Scalloping in Crystal River Florida

​My eyes popped open excitedly, IT was finally here!  It had been summer for weeks already, but today marked the one weekend everyone had eagerly been waiting for.  The counts were in and it was the first weekend of July – it was scallop season. 

I enter my daughter’s room and gently wake her up, “Errr, it’s so early Mom! Why do we have to go this early?”

“We don’t have to but we all want to! Come on get up, it will be worth it – I promise.” I replied.
The gear was already loaded into the back of the truck.  Mesh bags filled with snorkels, fins, and gloves. Beach bag with plenty of sunscreen, lots of snacks and dry towels.  A couple coolers; one for refreshments, one for our haul.  A quick stop at the store for ice and we were headed to the marina to meet our crew. 

Everyone’s smiles that morning are a little bigger than normal; it’s been almost a year since we did this last. 

“Everybody loaded and ready?” asks the Captain.  Murmurs of affirmation and excitement circle through the group.  We leave the marina and head out towards the Gulf ready for a good day of scalloping. 

The closer we get to the mouth of the Homosassa River and the Gulf, the more boats are slowly joining us in this boat parade out.  One by one the fall into line, like ducks heading in at night. 
We enter the Gulf of Mexico, the water is as smooth as glass.  The tide is on our side, it’s fairly low which is perfect for spotting scallops under the surface.  For the first day of the season we choose to head south between Homosassa and CHasahowitcka, but we are sure there are plenty of other spots full of scallops north of us towards Crystal River. 

The July morning sun is already pressing down on us.  I can anticipate how good the salt water will feel once we dive in.  The Captain has a look of determination and the other boats around keep heading South so we continue on. 

A few miles out we all here the first, “Mommy, are we there yet?”.  The Captain just gives a one word response, “close”.

Finally the boat slows down and the others following us begin to peel off to both sides.  Each boat scouting out their own little piece of the pie on this underwater treasure map.
“Start looking”, instructs the Captain, “Look for the baby blue eyes.”

My daughter eagerly goes to the front of the boat and hangs over, scanning the water for any glimpse of the scallops. 

“I see one!!” she excitedly replies.  The rest of us pick a different side of the boat to scan, sure enough there they are.  We are pleased with this spot; we are a respectable fifty yards from the closest boat.  We hoist our dive flag and gear up. 

Each taking a different side, one by one we enter the water.  To cover the most ground we fan out armed with gloves and our mesh bags to collect our loot. 

I’ve got my daughter with me so we stay close to the boat.  She has her net and her mask.  Luckily today it’s low tide and shallow.  With a three foot net she can easily scoop up the scallops.  Other days when the tide is higher it’s a mother-daughter point & fetch game. 

We go for about forty five minutes.  Some of the others in our crew are coming back to the boat for a break, a drink and a snack. 

We are the first in the boat and are extremely happy with our first haul.  About 30 scallops already in our bag.  The others climb back on board.  Some with full bags, others half full.  We combine all the scallops into the cooler so we don’t collect more than the daily limit for the boat – 10 gallons.

Someone pops the cooler and passes out the first round of cold ones.  We exchange excited conversation. 

“I saw a starfish.”
“I saw a puffer fish”
“I found this one spot where there were over 50 scallops.”
“Beds look good this year, there’s going to be plenty of scallops.”
“I need more sunscreen.”
“Ya’ll ready to go back in?”

A chorus of “yes’s” answer that question.  Masks down and back in the water we drop one by one. 
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As I enter the water, I can only smile to myself.  Yep, this is going to be an awesome summer.