Caspersen Beach Park

This beach is located in Venice, just south of the Venice fishing pier. It is known for its shelling and shark teeth findings, which are really fossils.
Parking is close and there are boardwalks and restrooms, however no lifeguards. And because it’s filled with shells and shark teeth, not the typical white sand beaches that Florida is well known for.
The reason there are so many shark teeth here is due to the waves crashing on shore. Did you know that sharks lose approx 25,000 teeth in a lifetime? With 370 different varieties of sharks, that’s a whole lot of visits from the tooth fairy!
As it was a cool February day, it was a pleasant beach to walk on.

Our little family of 5 from Pennsylvania visited this beach for the first time last week. We had no idea how to go about finding the elusive sharks teeth and to be honest, had a goal of *maybe* finding one or two. At first, we skimmed the area and found nothing. We didn’t have any equipment and like most people now-​a-​days want instant gratification. Soon we realized if a person just stops and concentrates on one little area, you will soon start to see them. I described it to my 9-​year-​old– «if you stop and really look in one area, at first, you won’t notice anything. But look closely, start looking at the details of the small „stones“ and you will soon see them everywhere.» We ran into a bunch of families who were frustrated with not finding anything until we showed them that they truly are laying around everywhere. Soon everyone around us started to find them. Don’t go thinking the teeth will jump out at you, I promise once you find one, you will suddenly know what you are looking for and will start seeing them everywhere.
We found a chart online and found ray, different sharks teeth and 2 megalodon teeth and sooo much more!
Tip– black sand = the layer that the sharks teeth are in.
Now, I am not from this area, but as a Mom, I am constantly aware of the «mom radar» when something is «off».
There is definitely something going on with gay men on this beach and also in the «Back tree areas» of the peninsula. I would notice a single man pass by us about every 30 minutes or so and they were all heading out to the end of the beach area. At one point our family was following a secluded path that runs in the middle of the peninsula between the beach and river. There was most definitely something going on in the trees and bushes off the side of the path. It was NOT the sound of a small animal either– if you know what I mean. For this reason, I would not allow my kids out of my sight. It is a shame that this is something you need to worry about while at this really cool beach.

My husband and I woke up early to go shark tooth hunting at Caspersen Beach. I loved that this beach is so different than the usual Gulf coast beaches. The sand is darker (must be super hot in the summer so wear some flip flops), there are rocks and the beach is long and thin. A nice change of pace from the white sand touristy beaches. There are a few small parking lots and the bathroom facilities are extremely nice! We spent numerous hours shell hunting and shark tooth hunting. The time really did go fast and we found numerous shells and some small shark teeth. We did come prepared with a sand sifter, you can pick them up at locals stores as well as Walmart for about twenty dollars. You will be happy you have one. We will be back to hunt for more shark teeth!

Shark tooth capital of the world! If you go here you will fine teeth. The beach is not really swimable, it has strong waves but great for picnic and lounging. Super fun finding the teeth it becomes addictive plan for the day. They also have a kayak ramp that leads into Red Lake and some nice waterways with lots of mangroves.

Pretty nice beach. There is plenty of space to spread out, so you don’t have to worry about over crowding. Also there is a public restroom and a few rinse stations in the area to make your beach trip a little more enjoyable. Casperon’s is about a stones throw away from Sharky’s too, if you want to grab a bite to eat, get drinks, or walk the pier after.

This place was pretty good. It’s relatively quiet, and the «clientele» was classy and clean. Restrooms were well maintained. No shady spots, so bring your own portable shade. The beach is rocky, not like the typical white sand beach, as other reviewers have written here. Wear those «water shoes» because our feet got a little banged up on the rocks. Swimming was great. Perfect size waves for little ones. There are NO sharks’ teeth to be found here unless you spend hours and get fancy baskets to search both on the beach and under the water with snorkeling gear. We were there for 2 hours and although we didn’t look non-​stop, we looked for a good while and found all of one. A tiny one. Probably from a premature shark who got picked on by the bigger sharks. Who knows if we did it right, but we found no more. OH, wait, we did find a whole bunch. At the gift shop on Main Street in Venice, down the road.

