Don't let any reviews from before last October..... used this center last week and theirs not one…read morething they could do better. Very professional, knowledgeable and just good people. Out of the 8 divers....at least Six of us found at least one size-able Meg and lots of smaller teeth.

Extremely disappointed. I've been on this dive four times and never found a megalodon tooth, which…read moreis fine I understand it can take time. My issue is that Ben, the dive master, will be on the boat, dive by himself, and collect for himself, and on my last dive he found multiple megs and almost 40 regular teeth. I don't know why he is diving and hunting for himself while others are paying to be there and finding nothing. Sure he gives advice: cover ground and look for the triangle shapes, that's literally it. He repeats those two pieces of information in different ways for five minutes, but it really is the extent of help he gives. It's just disheartening that I've spent hundreds of dollars doing charters and the dive master is by himself, hunting for himself, and finding more than triple than anyone else on the boat. Meg teeth are not natural resources, they are not unlimited, why am I tipping a guy who is in it for himself and I'm coming home empty handed. The captain is snarky, but he's funny if you have the sense of humor of a 65 year old man. Every dive I've been on has horrible visibility, about 2 feet my first few dives, about 4 feet my last few dives. Just hard to justify spending the money to watch dive masters and instructors come home with treasures and I keep going home empty handed. The people working in the shop have terrible attitudes. They seem annoyed when you show up to pick up or drop off gear, and act like they don't want you to shop. Upon entering the shop you're pretty much met with a, "what do you want." This shop is catered more to locals, their own employees, and employee friends. Terrible people. I voiced my concern on their Instagram and was promptly attacked by an employee named Kaitlyn with her using examples of all the things they did to help me as a way to invalidate my concern that paying customers shouldn't have to compete against 20 year vets. The thousands of dollars in plane tickets, car rentals, hotels, and the charters/gear is not worth the way I have been made to feel by Venice Dive Center employees. They also blocked me on Instagram after Kaitlyn attacked me in her response to my comment. They don't want criticism and when bringing up my concerns they addressed anything except the fact that they put divers in unfair situations. Also, how is the Divemaster ensuring your safety when they are first in and last out of the water. Also, don't come here for your certification. When you get certified you need to go through processes and training that pretty much take up your dives. So I feel like if you spend 1.5 hours of your 2 hours in the water hunting for teeth you are not doing all the training like navigation, emergency ascent, emergency weight drop, etc. These processes are designed to ensure you are a SAFE and competent diver. That should be the focus, not the instructor rushing through so he or she can get to tooth hunting. Kaitlyn was supposed to be instructing on the boat. She was quick to brag how many teeth she found. I spoke to her student after and found out he had not done half the things I was required to do when getting my certification. They literally rob you of important training so that they can personally hunt teeth. This company is a means for local teeth hunters to find more teeth under the guise of being employees. There are multiple charters with better reviews that are run by better people. Don't go here. The only people overlooking the terrible service are people who get lucky right away. I even heard Ben say, "There's nothing worse than seeing a newbie find a tooth on their first trip," and to me, that says it all.​

Captain Thacker and his team know diving and better yet, they know sharks teeth and being that you…read moreare probably interested in that if you're diving in Venice, this is the place to go! Steve Thacker used to be a geologist and the man knows his stuff! He'll give a run through of the bones and teeth you will find at the bottom and take you to 2 different locations for big and small sharks teeth, some of which are jewelry-grade and would be lovely on a necklace. There were cold drinks (water and soda) on the boat and cookies were passed around between the 2 dives, though my husband and I would have preferred fresh fruit. Russ was the helper on-board today, great guy who grew up here and going to school in TN right now and working here during the Summer, very helpful and made it easy for us when we were queasy from the boat rocking :). The shop is fully outfitted with gear and equipment and shark's teeth in case you want to buy them and tell friends at home that you scoured the bottom of the ocean for it :). Afterwards make sure to grab a beer and a bite at Fisherman's Wharf.

