Going to Venice.

[Dwhite213]

So I'm bored and need something to talk about.

I'm heading to Venice in three weeks for some meg teeth, and I was wondering what to expect. Also do you guys that have been have any tips for a more successful trip?

 

[SOFDiver]

Dwhite213

First you are comming to Venice at the right time. The begining of the best diving season starts in late March early April. The water is still "cool", you should be prepared for mid 60s to low 70s water temps. If you have never done the fossil dive thing before you should book on one of our charters. We can expose you to the process and get you on the sites with the best chances of finding Meg teeth and other foissils. Visibility on fossil dives is from 3-12 feet, but a good diver can find things in as little as 2 feet. A lot of locals dive off the beach, but they know the ropes and are willing to swim the 300-400 yards required to get into the fossil beds. I would not suggest this unless you are in excellent physical condition and are comfortable diving alone and in very low visibility. Check out our web site (floridawestscuba.com) or call us at the shop, we would be happy to talk with you.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Hi Dwhite... thought I would drop you a line. I have visited Venice many times for scuba fossiling and I can share my perspectives. Once you get to Venice you will want to locate the dock or the location where the boat will pick you up. On my different trips I employed Florida West Scuba (which is now Megalodon Charters), Jamie (the Aristakat), Jeff (the Big Flat Top), and Gary (an independent). I have not use Rick (MobChartersFL) yet, but have had some favorable exchanges with him.

I think FL West Scuba Store is still in business but he sold the boat and charter side of the business to another. This store appears to be one of the older scuba supply stores in Venice and has a good collection of choice product for sale. Next to it is an excellent restaurant (on the water) and apparently there is a great restaurant on the pier. If you have time on your hands, while waiting for your boat, you can visit some of the few scuba stores. If you find yourself in need of a boat due to the primaries being full, the employees of these stores have phone numbers of independent boat captains for hire.

Once your boat leaves the dock its a short and enjoyable ride to the site. The water is typically emerald green and the site it typically 20 feet deep. Its easy diving with long bottom times. Some of the boat Captain's want divers to drag a flag, which they provide. Some of the Captain's are bubble watchers.

I grew up diving the wrecks offshore NC and the rivers of SC. I have my ways and means of navigating such. In Venice you will find that sometimes there is a bit of a current. Having grown up a river diver I automatically plan on making my way into the current so that I will pop up in front of the boat and drift back to it. In Venice I use a compass extensively. An additional method of navigation in Venice is to pop to the top and take a look. Its only 20 feet so this is easily done. If you have a compass you can also take a bearing at this time.

In general the sharks teeth, and everything else for that matter, are covered with growth. The teeth can hide right before your eyes and you can easily miss them. Good luck. Have fun!

ps: Never get behind an anchor. I have watched an un-lodged anchor make its way past me on the bottom

 

[Dwhite213]

I've already got a reservation with Jamie. Thanks for the advice. Depth, vis, and current were a few things I was wondering about.

 

[Lee Taylor]

Jamie is a great guy and he wants you to have fun.

Some of the Venice divers will give you some more accurate information, but from my little bit of experience diving Venice, there is a little current, and frequently none.

Now put this in perspective. I spent many, many years diving SC rivers in which on some occasions the current was downright dangerous. The first indication that you are in for some fast moving water is when its a significant struggle to hold onto the boat or down line without getting blown away. The second indication is when the current is constantly pushing the purge button on your regulator and overflowing your mouth with air and bubbles. The third indication is the current pushing you backwards along the bottom regardless of:

the spike or claw you have stuck into the bottom
the thirty five pounds of dive weights in your vest
the additional heavy ass stones you stuffed into your vest.

Times like these I typically bail for the surface before the current sends me tumbling backwards and into a log jam or cave.

You are in for some very enjoyable, very pleasant, good visibility diving. The bottom is 20 feet, you can reach it without scuba if you are so inclined, but you cannot stay long.

We ALWAYS have fun diving the rivers here. My favorite times are when we are diving very shallow water and a new diver asks "What do I do if I get in trouble?".... and the answer he will always get is "Stand up" (with rounds of laughter afterwards)

ps: I have always taken lights with me when diving Venice, but seldom use them

 

[Dwhite213]

My wife is skeptical of finding anything. So I'm hoping to have a good trip so I don't look like an idiot.

 

[Lee Taylor]

On my most recent trip I was on the bottom and getting bored. I had found the "black sand" I had heard about and was searching, searching, searching. After the first dive I asked one of the local divers how she was finding all the tiny teeth. She said they were in the black sand but very hard to see. So on the second dive I quit looking for reasonable size teeth and started looking very, very closely for tiny teeth. Sure enough I started to see an occasional tiny tooth in the black sand.

Here is a video showing the tiny teeth I was talking about
[video=youtube;j6JNDX18TSk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6JNDX18TSk[/video]

 

[j2s]

There's a daily thread on SB about the viz....Keep an eye on it..........

 

[Dwhite213]

I forgot there was a whole sub forum dedicated to Venice fossil hunting. Oops.

 

[kelemvor]

I did the fossil dive last fall. Being a new diver, it was my first salt dive - and a LOT of fun! I only found four puny teeth, but one of the other divers with us found a rather large meg tooth. Visibility was mostly around 5', although from what I hear it wasn't bad for that area.