Scallops in Steinhatchee!!!

What an absolutely wonderful weekend!!! I haven't had so much fun in a long time. I've always loved to hunt for hidden treasures and I would say that adequately describes scalloping. With an added bonus of seeing some other really cool creatures (starfish, sea urchins, and fish).

Steinhatchee is the scalloping capital of the state. People come from everywhere to search for these beautiful and delicious little creatures. It takes about 2 hours to get there from Tampa. Lets just say, it took us a lot longer than that. It was our first long trip with the boat and well.....Have you ever seen that bumper sticker, "Honk if parts fly off"? We lost 2 nets, and a bungee cord on the expressway and we almost lost our console cover. Yet another lesson learned.

We stayed at a place called Paradise Suites that I found online in April. Come to find out it was a miracle that anything was available at all during scallop season. Apparently people have to book rooms over a year in advance since scallop season only runs from July 1 through September 10.


Paradise Suites is run by a little boat captain named Ed. The rooms are bare bones sleeping and eating quarters for the avid fishperson and scalloper. Captain Ed is the owner and sole employee of Paradise Suites, he runs the front desk, cleans the rooms, does all his own maintenance and looks out for each and every one of his guests.


When you arrive, a welcome sign with your name on it is hannging on the door of your room (there's only 4) and the key is inside sitting on the kitchen table. No deposit is required, no check in is required, you are on your honor from the moment you arrive until the moment you leave. What a wonderful little place. Andrea was ready to reserve the room for the next 30 years when we found out that Captain Ed is planning on retiring in November and will be tearing down his little cottages and planting a garden. Wonderful for him but kind of a bummer for us.

Our first trip out for scallops we spent about 45 minutes searching for schools of scallops propelling through the water like little packmen. We were thinking that we were going to be really fast to catch them. I used a stick and poked around in the grass to try to get them to run out. They never did. Then Andrea says, "maybe we have to get into the water to see them!"

Even though I knew that we would ultimately have to get into the water, I really wasn't super keen on the idea. I was the kid who wouldn't even take a bath after I saw the movie Jaws and I'm the adult who would sooner drag my best friend behind a jet ski than fall in the water trying to get her back on. But that's a different story. Andrea will be more than happy to tell you about it.

After a few minor injuries getting out of the boat Andrea was out in the water sans her snorkeling gear and scallop bag. After about 5 minutes in the water she shoots up, waving her scallop bag in the air and yelling "Keeeeum, Keeeeum, I found one Keeeeum!!!!" She was so brave to get into that water. I was so impressed.

I very slowly put on my own snorkel gear so as to let any sharks circling the area to clear out and then I took the plunge. I have to admit I was quite terrified at first, but after I found my first scallop I didn't think of anything else but what a wonderful adventure this was.

I will say, however, that the experience was incredibly different than what we expected it to be. First of all, the scallops aren't in big groups, actually the most we ever found together was 3 and second, they really don't try to get away from you. They just sit in the seagrass like little easter eggs waiting to be found.

A few tips if YOU ever decide to go snorkeling for scallops:

1. Don't get so busy looking for scallops that you forget where you are going and run into the side of your boat. It hurts.


2. A ladder for getting in and out of the boat is a necessity NOT a luxury.


3. Make sure that the top of your snorkel is pointing up, not parallel with the water. Salt water really makes you choke, or strangle as Andrea would say.


4. Scallops look much larger underwater than they actually are, so don't make fun of your buddies haul only to lift yours out of the water and find they are exactly the same size.


5. No matter how cute they look, scallops will bite and spit on occasion.


When all was said and done we got about 5 gallons of unshucked scallops. That equals about a pint or so once you take them out of the shell but it really is worth it. It is so much fun and I would do it again in a minute!!


We met some really nice people who gave us some great tips for cleaning the scallops. They used a small shop vac to pull the membrane off of the scallop. What a great idea, it cut an hour long process in half.






I hope you all enjoy the pictures. We really love sharing our adventures with all of you. Peace, Love, and Scallops!!