Beach Bash

I am a huge fan on a website www.scubaboard.com it is a forum with tons of resources for the avid diver. One of the many perks I have found with this website is its ability to help network the dive community. Recently scheduled was a "Venice Beach Bash" an annual dive event where a bunch of divers get together, the local charter captains offer free dives out to the bone yard. If you are ever in the area around June take a look at the site and plan to meet some great people, and do some awesome dives. I recommend joining the site regardless and if there is a referral option please mention COWSskateGOOD, you will find TONS of reviews, spots, tips, accident reviews.....

How to clean sharks teeth

I do not take credit for this, and have learned this method from a charter captain in the area. However the best way to clean megs/sharks teeth/ and found fishing rods that have years/months of encrusted coral growth is to take Apple Cider Vinegar mixed with water, depending on the level of growth 25% - 75% mixture. Let the item soak for as long as needed with mild scrubbing/scrapping/wiping until desired effect.

Today dove a new spot off of Venice Beach. Approximately a mile or so directly West of the life guard stands in about 25 of water you will find a 4 or 5 foot relief on your depth finder. This appears to be a natural ledge with rocks. Beautiful reef with tons of fish, hogs and varied other species. Today the viz was not quite ideal 5' range with suspended particles and areas a lot less then that. However had a great time finding big sized Meg (Sharks teeth).

Sharks Teeth

Ramble Post:

Yesterday I had the privilege of diving Alhambra via beach. My boat has been broken this entire week and I actually had to get Tow Boat U.S. to come get me out of Lemon Bay a few days prior. I almost thumbed the dive, due to what I felt was too windy of conditions (winds from the SE 8knots) with what appeared to be strong top surge. However when I walked to the beach I saw crystal clear top to bottom viz. OHHH YEAH!!!! I went out to about 20 feet of water straight east of Alhambra and attempted to locate the bone yard  ( a well known fossil bed ) I loved the dive, it was approx 8 feet of viz and very easy to find teeth, fish, structure. I had a fantastic time. My SAC rate has seemed to drop and I blame it on Insanity the work out program and my latest training with the Fire Department, I ended up spending about 1 hour at 20' with 2/3 of my tank leftover... HOW AMAZING :)

Swell Info

In an attempt to drive more traffic to our blog, and help share and promote information of the local area. I have signed up as a www.swellinfo.com poster ? Well I am not quite sure of the title, however I will be posting condition reports on the website to help out fellow divers/snorkelers. As soon as my account is set up and activated I will link to the page.

M16 Reef

Today's dive was a 2 tank dive at M16, after planning this dive for several days and meeting up with a couple friends we hit this spot around 11am today. I was a tad nervous getting out to this spot in our 19' Seapro CC, but it did great with the 1' waves. We arrived exactly at the coordinates listed and found concrete culverts, basins, and what appeared to be some sort of I-beam from a bridge. Tons of small fish, several Jew fish in the 30+ Lb range, and Barracuda. We also found 3 fishing rods, and a boat anchor. The site was not too crowded  we were able to find our own chunk to call our own and really enjoyed the diving here.

M16 is located 8.5 Miles West out of Venice Pass (27° 03.827’N  82° 35.625’W) at a depth of 50'


Youtube video of us diving M16 : HERE

Finding Fishing/Spear Spots

Well today is far from a good dive day, I was tempted to take the boat out and search the area for "numbers or dive locations." but the wind was really to strong to make it enjoyable. I find it very difficult to find a website that shares any of this information, so I plan on updating this blog with numbers that I research/find. On my non-dive able days I find myself researching and today was no different I went to West Marine and purchased a Dive/Fishing Chart of the area that has about 100 sets of coordinates up and down the coast from Sarasota/Port Charlotte, and one of my goals is to dive almost all of them and hopefully find some fish to shoot. I have learned to look for ledges, reefs, or other structure that the fish like to use as a home, this can be done on bad viz days by driving your boat in a methodical search pattern looking for changes on your depth finder, or by sheer luck. Subscribe to my blog for updates of locations.....