Venice Beach Dive

I'll be in Sarasota in early June. I'm considering a beach dive to do
some fossil hunting and I've heard that Venice/Casperson is a possible
location.

Anyone have any experience diving these beaches? Is it worth the effort
or should I book a charter and dive culverts and barges instead?

Thanks,

Bart F.

Also, is it feasible to do the "bone yard" from the beach or is it
strictly a close-in boat dive?

nobody wrote:

> I'll be in Sarasota in early June. I'm considering a beach dive to do
> some fossil hunting and I've heard that Venice/Casperson is a possible
> location.
>
> Anyone have any experience diving these beaches? Is it worth the effort
> or should I book a charter and dive culverts and barges instead?
>
> Thanks,
>
> Bart F.
>

I dove 15 miles off shore of Venice, FL last June 03 w/ a shop called
www.floridawestscuba.com. Owner's name is Steve Thacker. For a 1 day 2
tank trip, we went out to the army tanks and a ledge area. Depth of 50'
+/-. BIG jewfish, 4 M60 US Army tanks were dropped out there some years ago
and is a fun little wreck site. The ledge is so-so with typical fish, a
few big jewfish here and there. Their big site is a wreck called the
Bayronto, but it's deep and
is quite a ways out. Steve is a nice guy, runs a good little shop and boat
w/ a freshwater spray hose to desalt you after coming out. His boat is a
little small so he can't hold many divers, about 6 to 8 max. Actually, I
just read that he has a new boat but haven't seen it. If the gulf is not
rough, you might be able to reach the fossil beds from the beach. When I was
there in June '03, there were 3-5' waves and windy. Steve said the beds
start about 20' depth, I think. Check out his website or email him for more
reliable info!!

Chris