Venice Beach or Urca de Lima

Torn between a two shore dive sites. Need to know what to expect and which would be recommended. I've heard mixed things about both sites (Venice Beach and Urca de Lima). Please help. . . Looking for info (i.e.) which would be worth making a 2-tank dive on, which is easier to find, which is safer? Need a flag? Crowds? Are you pretty much on your own with the diving or do you need to check in, show cards, etc.

Thanks,
Mike

I like the fact that Venice Beach has nice bathrooms and a clean-up area. The Little cafe on site is very reasonable and good food for the price. Sandwichs, salads, burgers and fries, ice cream, drinks etc. The beach is easy to get to and there is an artifical reef there with plenty of sharks teeth. The parking lot is spacious and blacktopped. There are 2 life guard stations right there and the beach is never very crowded. We have numerous dives there in waters around 20-25'. The clearness of the water runs in spurts from very good to very bad but usually around 6' to 8' viz. The beach is clean and well maintained and divers are always welcome. A flag is always a must in this area as it should be. The water was around 89' and didn't seem to need anything but your regular bathing suits to be comfortable. I don't know anything about the other dive but will keep a eye open for some more results. That's my opinion on Venice but maybe someone else may disagree. We had a 6 person dive there on Saturday and we all seemed to have a great time diving and dining together. 3 men and 3 woman. The girls really did out-do us on the big sharks teeth though.
Warren

I've never heard of Urca de Lima. Where is it?

Walter:

I've never heard of Urca de Lima. Where is it?

Click to expand...

http://dhr.dos.state.fl.us/archaeology/underwater/preserves/uwurca.cfm

Its off Ft Pierce.

Thanks. I've dived Pepper Park, but never dived the wreck.

Not meaning to state the obvious, but you are aware that they are on opposite sides of the state, right? If you are visiting both areas, dive both! I live just south of Venice, in Port Charlotte and have dove Venice Beach. As was mentioned the viz can be awful or not too bad.... I haven't dove in Ft Pierce, but when I lived in Ft Lauderdale I did a lot of diving on the east coast. Generally speaking the east coast has much better visibility than the west coast.