First Meg dive coming up.

[Kaneda13]

My girlfriend and I are going on our first Meg hunt next month, in Venice. We are booked in with Black and Gold. We are level 3 and 4 divers in SSI, so are very comfortable in the water. I'm planning on diving in my full 3 mil, she'll be in a 5 mil with an under suit as well (we have very different tolerances for water temps). Wondering if you have any tips for us. We are going for the enjoyment for diving together, but bring home a tooth or two would certainly make the trip all that much better. We will have our normal dive gear (lights, dsmb's, etc), anything else you recommend?

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

smiles. bring lots of smiles.

 

[ReefGuy]

Bring a mesh bag bag to put your teeth in.

 

[AustinV]

Have fun and take it easy. Florida tooth diving is nice and relaxed as you have insanely long bottom times as opposed to NC tooth diving. Take a ping pong paddle to fan with and a mesh bag you can close and clip off.

 

[Kaneda13]

I recently got a Dive Rite Bellows Thigh Bag for me, I'll make sure we get something for my GF. We'll also look into getting a paddle of some sort. As for down time, I'm figuring we'll have over an hour on each tank, and with 3 tanks, I'm hoping to have enough time to find a couple of "bring backs".

 

[BrackaFish]

I recently got a Dive Rite Bellows Thigh Bag for me, I'll make sure we get something for my GF. We'll also look into getting a paddle of some sort. As for down time, I'm figuring we'll have over an hour on each tank, and with 3 tanks, I'm hoping to have enough time to find a couple of "bring backs".

You can get by using your hands to fan away silt and sand, but as @AustinV says a small paddle of some kind will make it easier. +1 for the mesh bag as some teeth are small and you don’t want to lose them in a pocket. For me the biggest thing was to slow waaaay down and really focus on what you are seeing. Most of the time you just see part of a tooth, rarely the whole tooth. One charter captain told us to pick up everything black as it will be a bone, tooth or rock. I found that to be good advice for a newbie. Enjoy as I think you guys will have a great time.
Be safe

 

[Ghost95]

This thread has links to some of the bags like everybody uses there. They work well and keep even the smallest teeth.

Tooth finds bag?

Evening all. While i was in Venice i bought a couple bags at the local dive shop for tooth collecting. They were the small, fine mesh bags with the Velcro and "D" ring on them. I have worn them out and was wondering if there was some place I could order them from. Would just get another in...

scubaboard.com

Enjoy the trip. We've missed getting down there the last couple years.

 

[Shane Morris]

Learn to read the bottom. I've done hundreds of megalodon dives in the Venice area, and the most important skill is learning to look for the right exposures/sediment. If you're in shells or sand, for instance, it's almost impossible to find teeth. A good captain will put you on the rights spots and brief you on where to go, but ultimately it's up to you to find the bluish clay with black bones, rubble, and sand rows that produce 90% of the teeth. Remember that these teeth haven't been sitting on the bottom of the ocean for eons. They've been entombed in soft sediment, which is why they're so well-preserved. The longer they're exposed to sea water and life, the worse condition they will be in. The best of all have just been eroded from the fossil formations within weeks or even days of divers finding them.

The moral of the story is to look for the right bottom, not necessarily teeth. Lots of divers waste their first few trips in Venice cruising over sand and shells for hours. Look for the black bones and rubble, and then zero in on "straight edges," or just any shape that stands out. You'll find them.