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View of the beach from the Venice Fishing Pier with a Heron. The beach around the Pier is a good place to look for Fossil Shark Teeth

A fossil shark tooth partly buried in the sand at Venice Beach. All those tiny black dots are phosphate granules. That's a good sign fossil shark teeth are around.

This is a sample of some of the fossils one can find at Venice. Included are Fossil Shark Teeth - including Megalodon teeth, a Ray Plate, Dugong Rib sections, Whale Jaw sections, Horse Teeth, and non-fossil WWII bullets.

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Locations: Where in Venice to Find Shark Teeth and How To find the Fossils

Google Map of the Venice, Florida Area

Fossils at Venice Beach wash onto the beach from the offshore Peace River Formation. They can be found in the surf around the entire Venice area, north at Casey Key to south at Manasota Key.
Venice beach and the surrounding beaches are a great place to take your family fossil hunting. There are virtually no dangers like many other fossil locations. They will be as safe there as any other beach. If you want to travel to Venice, the "Shark Tooth Capital of the World" and look for shark teeth, here are some search tips and locations.

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Before you Begin

Before you begin your hunt for fossil shark teeth, I recommend first going to "Sea Pleasures and Treasures" right on the main drag at 255 W Venice Ave. This beach gift shop has a really nice display of megalodon shark teeth and all the other fossils found around Venice. It's always good to see what you will be searching for before you start!

When to Go

You can shark tooth hunt any time of the year! If you are planning on diving, the visibility is reduced in the summer, and often in the spring when there are lots of storms.

Besides for the time of year, you want to look for sharks teeth at Low Tide. During high tide, most of the fossils will be underwater.

The absolute best time to search the beach for fossil shark teeth is a morning low tide after a storm... The morning because there have been less people looking, and after a storm because the wave action kicks up the fossils.

How to look for fossils

If you are beachcombing, all you have to do is look at the tidal line (where all the debris is), shark teeth will be mixed in with the seashells. Also, look where the waves are hitting the beach. Shark teeth are often washing back and forth in the waves. Don't expect to see dozens of shark teeth washing around. It takes some time to find them. But if you are diligent, you can find dozens of teeth!

Recommended Equipment

You can find sharks teeth with no equipment at all. However, many people have better luck by sifting the sand and shells. If you want to sift for sharks teeth, you want the sifter screen to be no larger than 1/4".

Papa's Bait Shop rents sifters for a small fee. They are on the Venice Fishing Pier. The entrance is at Sharky's restaurant.

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Fossil Hunting Locations along Venice

Strangely, Venice Beach proper, the one at the end of the street in Downtown Venice is not a good place to look for sharks teeth because the city has pumped sand onto the beach to prevent it from eroding. Unfortunately, this caused the fossils to become buried.

To look for shark teeth fossils, you want to head either North to the less populated Casey Key, south to Manasota Key, or just walk down the beach to the Venice Fishing Pier... or Dive! Below, I list a few locations and give some Dive recommendations:

Venice Fishing Pier

The Venice Fishing Pier is at 1600 Harbor Dr. S., Venice, FL. It's at Sharky's Restaurant. The beach around the pier still has fossils from the offshore formation washing up.

You will notice the sand has many black granules in it. This is phosphate grains from the formation, shark teeth are found where you see these little black grains.

Good spots to sift are in the surf, where the waves break just in the water, and between the beach and the first sand bar, usually knee to waste deep in water.

MOST of the shark teeth are small (less than an inch in size), so look carefully!

Here is the website for the Venice Fishing Pier.

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Caspersen Beach

Slightly further south at the end of Harbor Dr, Englewood, Venice, FL is Caspersen beach.

This is a scenic park with a beach facility, scenic nature trails, picnic areas, and, of course, a beach. The beach is more rocky, so less swimmers and sunbathers go here, but the fossils like to hide around the rocks. This is an excellent spot to fossil shark tooth hunt.

Good spots to sift are in the surf, where the waves break just in the water, and between the beach and the first sand bar, usually knee to waste deep in water.
MOST of the shark teeth are small (less than an inch in size), so look carefully!

Just like at the Venice Fishing Pier, you will see tons of tiny black phosphate granules in the sand that come from the offshore formation. Sift away!

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Manasota Beach

This beach is a few miles south of Caspersen beach. It's at the end of Manasota Beach Road. The address is: 8570 Manasota Key Road, Manasota Key, FL

This scenic beach has a beach facility and a boardwalk to get to the beach. Just like the other beaches, fossils can be found washing in the surf, and in the tide line. One fun thing at this beach is the concrete walkway has fossil shark teeth embedded in it!

