We still love the Artistic Pavers. They stay very cool in the hot sun (our pool is on the west side of our house, no cage, no shade), not slippery at all, no efflorescence.

You know that the Shellock has pieces of shell in it, so that the surface is not slick-smooth - shells are hollow, so there are indentations and 1/2 shells throughout. In a few places, the shell has come out, leaving a small, shell-shaped hole. Not noticeable except to me studying closely, but might bug some finicky people. I only notice because I love looking for interesting shells in the pavers.

Also, Sarasota Yacht Club has the very white version, and they have problems keeping it clean in the very high-traffic areas (stairs where literally everyone funnels through). Not sure if there is a way to seal them because I think it would be a problem with any white concrete paver, being made of a porous material. Not a problem in a residential setting, however.

You may want to go darker under the cage and shade to absorb more sun. Our neighbors on the same side have a much darker pool and darker travertine under a cage and still stay cooler (i.e. we get pool time before their pool is warm enough). But they don't get the "too hot" pool in the worst of the summer (which we didn't get last year, but did for about two weeks the year before - depends on the amount of cooling rain).

Have you checked with the company to find dealers yet? All the dealers should have a sample board and a couple of sample pavers. They do require a bit of special handling - they are much heavier than regular concrete pavers - when you see one up close you'll get it - much denser - but you pay an extra shipping charge for it. Also use crushed concrete vice sand for underlaying the pavers. You should probably check with the company about laying over existing concrete to make sure you can do that.

The Corallock is also very pretty and I debated that one, too, but I just loved the shells. I think the issues are the same however.

Where is your vacation house? You can stop by to see and touch ours if you are driving by (i.e. if you fly into Tampa we are exactly 30min drive).

R/Lisa

Here is a link that might be useful: Not-so-New Blue Pool blog

One of the people giving me an estimate mentioned that Artistic pavers are an upgrade--more expensive--over standard ones...
I realized the shells might fall out--read your post and couple of others--
the corallock doesn't seem to have quite as many negative posts about that aspect...

I am worried about the rougher surface of traditional pavers rubbing on our feet--and I like the face that Artistic pavers (I believe) are beveled on edges--which helps water drain better and makes walking a little easier--
but we haven't seen any possible choices yet--

Our pool faces east side--gets good bit of morning sun in pool up until middle of afternoon--some of patio is under overhang and in shade all time...
I am going to try to mark stages of sun's progress on lanai and see which get most sun--
we might try two types/colors of pavers to adjust for hotter surfaces...

I am flying to FL house today as matter of face and hope to get this settled and schedule the time for the resurface of lanai and driveway reworking while I am there...
We also have to get HOA approval for the driveway--which hopefully won't be problem--but you never know with HOA people...

Yes, they are definitely an upgrade and more expensive, but IMO, well worth it for the reasons you mention - traditional pavers are rougher, chip/break easier, fade, porous (algae/mold could be a problem if you are east/shade with cage). That was our splurge in the pool budget.
You probably won't have a heat problem in that situation at all, judging from neighbors across the street with cages/east facing - they have an even shorter swimming season.
And yes, they are beveled. I never thought about it before, but we don't have any problems with water draining even in a heavy rainstorm. I would've attributed it to design & placement of the footers & french drain and undetectable slope of the pavers (away from the pool - don't want runoff going in), and good installers (no settling at all - still perfect).

We'll probably have to do our driveway in the next few years, but I just don't like traditional pavers, so we'll probably end up with some sort of patterned or etched or stained concrete - seems like there are better products to choose from each year. No HOA to deal with, thankfully!

Good luck. Let me know how it goes.

I went to two different storefronts today to look at pavers...both in Sarasota
Both had small sample board for the Corallock and from what I could see the impressions are molded into the pavers--no coral per se--like the shellock pavers have actual shells...
so think any fallout would be minimal...the corallock comes in very light color they call white--but more like light cream--
they are thicker in the thin remodel pavers than most mfgs replacement ones according to one of the guys doing an estimate...the pavers are only about $1 a sq ft more than normal pavers--same increase that I was told to go up to a budget travertine-
so less than $1000 to do the lanai in them--but

He said the big expense is for the coping because that has to be shipped from Miami and adds lot of extra cost...and you can't substitute another mfg's coping in a contrasting color...because of the sizing of it and the pavers...
Would need only 70 ft or so but don't know what the upcharge might be
He also said that Artistic doesn't want these pavers sealed--said it would void the warranty--
so for a very light paver that might be a problem...

thanks for your help...
still doing some research--
found out that it is allowed for someone NOT a licensed screen house installer to remove the base trim strip and replace it on top of the pavers...
Nice guy with Sarasota county permits/inspections checked for me...

and calling some screen cage installers to see if they would recommend doing that or butting pavers up to bottom rail...
they reason they don't want to raise it probably is because that means the installers don't have to add another mortar row around the outside...
the pool cage is the permanent edging for the pavers there...so saves them some time and money...