I will be spending a winter in
Bradington Florida. I have dove the northern caves and I am wondering if there are any caves close to the Tampa Bay area. This is not cave related but is there any decent shore diving.
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I will be spending a winter in
Bradington Florida. I have dove the northern caves and I am wondering if there are any caves close to the Tampa Bay area. This is not cave related but is there any decent shore diving.
Perhaps you mean, "Bradenton?" My dad lives in that area.Quote:
Originally Posted by diverpaul69
The caves are pretty much north & west of that area, although some may be within 1-2hrs drive. I'd check Walter's site for caves in the Pasco County area (within 90 min of Bradenton).
As for Bradenton itself, the closest thing is Bradenton Beach/ Holmes Beach. There is one "shore" dive I've done right off of Bradenton Beach where there is a wreck located, but it's only in 20fsw and mostly covered by sand. There's an LDS right across the street from it. Another LDS, along the way to it might give you some ideas in re: boat charters, which may go further out into the gulf from that general area.
Venice beach is a bit south of Bradenton. You can find awesome sharks teeth right (to include megalodon) off the beach in 10-20ft of water. Its pretty fun if you've got some time to kill or just want to get wet.
the spanish rocks are a beach dive on the curve just past the publix shopping center...... there is the sugar barge which is the one MAG3 was talking about.....there are some old pier poles good for a get wet a little farther south and a little farther south than that is a little bay/ledge/sunken rowboat dive.
There is a dive shop on Cortez Blvd, just over the bridge on the left m (shopping center with a liquor store and a laundry mat). stop in there and the owner Mike will draw you a map to the places. Think it is called Ocean Pro...... Owners family also owns a dive shop in Sarasota so if he doesnt have something you need he can usually get it by the next day. There was another shop rirght on the island(something Trek) but I found they could not pump into nitrox tanks as they did not have the filters on their compressor.... I found it unbelievable but true.... dont know if they have changed that but I just dont bother now.
There are a few grotto or sink places a bit of a drive, like Hudson Grotto and there is a lake, Lake Denton.....but heard the lake referred to as Lake Torture so dont know if it worth your time
"SeaTrek." I got a few of my PADI certs from that shop. The owner (when I was there) was the nicest guy. Sadly, from what I understand, he no longer dives due to medical reasons but may still be manning the shop and managing the other instructors etc.Quote:
Originally Posted by JerseyJersey
They did not pump Nitrox when I was there. In fact, Nitrox was one of the certs I got from that shop, and IIRC, we had to fill tanks at BG, where we did the class dives for Nitrox.
You can go on a charter boat for sharks tooth dives off Venice Beach, and get cave fills from Florida West Scuba School (941-486-1400) in Venice, just off to the right before the first bridge over to the city of Venice. My dive buddy Capt. Steve Thacker owns the shop, so be nice to him!
There is aother shore dive north of the sugar barge. It's the Spanish Rocks. They are about 125 yards off shore in 20' of water. If viz is good it is an awesome dive. It is a ledge that runs north and south. In the winter months it gets some really nice fish. There have been large sea turtle sightings and nurse shark sightings. There is usually a lot of life on that ledge.
There is also some charters right down there operated by Scuba Quest that go out off of Cortez Rd. They run every day of the week so you shoulsd have no problems getting some dives in.
There is aother shore dive north of the sugar barge. It's the Spanish Rocks. They are about 125 yards off shore in 20' of water. If viz is good it is an awesome dive. It is a ledge that runs north and south. In the winter months it gets some really nice fish. There have been large sea turtle sightings and nurse shark sightings. There is usually a lot of life on that ledge.
There is also some charters right down there operated by Scuba Quest that goes out off of Cortez Rd. They run every day of the week so you shoulsd have no problems getting some dives in.
To be honest, I don't dive much in that area these days. My focus is "Cave Country" and I have all my FL gear in a storage locker up there. Perhaps I may restart some diving there as my dad's SO just recently got her OW. In fact, I think she probably did that charter dive off Venice Beach for her OW Quals.Quote:
Originally Posted by divindoc
But thanks anyway. Good to keep in mind. :)
Thanks for the information. Sorry about the misspending. I guess if I going to live there I should know hoe to spell it
Bradenton is my home town and although I have not lived there full time since the 1970s I still have family there and visit fairly frequently.
Other posts covered much of what the area has to offer but I thought I would add some info as well.
The Regina wreck, mentioned above as the sugar barge, is a short swim off the Bradenton Beach shore across the street from Pete and Loraine's Sea Trek dive shop. They worked hard about six years ago to get that wreck recognized as part of Florida's Underwater Archaeological Preserves. It's a fun dive now and then but use a flag and don't expect good vis.
Another dive shop in Bradenton on Manatee Avenue is Scuba Quest, and the guy there (John Falcone) is a tech diver. They either run trips or know of trips that go out south of Bradenton to wrecks like the Bayronto off Sarasota. (In addition to other wrecks off St. Pete to the north.)
There are also fun places to dive or snorkel like Egmont Key. Hudson Grotto is probably closest for fresh water diving but you will only be a little more than three hours from cave country.
Bradenton was my home for 5 years too, DP69! Maybe I can stay in your spare room and show you around town a bit.
P.S. I'll bring my compressor!
Yep, me too, OW just doesn't have the appeal that the caves do, but FWSS is a good shop to get a cave fill before you head up north, and if you like looking for fossils it can't be beat.Quote:
Originally Posted by mag3