Dive Spot: Venice Beach, FL
Type of diving Shark tooth and fossil hunting in the Gulf of Mexico. This area is a prehistoric river bed and does yield more fossils than the sharks teeth.
Type of diving: Shore, Kayak & Boat Dive
Directions:
From the North:
I-75 south to Laurel Rd East
Turn left (south) @ Tamiami Trail (US 41)
Exit to the right@ Business 41 and go over Draw Bridge (Florida West Scuba is next to drawbridge).
Turn right @ first traffic light (Tampa Ave.)
Turn left @ Harbor Drive South*
From the South:
I-75 north to Jacaranda Bvld.
Turn left @ East Venice Ave.
Turn left @ Harbor Drive South*
From Sarasota:
Tamiami Trail South (US 41)
Exit to the right @ Business 41 and go over Draw Bridge (Florida West Scuba is next to drawbridge).
Turn right @ first traffic light (Tampa Ave.)
Turn left @ Harbor Drive South*
*to Alhambra: Harbor Drive South to Alhambra Rd. (.46 miles), turn right follow to dead end. Parking is on the street; do not block driveways, park in same direction as traffic flow.
*to Service Club Park: Harbor Drive South 1.53 miles - on right. (27 0442.47N, 82 2700.62W)
* To Sharkeys Park: 1.86 miles on right. (27 0426.33N, 82 2658.28W)
What to expect at the dive sites: Typical sharks teeth found are from the following: Dusky and Blacktip family, Sand Shark (current and prehistoric), Bull Shark, and Lemon Shark. Rarer but also found are Mako, Great White, Snaggle Tooth and Megalodon. Other fossils that can be found include dolphin, manatee, and whale bones, stingray stingers and crusher platelettes and tail vertabrae, porcupine fish platelettes, mammoth and mastadon teeth/tusk/vertebrae, sloth claws, alligator scales, and sabertooth teeth. Best times for hunting are a few days after a storm when the water has settled down. Depths are 16-18 feet; unless you swim a long way out then you may hit 20.
Amenities Florida West dive shop is about 1 mile north of the site on 41 literally just over the bridge back onto the main land. Sharkey's restaurant is at the base of the pier. Venice Beach's downtown district is 1/2 mile off with food and shops as well.
Both Service Club Park and Sharkeys Park have paved parking, showers, restrooms and picnic tables. Service Club Park has a long boardwalk over the dunes which can be an obstacle for yak divers (about 100 yards to beach).
Dive sites:
Alhambra: best fossil hunting is between the pine trees to the north and the last condo to the south, about 100-200 yards offshore. There is also a reef (ledge) in this area (27 0543.05N, 82 27 58.04W). 16- 20 fsw
Service Club: fossil beds can be patchy, but in general yield better finds, yak diving about ¼ mile off shore (very productive area). 15- 25 fsw
Boneyard: About .88 mile from Alhambra, 1.33 miles from Sharkeys Park (27 0507.15N, 82 2808.53W). Very productive area Florida West takes charters to this area daily. 27 fsw
Pros and Cons When the water is clear lots of teeth can be found. When the water is a milky emerald green, there will be no visibility on the bottom and toothing is useless.