The Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum

A great way to spend some time indoors while in the area!
My visit took place in mid– to late-​January. I arrived a little late in the afternoon, just a couple hours before they closed.
Rather than tour the museum section, I opted to take in the roughly half-​hour live tank presentation downstairs and follow up by watching the 2 movies (30 minutes each) in the theater.
The young lady who gave the presentation was very knowledgeable and made for a wonderful lesson in all things related to shells. With live mollusks to use in the demonstration (and daily additions from the local beaches), she explained things that I never knew. At the end, she performed a question and answer period.
After the presentation, I headed up stairs to the theater. The back to back documentary type movies were well done and provided much more background information about all things mollusk.
When I was leaving, they said to come back in the next couple of days with my receipt and I would be allowed to take another look around on the original fare. Very nice, their hospitality was genuine.
There is a small gift shop for those inclined to pick up a thing or two during their visit.
I asked about AAA or military discount. They gave me military rate of $ 10 adult.
It will be worth another visit the next time I am in the area.

A small but well executed exhibit of seashells and their history around the world. It would be a good idea to visit before collecting shells. The 9 am marine walk was nice as well. Unfortunately, we did not see the talks or movies.

This was a very interesting museum and my only mistake was going there the last day of the trip and not the first. It’s great place to learn all about the abundant shell life on Sanibel and very informative!

If you really like shells this could be fun for you. It’s literally one large room with many shell displays. There’s lots to see and learn but nothing a Google search couldn’t teach you. The children’s room is nice but small. There are shells for touching and a water exhibit which has different alive shells on display but even though it’s at your child’s waist height, the shells are not for touching. Try explaining that repeatedly to a toddler. It’s not cheap ($ 11 per adult), so for a family of five it adds up quickly. It would be high on my recommended don’t bother list.

a very intriguing and unusual museum. Because I love shells, I found this to be really interesting. The exhibits are well designed and engaging. Some are a bit dated. This is a pretty small museum and it’s $ 11 per adult. It’s very compact but seems a bit pricy. I would have liked to have visited the library, but it wasn’t open to the general public.

Hi admission, okay display. Has outdated scientific data. Small, boring and unintriguing (coming from a bio major) SAVE YOUR MONEY

My mom is an avid shell collector, so she cajoled us into visiting the Shell Museum during our recent week in Sanibel and Captiva. What a pleasant surprise! I learned so many interesting tidbits about mollusks during a highly informative and at times rather amusing film. I have quite a respect for the little guys now that I know more about how they eat, move, and reproduce. The only downside? It took some fun out of eating mussels at Sweet Melissa’s that evening!
The live demonstration was also educational, albeit a bit redundant after watching the movie. The exhibits were engaging and as interactive as a shell museum could be. The Sailor’s Valentine section was a particular standout.
Yes, the admission price is a bit steep ($ 11/​adult), but it’s a great way to while away an hour or two when the weather is uncooperative or you’ve had too much sun.

We watched a movie that reminded me of high school biology class and how much I have forgotten about mollusks. The $ 11 per person entry fee seemed high. The Raymond Burr display was interesting. I think this might be more appealing if you had young children with you, as it seems geared for the younger crowd.

Da wir schon mal auf der Durchreise auf Sanibel-​Island waren, machten wir hier einen Halt. Meine Frau ist leidenschaftliche Muschelsammlerin — kein Strand ist vor ihr sicher — und so lag es nahe, sich einmal ein Muschelmuseum anzusehen. Wo gibt es sonst schon so etwas.
Der Eintrittspreis ist mit $ 11 (Senioren $ 10) nicht gerade günstig. In einem Rundgebäude sind auf einer Ebene sehr ansprechend (teilweise im wahrsten Sinne des Wortes durch Lautsprecher) Muscheln aus allen Kontinenten dargestellt. Auch mit der Muschelwelt zusammenhängende Aspekte werden eingebunden. Man lernt eine Menge und erhält zum Teil sehr überraschende Informationen.
In einem Kinoraum laufen zwei halbstündige Filme, die wir uns allerdings erspart haben.
Für den Muschelliebhaber ist dies ein empfehlenswertes Ziel und dann relativiert sich auch der Eintrittspreis. Wer Muscheln allerdings nur auf dem Teller mag oder gelegentlich als Souvenir vom Strand mitnimmt, der wird recht schnell wieder an die frische, feuchtwarme Luft von Sanibel gehen.

