Tampa Bay Area shore dive?

[Bfi]

Hi all,

I recently got certified and just completed my first dive on my own to 43 ft. My wife and I would like to practice as much as we can between times of being able to get on the boat. I do understand that vis is going to be limited but I wondered if there was anywhere in the Tampa Bay Area that you would recommend for a shore dive? Again it doesn’t have to be great vis or diversity, we just like getting in and searching for any life we can find big or small. Any thoughts would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Capt Davy J]

I think the two that are most talked about are Spanish Rocks and the Regina wreck, AKA the Sugar Barge. I've never done Spanish Rocks, but, did dive the Regina many years ago from my own boat, so can't give much detail about the shore dive part. Most of the barge was gone except for the bow and a few other bits and pieces.

 

[blue sky]

Spanish Rocks on Anna Maria Island. Just south of the public beach at the end of Manatee Ave. Satallite pic screen shot of Spanish Rocks & beach access point.

 

[Scraps]

Pretty slim pickings.

For shore dives, there is also shark tooth hunting in Venice, but there's a very good chance of negligible visibility--and you absolutely positively need to tow a float flag there because the area abounds in boats. Several dive shops periodically run group shore dives to Venice for reasonable fees. I recommend going on one before you attempt it yourself so you can learn the ropes and geography. PM me if you want to know about one happening this Saturday--I won't be there, but I've done some work for the shop that's organizing it, and they're good people.

Depending on where you did your open water dives--most people do some combination of fresh water sites like Rainbow River, Devil's Den, Blue Grotto, or Lake Denton--you can visit the sites in this group that you haven't dove yet. All are suitable for new divers.

 

[Trigger-F]

Spanish Rocks on Holmes Beach was a pretty nice dive site until the cty or city finished the beach renourishment project in 2014. Since then it's been silty, murky/cloudy waters with 5-10 foot vis. Lots of sand sitting on the reef. Before you could have 25+ feet visibilty in colder days. Have not dived there since 2018 but I used to go down there quite often. Easy dive with lots of sealife to sea. These projects are catastrophic to sealife. The beach did not appear eroded so not sure what's the purpose of these renourishments. Plus they mix the sand with the white powder sand that is not natural (or my guess is it's brought from somewhere else). I guess it's all about tourists and winning best beach in America. I prefer driving down to Pompano/LBTS for 4 1/2 hrs and dive there.

 

[kelemvor]

I did spanish rocks in 2016. The renourishment change the site, it's now Spanish sand.


If you want sharks, there's a lot off of Indian rocks beach.. no reef or anything other than sand (and sharks). There's always a ton of fisherdudes out there trying their hand at shark fishin' so you have some entanglement risk.

I live in Pinellas. When I want a shore dive, it's usually an hour drive down to Venice beach. I prefer service club park for parking/entry. Google Maps

At service club, there's free parking, free showers, flush toilets with running water etc... short walk across the beach into the gulf. I've found plenty of fossils here but no meg teeth. I was with @mermaid0sea when she found a meg tooth here once. Visibility sucks at Venice.

If you want good vis on a shore dive in FL you either drive north to the freshwater springs or west to Blue Heron Bridge. BHB is arguably the best shore dive in the world. Certainly the best in FL. It also has free parking, showers, toilets.

 

[Bfi]

These responses are exactly what I was hoping for. I know it’s slim pickings but seems there are at least a few options to try. Really appreciate you all taking the time to reply!

 

[Gene]

Bradenton is my home town, but I haven't lived there in decades. But I did enjoy diving the Regina wreck with my son when he was a newly certified diver. (We ran a line around the few pieces sticking up out of the sand due to the low vis and used a flag.)
There used to be a dive shop right across the street from the Regina wreck, but that's long gone. It was cool to dive it as I'd often see bits and pieces of it from the surface while growing up there in the 60's and 70s.
I attended some of the meetings too around 2004 to include the Regina into the underwater state archaeological sites.