This is my 5th year in a row going down to Steinhatchee, FL to snorkel the beautiful grassflats to look for scallops. It has become a tradition of my family to spend 4 days each summer boating, fishing, and snorkeling the Steinhatchee area. Its not the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas or the hustle and bustle of the Florida Keys.
It is a hidden treasure on the northwest coast of Florida about an hour and a half east of Gainesville. It has the old Florida feel to it - where life just comes to you as it comes - no traffic, no lines, no hassles - just small town living on the coast.
Its a laid back atmosphere you can you truly Release, Relax, and Recharge
For this reason - my family and I continue to go back year after year to experience all that the outdoors has to offer in this small coastal town.
This year was different than most because we traveled by ourselves. Most years that we go, we travel with one or two other families renting a large house on VRBO and staying at the Steinhatchee Landing. It is always fun to have a large group out on the water swimming between boats, loading up on scallops, and looking forward to dinner plans that evening as we prepare the day’s catch.
But there are times when it is nice to just travel as a family without any distractions or anyone else’s schedule to work around.
We traveled over there the week of July 25-29th and we stayed in the River’s Edge Condominiums on the Jenna side of the inlet. These condos are in a great location because they are right across from the Sea Hag Marina and just minutes from the mouth of the inlet where you can run those engines wide open.
With the family all healthy (ie no COVID) and no flat tires on the way over, the trip went off without a hitch. Our condo was clean, the weather cooperated, and the scallops were plentiful.
For three days, we scalloped on the flats limiting out each day. The nice thing is that you don’t need a lot of equipment. All you need are fins, snorkel, mask, and a net/bag to hold your scallops. You have to comply with the FWC rules on how much you can keep each year, and you have to have a FL fishing license (FWC Scalloping Rules and Regs).
Check out this video:
The last morning that we were there I took the kids trout fishing. We spent 2 hours throwing popping corks with a white jig under them. We caught 12 trout in that time frame making the morning go by fast while we waited for the tides to start going to low tide - which in my mind - makes scalloping easier.
What also made this year special was that we spent each afternoon for 1-2 hours cleaning the scallops down at the dock - laughing, cutting up, and just spending quality time together - because we didn’t have any agenda to stick to.
In years past, I would take the family and friends back to the house and drop the scallops off to be cleaned while everyone got cleaned up, showered, and ready for dinner.
But with just the 5 of us to make happy, we spent that time refining our skills on how to best clean scallops - to get that meat just right for the dinner that night.
Check out this video:
With everything that has been going on in my life and work the past 2 years with the pandemic and having 3 of my closest family members pass away at the end of 2021 (dad, grandmother, and grandfather), it was so awesome to be able to take a step back, put down the phone, leave work behind, and focus on what is the most important thing in my life right now - My Family.
If you are looking to do something different outdoors with the family and you have never been scalloping, then I highly suggest you plan a trip to Steinhatchee, FL and take in all the outdoor aquatic activities that this place has to offer.