The Poynting vector field is used to show the energy flow in the near‐surface region of an ensonified fluid‐loaded elastic cylindrical shell for both forward and backward propagating waves. The present work uses a method adapted from a simpler technique due to Kaduchak and Marston [Kaduchak & Marston, ‘‘Traveling‐wave decomposition of surface displacements associated with scattering by a cylindrical shell: Numerical evaluation displaying guided forward and backward wave properties,’’ J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 98, 3501–3507 (1995)] to isolate unidirectional energy flows.