Venice Dive report 9-15-2007

[plagsage]

Hey MOTEMAN do you use a SOT kayak for diving?
My goal last year was to get a kayak for diving and fishing and my Wife bought me a kayak for Christmas. It is great for fishing, but I don't think it is going to cut it for diving. But, at least her heart was in the right place.
Oh, and Where is this Alhambra you speak of?

 

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

I dive from a "cheapy" pelican tandem yak, that I bought in Galveston, while I was a student @TAMUG. It is a sit-on, but they are really the only thing to dive from. Why do you think your yak won't do for diving? If it's stable, will hold you and your gear, and can be paddeled without too much effort, it should do fine, or is it a sit-in?

Alhambra Beach is in Venice, here are the directions:
Venice Beach
Dive Spot: Venice Beach, FL

Type of diving Shark tooth and fossil hunting in the Gulf of Mexico. This area is a prehistoric river bed and does yeild more fossils than the sharks teeth.

Type of diving: Shore dive

Directions: Google Maps
I-75 exit 200 to Osprey.
Continue Southeast on TAMIAMI TRL N/FL-45 S/US-41 S toward BAYVIEW DR. Continue to follow TAMIAMI TRL N/FL-45 S. 7.4 miles Map
Turn RIGHT onto MIAMI AVE W. <0.1 miles
Turn LEFT onto NOKOMIS AVE S. <0.1 miles
Turn RIGHT onto PONCE DE LEON AVE. 0.3 miles
Turn LEFT onto HARBOR DR S. 0.1 miles
Turn RIGHT onto ALHAMBRA RD. 0.4 miles
Follow ALHAMBRA RD to the end

What to expect at the dive site: Typical sharks teeth found are from the folloing: Dusky and Blacktip family, Sand Shark (current and prehistoric), Bull Shark, and Lemon Shark. More rare but also found are Mako, Great White, Snaggle Tooth and Megalodon. Other fossils that can be found include dolphin, manatee, and whale bones, stingray stingers and crusher platelettes and tail vertabrae, porcupine fish platelettes, mammoth and mastadon teeth/tusk/vertabrae, sloth claws, alligator scales, and sabertooth teeth. Best times for hunting are a few days after a storm when the water has settled down. Depths are 16-18 feet, unless you swim a long way out then you may hit 20.

Where to park: parking is on the street: do not park blocking driveways or park too close to corners. Park the same direction as traffic flow(tickets get handed out weekly).

Amenities Florida West dive shop is about 1 mile north of the site on 41 literally just over the bridge back onto the main land. Sharkey's resturant is at the base of the pier. Venice Beach's downtown district is 1/2 mile off with food and shops as well.

Pros and Cons When the water is clear lots of teeth can be found. When the water is a milky emerald green, there will be no visibity on the bottom and toothing is useless.

 

[plagsage]

Thanks MoteMan,
Yes my kayak is a NativeWatercraft which is sort of a cross between a kayak and canoe, so it is open on top and difficult to reboard from deep water. I have considered an outrigger for stability when reboarding but haven't tried it yet.

I would like to try the Alhambra site.

Currently, I am planning to try a dive in a spring that boils up in the Gulf that one of my work associates told me about. But, I can anchor my yak in 3-4ft of water and then swim to it. This is close to home off of Dunedin/Palm Harbor area.

 

[tlawler]

Currently, I am planning to try a dive in a spring that boils up in the Gulf that one of my work associates told me about. But, I can anchor my yak in 3-4ft of water and then swim to it. This is close to home off of Dunedin/Palm Harbor area.

That's probably Crystal Beach Spring. Post a dive report when you get a chance to dive it. I've been curious about it myself.

I checked Alhambra today and it looked like a rough surf day on the East coast. Waves 2-3 ft., choppy white caps farther out and a stiff 15 kt. breeze from the SW.

 

[dkramer]

I checked Alhambra today and it looked like a rough surf day on the East coast. Waves 2-3 ft., choppy white caps farther out and a stiff 15 kt. breeze from the SW.

Thanks for the report diversolo. I think I'll sleep in tomorrow.

 

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

I'm planning to be there next weekend(viz/weather permitting).

 

[tlawler]

I did a viz check at Alhambra yesterday afternoon and it wasn't good. Divers that were exiting the water were reporting less than 6 inch viz. I was getting ready to go in myself, but fossil babe talked me out of it. If she's not diving, then you know the viz is bad. Hoping for some improvement this weekend, as I'm planning on meeting dkramer and moteman for a yak dive in the boneyard.

 

[plagsage]

That's probably Crystal Beach Spring. Post a dive report when you get a chance to dive it. I've been curious about it myself.

I checked Alhambra today and it looked like a rough surf day on the East coast. Waves 2-3 ft., choppy white caps farther out and a stiff 15 kt. breeze from the SW.

No not Crystal Beach - closer to Pop Stansell Park.
I talked to a friend that knows it and he is going to take me there in a few weeks.

 

[Sh@rkW@tcher]

I'm still planning to dive the Boneyard & the artificial reef on Venice beach this saturday, weather/viz permitting.

Sunday I'm checking out an artificial reef off Longboat Key in the morning and diving Spanish Rocks sunday afternoon.

 

[dkramer]

I'm planning on being there on Saturday, with the yak. Where & what time are we meeting?