Absolutely loved our trip here. Kids and adults had a ball searching for Shark teeth. We even got to see a gopher tortoise! Parking is limited but if you get there early it’s ok. Many of the ramps have stairs down to the beach that makes it a little hard to bring a stroller or beach wagon down. At high tide there is little beach to laze about on so be prepared that if it’s crowded you may have a difficult time finding a great place to sit. The beach has showers and restroom facilities.

Driving from Fort Lauderdale to Tampa when we needed a break. Were stumbled across this beach at random. It was amazing. We usually go to California beaches which there water is freezing, dirty and there is no visibility in the water. This beach was small but so many shells. My 11 yr old daughter had a blast. All of us grabbed our snorkel gear found a lot of amazing shells, sand dollars and fish!

Shark tooth hunting!
Did you know you can find fossilized shark teeth here? They come in with the tides. And if you bring a Florida snow shovel (look it up) you’re sure to find some.
Granted. They will be the smaller ones. You have to go diving for the seriously big teeth. But kids don’t care!
It was crazy windy when we came — I would suggest you always make sure you bring proper wind and sun gear with you. Happy hunting!

Awesome park. Clean and unspoiled, with clean public restrooms.
The beach itself is better suited for walking as it is not the typical white sand beach you will find up and down the gulf coast.
But plenty of fishing, biking and hiking.
Only downside is parking, which cannot accommodate everyone during peak tourist season.

Lovely beach, lovely views. There are so many beaches in the area, yet each one has its own distinctive features. This beach is different from many of the others as it is very rocky. As others have mentioned previously, it’s great for looking for shark teeth, as well as you can get some breathtaking pictures; however, we did not go there to soak up the sun rays. The strip of beach is very limited, and with all the rocks, I wouldn’t suggest swimming there. Some people were relaxing on the beach, but when there are so many other options to choose, I would pick somewhere else.
In a nut shell, go for shark teeth and views. I didn’t find any shark teeth the time we went, but I know people who go and find them all the time. Buy one of the sand sifters to help find them. If you want to go swimming or soak up the sun, either go further down the beach then where I was, or go somewhere else.

This is a beautiful beach in Sarasota county. Great for collecting shells and shark teeth. I guess too many people know about the sharks teeth because they were few and far between when I was there but I did find a good sized hermit crab in the water which I thought was awesome. Water is great and calm and the sand is nice. Good beach.

Caspersen Beach is off rt 41 past the airport and golf course, all the way to the end of the road. There are restroom facilities and lots of parking. We go here to dig for shark teeth. You can find big shark teeth worth hundreds of dollars. Beautiful waters and buried treasure await you at Casperson Beach!
Important note, make sure you come in on Harbor dr. or you won’t have access coming the other way because it is blocked off! Harbor Drive goes right past the airport!

I’m not sure if I am reviewing this under the correct name, as I thought the beach was just Venice Public Beach. But my sister and I came here interested in what we read about finding sharks teeth at the beach. Parking was tough, but we did eventually find a spot in municipal parking that wasn’t too far to the beach. Parking rates are average, cheaper of course, during the week which is when we went. We were also able to rent an umbrella and two very nice beach lounge chairs for a very good price. The beach was nice and clean, and the waves were a little choppy but very manageable. But what we found is that sharks teeth are in a lot less supply on this beach than shells! We managed to find two sharks teeth, which was really cool but we had a lot more fun scooping out shells from the water with our toes. The town looks really cute, but we didn’t have time to do any walking or shopping. :(Definetely a fun beach to visit.

Really fun beach for kids to look for shells and shark teeth. Do not go to lay on the beach, too much wind and seaweed. Go to the fishing pier before the beach to buy a shell scooping devise to help you find tiny shark teeth. You scoop up the sand and shells, let the waves wash out the sand and you are left with cool little shells and teeth, they are easy to find and the kids go crazy for them.