Sarasota/Venice Florida area, any diving worth doing in the area?

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herman

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Just got the "bad" news that I have to spend 2 weeks in Sarasota in early May and I was wondering if there was any diving worth doing in the area, both shore and boat.....even a good spring would do. I have found a shore dive called the "Sugar Barge" that seems to be a possibilty. I am going to be traveling with a new diver, fresh out of OW, so shallow, easy dives are mainly what I am looking for. A reef or wreck would be nice just to draw some fish life, but a sandy area with reasonable vis would be ok. Gin clear vis is not necessary but I would like 10 to 15 ft if at all possible. I esp would like to find a resonable shore dive that we can do after work during the week. If all goes well, we are thinking about going to the upper keys over the weekend but I would like to have him in the water some before that. Any suggestions on dive shops to use or avoid would be helpful as well.


Thanks
 
My buddy and I were in the Sarasota area during the Christmas holidays. There are a couple of beach dives you can do on Anna Marie Island (just north of Sarasota). We stopped in a few dive shops in the area and asked around, and they gave us some information & maps. We didn't do any beach dives, though. We did do a fantastic shark's tooth dive in Venice. I highly recommend it. Our maximum depth was 25-28 feet, and we spent an 1 1/2 underwater on each dive. You can find all kinds of fossilized shark teeth there including megladon teeth. Unfortunately, I don't have any of the information here at work. I will pull out the information this evening and give you more details.

Stacey
 
The shop in Venice is called the Florida West Scuba School. Their website is floridawestscuba.com They offer shark teeth diving as well as wreck diving. We only did the shark teeth dive with them. We definitely plan on doing it again. The captain/owner was very helpful and knowledgeable. When we were there, the viz was about 25 feet.

As far as beach diving is concerned, there are several sites: spanish rocks, a wreck off of the Gulf Drive Cafe, and third pier. All three sites are on Anna Maria Island. There is a dive shop in a shopping center across from the Gulf Drive Cafe that can help you. We didn't have time to do any beach dives, but I have family in the area, so I'm sure we will eventually check them out.

Stacey
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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