Megledon charters or Aristakat ???

[Dgsmith]

I am going back to Venice over labor day weekend. I dove with Megldon charters last time and they seemed like a good charter service. I did not know about Aristakat then. Who has dove both?? Who is better???
Anybody else going that weekend?? Will dive friday and sat.

 

[WonderMellon]

Dgsmith,
I can not speak to Megalodon Charters as I have never used them. I can tell you that Aristakat is slightly cheaper and is only a 6 pack charter as opposed to the Megalodon which is a 12 diver boat. So the Aristakat will not be as crowded. I have been diving with Capt. Jamie on the Aristakat for 3 years now and have never had a bad experience.

Whichever charter you choose, I wish you good luck in your hunt for the big teeth.

 

[divindiva69]

Have dove with Magalodon over the years. Capt. Steve Jones is the newer owner and just purchased the FL West scuba shop near the boat. Great service, never had any problems. Licensed and certified outfit. shark tooth dive venice florida

 

[earthdog]

I've dove with Aristakat Charters for 2 years. Captain Jamie is a great captain and his boat is a fast, smooth and clean ride. I've always had a great time on the water with Aristakat Charters.

 

[jet126]

I dove Venice Beach for the first time yesterday. We went with Aristakat. He was great - dropped us in spots where we found cool stuff on both dives. It's a nice little boat - very fast and comfortable. Easy to get in/out of and move around. Capt Jamie also gave me a recommendation for hotel - the Venice Beach Villas - which turned out to be spot on. Really nice, "Old Florida" accommodations very close to where we met the boat.

We did ok. Not as good as the kid from Atlanta (we threatened to steal his goodie bag and leave him at the dive site). But for two fossil hunting newbies who can't see worth a hill of beans, we were very happy with our finds!

 

[idive2]

Jet,

How was the viz ? With all the jellies over on the east coast I was going to hit Venice for a couple dives over the weekend.
Also, what kind of depths do the charters drop the divers ? I shore dive in 19-22 ft but seems many more teeth are found from
the charters.

 

[jet126]

Jet,

How was the viz ? With all the jellies over on the east coast I was going to hit Venice for a couple dives over the weekend.
Also, what kind of depths do the charters drop the divers ? I shore dive in 19-22 ft but seems many more teeth are found from
the charters.

Maybe 2-3 ft at the first spot, 3-5 at the second. To be honest I was a little spooked at the first drop. It took a dive to just get comfortable with the super low viz, schmutzie water and extremely silty bottom. By the second dive we were feeling much more confident and started finding something besides dugong ribs. I think max depth was maybe 30 ft. The dives are all 90 minutes or 500 psi, which ever comes first.

The kid from Atlanta found some really pristine good-sized teeth, a completely intact civil war (?) bullet, a whale ear bone and a beautiful 4" meg tooth, split right in half. Still a cool find!

No jellies (as of yesterday) reported anywhere on the Gulf side. The only bad part was the drive home. We took 80 and ran into really bad t-storms. Made for some white-knuckle driving. I'll definitely go again ... just not this weekend.

 

[sharkboy1515]

Dove both charters twice each this week and had great finds from each. Aristakat is faster, cheaper, and a bit less crowded than Megalodon Charters. Both have great service though. Finding fossils though is all about luck of the spot they put you on. I had two dives this week where I barely found anything at all, but then the next dive I found a ton of megs and other fossils. Just book with which ever charter fits your schedule better. Either way, you'll have a great time!

 

[ChainSaw0069]

I have dove with both charters. Service is excellent with both but as long as the boat isnt booked full I like going out with Aristakat.