Venice Beach FL Diving

[LazyKevin]

I am planning on heading to Venice Beach in Florida in late august and I am wondering how the beach diving is for the fossil shark teeth.

Currently I plan on doing a 2 tank charter trip on one of the days, and then spend the rest of that day, and the next one, doing beach dives.

Any advice on making this trip easier?

 

[ReefGuy]

Hey, Kevin. There are quite a few of us that dive Venice Beach on a regular interval. If you do a search on Alhambra, you'll get tons of good information, including directions. Let anyone know when you're down here, and I can almost guarantee several buddies to make dives with. In late August, I'll probably be there every weekend.

Welcome to the board!

 

[LazyKevin]

Hey, Kevin. There are quite a few of us that dive Venice Beach on a regular interval. If you do a search on Alhambra, you'll get tons of good information, including directions. Let anyone know when you're down here, and I can almost guarantee several buddies to make dives with. In late August, I'll probably be there every weekend.

Welcome to the board!

Sounds great!
I can't wait to get down there.

 

[Ber Rabbit]

1. Go with Walter
2. Follow his lead, don't do your own thing

He took me to Venice in Feb. and I found 80 teeth. The visibility was awesome and the water was flat calm making the dive much easier for me.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[ReefGuy]

Venice Beach is really nice to dive in August, Sept, and Oct. The water is very warm (I wear a skin only), and the vis can get to around 30', although > 10 is good. Usually you get around 5'-10' vis. And if you care to go out past the shark teeth beds, there's actually a "reef". A few gargonians and sponges and such.

In fact, I'm going to be going there on this Saturday. Anyone?

 

[CBulla]

Its about time I got wet off Venice again... for that matter, its been to long since my last dive (4 weeks...I got the shakes!)!! Time to get the tanks aired up and ready to go undah

 

[CBulla]

Ahhh...cleared it with the wife... diving saturday

 

[MikeJacobs]

Awesome! The teeth turn up out of the clay all the time, so you'll find plenty of teeth right off shore. Somebody mentioned Alhambra - that's where to park - so gear up at your car and head about 50-100 yards out anywhere along the sand. Maybe Walter will give you some hints on where to go specifically, but you won't be disappointed on your own.

You don't need any special equipment other than a flag. You should bring something to make a buddy-line with in case the visibility isn't good. I wear gloves (fire worms) and stuff the teeth into them as I find them - a tip picked up from somebody here. Visibility isn't all that great even on good days, and you find teeth in bunches so you probably don't want to be wasting time using a collection bag (except maybe to occasionally transfer your loot to).

Since you will be here for a limited time, you might want to play it loose with the boat... in other words, spend the GOOD days on the beach and the not so good day on the boat. This might be difficult because the boats fill up, but I'd be disappointed having to sit a day out after coming all that way.

I am planning on heading to Venice Beach in Florida in late august and I am wondering how the beach diving is for the fossil shark teeth.

 

[LazyKevin]

Awesome! The teeth turn up out of the clay all the time, so you'll find plenty of teeth right off shore. Somebody mentioned Alhambra - that's where to park - so gear up at your car and head about 50-100 yards out anywhere along the sand. Maybe Walter will give you some hints on where to go specifically, but you won't be disappointed on your own.

You don't need any special equipment other than a flag. You should bring something to make a buddy-line with in case the visibility isn't good. I wear gloves (fire worms) and stuff the teeth into them as I find them - a tip picked up from somebody here. Visibility isn't all that great even on good days, and you find teeth in bunches so you probably don't want to be wasting time using a collection bag (except maybe to occasionally transfer your loot to).

Since you will be here for a limited time, you might want to play it loose with the boat... in other words, spend the GOOD days on the beach and the not so good day on the boat. This might be difficult because the boats fill up, but I'd be disappointed having to sit a day out after coming all that way.

From how it sounds, I might skip the boat diving entirely.
I planned to do 2 days at Venice and 5 days at the Peace river, but if the fossil hunting at Venice is good I might extend my time there.
I will get a flag and make a buddy line (in case my buddy can actually come).

 

[CBulla]

Remember, for real fossiling of any sort you need a state permit. Its a whopping $5...

Here's a site to explain where its required. Beach dive fossiling from Venice is no issue, but you could run into the FWC guys around Peace and they will ask you for a permit if you look any more serious than a snorkel and mask.

http://www.jawsandteeth.com/florida_fossil_permit.htm