Venice diving

[RedBull]

Anyone dove Venice lately? The wife and I had been thinking about doing a shark tooth dive, but it would have to wait a few days since things are obviously stirred up quite a bit right now. Other thoughts were possibly doing a mineral springs dive, but am just wondering if there is anything reasonably close to Sarasota County. I've always wanted to try Ginnie, but that's a bit of a hike from here.(Venice)

 

[CBulla]

Thats a good question.. its gota be chilly to. I've not put feet into the water there since October! I'll be interested in knowing what the conditions are as well.

 

[RedBull]

I dipped my feet this morning, and it was very chilly....reminded me of Lake Michigan. I brought my semi-dry suit, so temps shouldn't be an issue when I go in. Diane brought her 7mm hyperstretch + core warmer so she should be alright also. We just want to do some diving with even decent viz, but it's not looking like that is an option here. How long is the drive to Ginnie or Crystal River from the Sarasota area?

 

[CBulla]

I believe that Ginne and Crystal River are about a 3 hour drive north of yawl via I-75 then some back road weaving.

Ginnie is a cute dive, but if I were looking for fun fresh water dives, I'd dive Crystal River... rent a jon-boat from the Crystal Lodge Dive Center (its cheap!!), watch the 15 minute video about interacting with the 'tees, then go have an awesome morning in the river at the springs and such diving/snorkeling with the big ole floating relatives of the elephant.

 

[idive2]

I dipped my feet this morning, and it was very chilly....reminded me of Lake Michigan. I brought my semi-dry suit, so temps shouldn't be an issue when I go in. Diane brought her 7mm hyperstretch + core warmer so she should be alright also. We just want to do some diving with even decent viz, but it's not looking like that is an option here. How long is the drive to Ginnie or Crystal River from the Sarasota area?

You could always try some clearwater dive charters. I can always get up the
courage for a decent cold water charter type dive but something about the cold water
schleppin' the gear beach dives I have a tough time getting motivated for, either way
good luck !

Kevin

 

[scubanatic]

Check out Capt. Steve Thacker website www.floridawestscuba.com I have used him in the past and he publishes a newsletter on the local conditions. Happy Diving!

 

[Southern Maine Diver]

Hey Redbull...
We went to Venice for the holidays and scheduled two cahrters with Steve Thacker on 12/27/05 and 12/28/05... they were both cancelled. We found a lot of tiny shark teeth at the beach, but I sure wanted to find some bigger ones. The charters were cancelled because of poor visibility. Hopefully, things have improved

Wayne

 

[ReefGuy]

This time of year, Venice is more miss than hit. After the weather we've been having the last couple of days (very high wind, here 20 miles south) I doubt there'll be any vis soon.

 

[RedBull]

Check out Capt. Steve Thacker website www.floridawestscuba.com I have used him in the past and he publishes a newsletter on the local conditions. Happy Diving!

I do get his newsletter, and saw that the boat is out for routine coast guard inspection right now. My wife and I have gone on a few of his charters, and it's always first-rate.

As for the visibility around here lately, Reef is right. It's been a mess with the winds. I just got back from a walk on the beach and it looked real milky out there. Yesterday wasn't as breezy, but today is pretty bad again. I'm thinking we might take a drive up to Crystal River either Thursday or Friday. I'll have to get all the info from their site. It will bother me if I don't at least get one dive in this week.

 

[scubanatic]

No problem. We are running a manatee trip this weekend (www.castawayscuba.com). We use Crystal River Dive Lodge Center (www.manatee-central.com). I was up there in December and the manatees were abundant. Here's a couple of pics I took. Have fun I know we always do.