WATER & COAST
Caspersen Beach
Sarasota County · Gulf Coast
The southernmost and quietest of the Venice beaches, and the one people walk with a sifter looking for fossil shark teeth.
ABOUT THIS PLACE
Venice calls itself the shark tooth capital of the world and the claim rests on geology. Ten million years ago this coast was under water and thick with sharks, and the fossil layer beneath the beaches here runs eighteen to thirty-five feet deep. Storms and waves work teeth out of that layer and push them up onto the sand, so anyone walking the waterline can pick up a tooth ten million years old and keep it. Caspersen is the least developed of the Venice beaches, a long natural shoreline with no concession stand and a good deal less parking than the beaches north of it, which is exactly why fossil hunters prefer it. Most people work the foot-high drop-off at the water's edge with a long-handled sifter, the sort known locally as a Venice snow shovel, which can be rented in town. The Shark Tooth Festival runs each April. The sand is darker and coarser than Siesta Key's
Not identified in this guide as an officially clothing-optional beach. This is a visit category, not a safety rating—check surf, lifeguards, water quality and posted rules.
BEACH CONDITIONS
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