could hang out and wait until 1 or rebook because they had already handed out 84 tickets. Apparently they only take 42 people at a time. We rebooked and arrived at 8:30 the next morning , we were able to get on the 9:00 jetty. We arrived to walk up the sand covered in rotten seaweed and lots of dead fish! It smelled horrible! The water was a brown color, looked like tea so visibility for snorkeling was no good. The best part of the trip was the 2 captains who interacted with everyone.
Written October 17, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Alexandria N
Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
Anyone know if you can bring personal bikes along on the shuttle to Shell Island? I see that the website for the island says biking opportunities, but how do you get there by bike?
Written March 27, 2024
Can I rent a private boat to get to shell island in January 2024 ?
Written December 12, 2023
There is literally NOTHING on the island....its inhabitable. There are no trash containers, bathrooms, snack bars, restaurants.
Tons of shells...one side on the island in on the Gulf side, the other side, were most boats drop you off, is very shallow (lagoons) - barely waist deep. Great if you have little ones!
Written April 20, 2021
What are some suggested (water or other) attractions when traveling to Panama in early December?
Written August 18, 2020
Visit shell island tours with Sunshine watersports, if water is to cold visit pier park, hang on beach
Written September 23, 2020
Is there a dock for an elderly person to get off of a pontoon.
Written June 17, 2020
There is no dock at the site. What most boats did was anchor off shore in about two feet of water and wade in about twenty feet to the sand shore.
Written June 24, 2020
I know the shuttle doesnt travel to Shell Island in winter but is there any other way to go? We are visiting from Wisconsin this December....and 60's is balmy for us at this point!😁
Written December 8, 2019
We rented a scooter/moped. Not sure of any other transportation.
Written December 11, 2019
Lindsey G
Collinsville, Illinois
Any suggestions on where to find a boat to rent with or without a driver?
Written July 30, 2019
Best place to rent boats or take the tour to shell island by boat is Sunshine WaterSports of PC . Best prices and
great location
Written October 21, 2019
Good afternoon, we are planning a trip to Panama City Beach in August and thought about bringing our own 18 foot Bayliner ski boat and going to Shell island, is this possible?
Written July 21, 2019
Did not see any boats anchored at Shell Island on our visit. Would suggest contacting the State Park that has a ferry to the island. I believe it is St John’s State Park.
Written July 22, 2019
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