I enjoyed my stop at the museum. I found the displays of the Sanibel shells to be the most interesting. If you are interested in the shells of Sanibel and/​or the life of mollusks it’s worth stopping. There were also shells on display from around the world. There is a small children’s area. They show 2 videos, approx. ½ hour each. They are slow but interesting none the less. I only stayed to watch one of the videos.

All you have ever wanted to know about shells. They have shells from all over the world. When you go to Sanibel everyone should go here to see how to handle shells.

Small museum. Local and shells from all over the world. Shell fossils. Indian artifacts with shell tools. Some demonstration of use in buttons, furniture, carving and sailors’ valentines. After a day or two of shelling it might help identify ones on the Sanibel beaches.

This place surprised me. I was expecting a bunch of beautiful labeled shells from the region. What I got was a massive education on the living animals (mollusks, gastropods, etc.) that shells are home to. Micro-​mollusks to Deep-​sea Mollusks. Mollusks as food to shells as art. It was easy to spend 3 – 4 hours there. Very fascinating.
The volunteer dosant in the learning lab gave us a demo of some live animals from a live shell tank and was very informative. I now know more than most of the sex life of mollusks ;-)
I also highly recommend the two rotating short videos played in the small theater every half hour. Check out their website to start your education. These animals are misunderstood and more important to us than you think.

Good museum. Laid out well, good exhibits, good for kids. A little high priced (Adult entry is $ 9 per person).
While the museum has exhibits, a small children’s area, and an auditorium which runs tow 30 minute videos, it covers shelling as a whole around the world. Some history. I wish it would have more on local Florida shelling as well as an exhibit on how to clean and preserve shells.
The gift shop was nice — lots of shelling books and gifts.
Once a year the museum holds a huge shell show that people come from all over for.

My family’s tag line for this museum is «more interesting than you’d think». I’m sure «Shell Museum» doesn’t sound that interesting, but it actually is, and obviously more so for people who like shells. However don’t think it’s the kind of museum you can go to all day. 2 – 3 hours tops. All in all, a great experience, especially if you have kids in your party or if you’re on vacation and it’s a rainy day.

A little expensive, but enjoyable and educational.

If you like shells, then you have to stop here and check out the museum. They have shells from all over the world. The place does a nice job explaining how different shells grow with some having 50 shells to show the growth. Couple of films you can watch on different subjects. The main room is round and you can work in a clockwise pattern to see everything. Prices was $ 9 a person, also Raymond Burr of TV was big into shells and helped to raise money for them when he was alive. There is several photos of him shelling and raising money. Amazing see the sailor’s valentines in a wood case (box, one is table) made from hundreds to thousands of shells with a pattern and sometimes spelling out so words.

Kind people, great collection, enriching experience.
You can’t go wrong if your curiosity is piqued by the shells found upon the Captiva beaches.

Beautiful place, great shells, and inspirational sailors’ valentines! Must see on sanibel!

How much do I love shells a lot… I had to buy a second suitcase to fit all the ones I took home with me from Sanibel Island…
But I was so pressed for time I almost did not go to the shell Museum shame on me…
I am really glad I went the displays were really excellent, so informative colorful. They were playing a free little film called The Secret Life of Mollusks in the main area that I sat and really enjoyed. It was done by a local Sanibel woman and it was really interesting. The gift shop had amazing stuff to buy including a wonderful selection of books on shells. I highly recommend it. The only thing I learned that sorta disappointed me was that Sailor’s Valentines were made for trade by women in Barbados and not by sailors but of course what was I thinking if sailors made them they would look like crap. How dumb was I???
Did I actually picture in my head a bunch of old salty sea men with tweezers and glue and tiny shells glueing them ever so carefully for their love across the sea. Wow sad… cut the string on that kite and set it free…
A great place to bring kids a cool little side room just for kids with murals and a touch tanks and a matching game with shells. Nice volunteers as well!
The collection of fossilized shells were of special interest. However I just wish they would have had more of the Sanibel rare ones that I myself found tons of…(people were amazed they were rare)…There is a wildlife bird watching area down the way about ¼ a block and you can get a lot in that way. A really nice beach down that road as well.
BTW
There is a Shell Fair ever year the first Thursday in March. Here are some pics from a previous yearhttp://thecraftsdept.marthastewart.com/photo-galleries?album=1&gallery=44