Need info

[para414]

Hey everyone… staying in Redington Beach this August. Is there anywhere I can shore dive? Staying at Angler’s Cove. Is it worth just heading out right there, even to just get wet?

 

[CuzzA]

Hey everyone… staying in Redington Beach this August. Is there anywhere I can shore dive? Staying at Angler’s Cove. Is it worth just heading out right there, even to just get wet?

There's no shore diving off Tampa Bay that would be worth while, not even just to get wet. The beaches are all just low viz, sandy bottom and lots of boat traffic. You could snorkel some of the intracoastal grass flats, but you'd be hard pressed to find many locals doing that unless it's up north when scallop season is open.

Booking a charter is really your best option and anything worth while is going to be a minimum of 10 miles offshore, and most likely 20-30 miles to find good bluewater reefs during late summer.

Figure for every mile offshore is 2.5 ft deep. So 20 miles would be around 50ft, give or take 10 ft. depending if your north or south.

 

[Gene]

A handful of years ago my son and I dove what remains of the old barge off Bradenton Beach, which is a shore dive. But that was limited vis as mentioned above. We ended up running a reel from what looked like the bow sticking up out of the sand. Not much left of that boat. I grew up seeing some of it in the 70s depending on tides, but time and erosion, etc., has taken its toll. Weren't there also some old military tanks set up off St. Pete years ago as an artificial reef? That wouldn't be a shore dive though.

 

[CuzzA]

Yes, the army tanks are still there. You'd need a boat though and a prayer for viz. We just have too many rivers that discharge into the Gulf trashing viz.

There's just not much to see right off the beach. Some people like to dive the Skyway bridge. You're pretty much guaranteed big jewfish and bullsharks.... in sketchy viz.

 

[para414]

Thanks everyone. Looks like some
Off shore trips are in order!!