Good spots to sift are in the surf, where the waves break just in the water, and between the beach and the first sand bar, usually knee to waste deep in water.
MOST of the shark teeth are small (less than an inch in size), so look carefully!

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Diving

Since the Peace River Formation is just off the shore (around 1/2 mile), the best way to find the larger fossils, such as megalodon shark teeth, is diving!

Also, fossils aside, it's a really nice dive. The visibility is often 10 feet or so, the depth is shallow at 25-35 feet (lots of bottom time), the water is warm, and you will see tons of sea life!

There are a few ways to dive, you can either do a shore dive or dive off a boat:

Shore Dives

You can do a shore dive from the beach. This method has drawbacks. The Peace River Formation, the "Boneyard" is about 1/2 to 1 mile off the beach. That's a huge swim, and with boat traffic, it's downright dangerous. If you dive closer to the beach, you'll still start to find larger fossils that didn't wash ashore, but because of the wave action, the visiblility is very poor.

Charter Dives

I recommend diving from a boat off shore. If you don't have a boat, or don't know a buddy with a boat, there are plenty of charters that will take you. Each charter does a 2 tank dive either off Venice, or further south near Caspersen. These charters drop you right on top of the "Boneyard." Even though you are diving for fossils, it is still hit or miss. Sometimes you may find very little, other times you'll hit the mother load!
Below are a few of the charters:

1. Aristakat Charters

This is the charter I used. It was a wonderful experience. Captain Jamie and Lori are really nice. They take a maximum of 6 people, which is smaller than some other charters. This means you get there faster and search with less people on the bottom.

2. Man Overboard Charters

This charter also holds up to 6 divers. I have not used this one, but it has gotten good reviews from people who have. The reason I didn't use this charter is you pay for the whole boat and there were only 2 of us diving. Not knowing the total number of divers and therefore the total cost, it was just easier to set up the dives with Aristakat.

3. Florida West Scuba and Charters

This charter is a bit larger and holds up to 12 divers. The larger size is the reason I did not pick this charter. However, this charter offers 3 tank combination dives, where you see a ledge, artificial reef, and shark tooth dive. So if you want to do a day of diving and not just look for shark teeth, this may be for you.

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Identification of Venice Beach Fossils:

Below are images of common fossils found in the Peace River Formation (Bone Valley Member):
Common Fossil Shark Teeth of Venice Beach Florida:

If you dive, you will also find tons of very solid and robust Dugong rib sections. They are incredibly dense and survive fossilization very well. Below are images of a Dugong skeleton and a skull if you are wondering what whole ribs and other bones would look like. Below is a skeleton of of a Dugong from the Chartleston Museum. Notice the robust ribs.

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Additional Information for Fossil Hunting at Venice

When diving for fossil shark teeth, the fossils usually have coral, calcite, and barnacles encrusting them. The above image shows some completely encrusted shark teeth. To remove the encrusted coral, simply soak in vinegar. You can use half water and half vineger. If it doesn't completely dissolve overnight, simply soak them in another batch. Don't worry, this will not damage the fossils in any way.

When diving or beach combing, occasionally you will come across an old .50 caliber piece of cartridge or a bullet. In the above picture, one of them has a "42" stamp, meaning it's from 1942. The other one is too corroded to tell.

The waters around Venice are full of these bullets and cartridges. During WWII Venice had an Air Force training base, where pilots would train before being deployed.

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Venice Shark's Tooth Festival

Venice has a Shark's Tooth Festival for a weekend every April.

Fossil collectors and vendors from all around show up for this fossil filled weekend. There are also food vendors, artists, musicians, and activities all weekend.

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Fossil Hunting Permit

In order to fossil hunt vertebrates on state land in Florida, you must have a Fossil Permit. Fossil Shark teeth are specifically excluded, so you DO NOT need a permit to collect fossil shark teeth.
Anyone can apply for the permit. Additional information and the permit from the FLMNH is here.

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Swimming with Manatees

Besides for Shark Tooth Hunting, there are many other attractions in Florida. Although you have a chance of seeing Manatees in Venice (mainly at the inlets), North of Venice at Crystal River is one of the best places in the world to view Manatees. There are Manatee tour operators that will allow you to safely and legally swim with Manatees. If you are traveling, you can use the beautiful town of Venice as your home base and make a day trip to Crystal River.

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Recommended Florida Shark Tooth Books and Items:

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