Diving for May 19 Weekend

[ThrillCheng]

Hello local divers. I am a new scuba diver (< 20 dives) but I was going to be out in the Sarasota/Venice area this upcoming weekend and was looking for either a dive buddy who might be interested in some shore diving (any recommendations on good shore diving sites?) or a recommendation on a dive charter in the area. Is it worth it to take a dive charter, or are most of the things to see (sharks tooth and artificial reefs and such) visable from shore dive locations? Thanks.

 

[j2s]

Bottom is flat, clay, mud and silt...Some gravel/shell areas......No artificial reefs...Depth at the Bone Yard is about 30'...3'-6' viz is common.....No real current to speak of......You can dive from the shore [it's a 'haul'] hope you're in good shape..The swim out is no problem, the return after diving is what gets people...Be ready to take your gear apart to clean it afterwards, silt & sand gets into everything.......... You can dive w/or wo a 'buddy', everyone gets a flag......Megalodoncharters.com & Aristakatcharters.yolasite.com...Both are good......

 

[oldflounder]

Hello local divers. I am a new scuba diver (< 20 dives) but I was going to be out in the Sarasota/Venice area this upcoming weekend and was looking for either a dive buddy who might be interested in some shore diving (any recommendations on good shore diving sites?) or a recommendation on a dive charter in the area. Is it worth it to take a dive charter, or are most of the things to see (sharks tooth and artificial reefs and such) visable from shore dive locations? Thanks.

I was down there this past weekend and checked out some of the areas I have read about on these postings. I didn't see many divers about. The popular spot I found was Service Beach near the airport. You can gear up at your car and hump it down to the beach or if you're old, fat and out of shape like me, you can gear up at one of the picnic tables on the walkway down. I thought it was a fun place to dive. I went straight off the walkway and out 500'+/_ to the first reef. Dropped down into 21' of water right on top of it. It's interesting for a first time dive. Lot's of fishies, etc. I took a cat litter scoop with me and poked in the sand. There was a N to S current on the bottom so I used that to carry the silt away. Had to fight off the nosy fishies looking for a free meal. Found a couple small teeth and a piece of fossilized bone but spent most of my dive concentrating on situational awareness, avoiding letting dangling gear contact the reef, watching the different types of fish, maintaining position near my flag, my safety, etc. There is one place of interest I found that I haven't read of anyone searching. There is a line of demarcation on the bottom where the slope from the beach meets the actual bottom. it is about 1/2 way out to the reef. There is much fresh plant debris here in a Nly/Sly line about 1' wide. It looks like a place where the current moves the bottom debris up and down [parallel to shore] with the tides. I wish I could have had more time to poke around in this debris. It might have been easy pickings for teeth of a smaller size. I mention this because you may not wish to go out too far if you are alone and this would be a good spot closer to shore in about 15' of water to look around. I was there on a Sunday. The closest dive shop doesn't open until 9 so you may want to get your tanks the previous night. I would recommend a charter to the boneyard if you can afford it.

Another trick I found that worked well because of the low viz [10-12'] is to secure your dive flag to the bottom and clip a cave line to it and just do your searches off this line. If I did this beach a lot, in order to hold down the flag, I would use one of those spiral dog tie down spikes in the sand or a small 15#boat anchor I would carry out on an inflated lift bag. You will always know your position and wil be able to return when you drift away. The current is not real strong but it does move you if you're not paying attention.

If you are not a local, don't know the good spots, are alone and only have 1 chance to do this I would just pick a spot and search there the whole time. 1 of the little black teeth I found was just sitting on top of the white sand all by it's lonesome - pretty hard to miss.


Have a fun dive.

 

[ThrillCheng]

Thanks for the replies. How far is the "haul" out to the bone yard? Also.. is anyone interested in going for a diver earlier in the day, Saturday? I realized that due to my poor planning, I have an early flight out Sunday morning, so I'ld like to dive early as possible Saturday, May 19. Don't want to get DCS.

 

[oldflounder]

Thanks for the replies. How far is the "haul" out to the bone yard? Also.. is anyone interested in going for a diver earlier in the day, Saturday? I realized that due to my poor planning, I have an early flight out Sunday morning, so I'ld like to dive early as possible Saturday, May 19. Don't want to get DCS.

It is my understanding you need a boat to get out to the boneyard. I watched one of the charter boats heading there from the N fishing pier that I was standing on and it went beyond the horizon to the SWly. The Scuba West boat loads up at 7:30 everyday, gets back at 1ish. I am not sure of the Aristakat.

I don't think you have to worry about DCS if you are doing one dive at 25'.

 

[dkramer]

I may be diving on the 19th. It will all depend on weather & any last minute school stuff I need to get done. I kayak dive at S. BRohard. I use the yak because it is easier for this old lady to get out of the water that way but you are more than welcome to dive with me if you wish. I just paddle out over the sandbar & jump in. You swim to me & away we go. I use the yak to carry my dive flag so no need for you to tote one as well. S.Brohard has an artifical reef that I like to play on. I won't lie to you, we don't find a whole lot of teeth there but we do find some bones. I have a mammoth tooth partial that I found on that reef. Anyways..............up to you............and the weather................I'll probably know for sure by mid week, next week.



Oh, I forgot, I usually go on Saturday morning...........early. I usually hit the beach about 9:00, in the water by 9:30.

 

[thedaddy]

Hey Trillcheng - if conditions favor decent visibility (for venice, that's anything over 6' lol) you'll have a great time. If I were you, I'd take dkramer up on her offer - she knows what she's doing. At the very least she can give you some good tips to get you started. The first time I went a few years back I had no idea how to go about fossiling and had a couple of guys showed me the ropes (Walter and Reefguy). Their tips helped me alot. If you check the stickys at the top of the venice thread there is a lot of good info. Of particular interest to the new venice diver is the following sticky that Jeff created http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ve...2466-reefguys-venice-fossil-diving-guide.html
If you're like the rest of us, one good day at venice and you'll be hooked (so to speak).

BTW, you can get DCS after diving 25 feet then flying, depending upon your dive profile and flight altitude/cabin pressurization. Standard NDL depth/times are based upon sea level altitude so be careful and mind your no fly time.

 

[ThrillCheng]

Thanks for all the help. I did end up taking a dive charter out to the reefs with MOB Charters. Visibility was at least 10' so I am assuming we got a good day, according to the posts here. DKramer, you were right, I did not find a lot of megalodon teeth, but did find tons of fossil whale bone. Eventually, I just stopped looking and started to check out the fish and corals more. Captain Rick found a couple partials of other shark teeth, though, including a 2-incher megalodon tooth in decent shape. Overall, it was pretty fun, and I would go again. Just gotta look harder next time.

Oh, and I ended up doing two dives about an hour each at ~28 and ~25 feet. Flew out the next morning, no problems.

 

[dkramer]

Yepper, 10 ft is good viz! Glad you enjoyed it! Come on back anytime!!