Caution, as of December 2012 the address and Google map is wrong on yelp, change submitted. They…read moreare not 509 Tamiami Trl S. This is a great little shop, right by its dive boat. Staffed by very experienced knowledgeable and helpful people it offers equipment sales, service, rentals and dive trips. I had a great time with them diving and strongly recommend them. It's an especially rare treat to have no rushing going on. As most dives are shallow, 90 min a tank is normal for most divers and their two tank trip gives you 2 x 90 min on the shallow stuff. Where else can you get that? Virtually all dive boats rush divers into less than 45 minutes. I rented gear for shore dives, did a dive boat trip and bought some minor gear. Loved it and will be back.

Dusty, Nick and Emily all were very patient with me as this was my first fossil dive! If I could…read moregive them 10 stars... I would!!!

From the owner: Explore the Depths with Dusty Discoveries – Premier Scuba Dive Charters in Venice, Florida…read moreJoin Captain Dustyn Haygood on an unforgettable underwater adventure hunting for prehistoric treasures! At Dusty Discoveries, we specialize in guided scuba dive charters focused on fossil hunting for Megalodon shark teeth, mammoth teeth, and other Miocene and Pleistocene era fossils. Dive into the rich fossil beds of Venice, FL – the Shark Tooth Capital of the World – with experienced guides, top-quality gear, and a boat built for comfort and exploration. Whether you’re a beginner or an advanced diver, we’ll help you uncover ancient history beneath the waves.

My mother and I had a fabulous time on the snorkel tour. I was able to upgrade to the huka dive and…read moreI found so many great teeth and a Meg! Captain Jerry was wonderful and my huka instructor, Grace did an amazing job talking me through everything. I felt like a little fish searching the bottom for teeth. I would HIGHLY recommend going on a tour with Keys Huka Dive, the staff were all very knowledgeable. There were also snacks and plenty of drinks on board. We will definitely be back!

The tour was just ok. We were told very little on what to do with snorkeling and searching for…read moreteeth. None of the crew joined anyone off of the boat to provide guidance. There were 6 crew members and they did not make much effort to engage with passengers or provide a nice environment when we already had poor visibility in the water. Standing around on their phones and eating the snacks instead of doing any extra service did not seem professional. We did not get much time to be searching for teach before getting back the boat. We were not told why we had to go back to the boat early and then the ride back took an hour at a slow pace. I felt like we just paid a lot of money for a ride to get to the beach area. It just felt like no effort was put into our experience at all.

If you're looking to create one of those "this is what Florida is all about" days, Great Day Boat…read moreTours with Captain Jenn delivers exactly that--and then some. From the moment we stepped aboard, the experience felt effortless and personalized. Captain Jenn guided us smoothly from Venice out into the Gulf and down toward Stump Pass, where we enjoyed relaxed beach time and some incredible shelling on Peterson Island. It felt like our own private slice of paradise. After a quick and easy shore lunch, we cruised up Lemon Bay and through the Intracoastal back to Venice, taking in beautiful views the entire way. What truly made the day special, though, was Jenn herself--she connected with every member of our family, kept the energy light and fun, and captured so many great photos that we'll treasure for years. It's rare to find an experience that feels both professionally run and genuinely personal. This was one of those days you wish you could bottle up and repeat. Highly recommend--this is a must-do if you're in the Venice area and want a perfect day on the water.

Been coming to Venice for 31 years and was kicking ourselves wondering why we didn't do this…read moresooner! Captain Jenn was phenomenal. She was very knowledgeable about all of the areas, could answer all our questions, gave history and insights along the trip, all while being incredibly kind and thoughtful of our comfort. She went above and beyond to make sure we got to see what we wanted to, give us a few surprises, and had the best attitude. It felt like a family friend taking us out on the boat. While every outing could be different, on this day we got to see dolphins up close, many birds nesting, got to pull up on a key for some beach time, shelling and shark tooth hunting, and loads of sight seeing! Have already recommended to several friends and family who frequent Venice. Can't wait to book again!

Capt. Danielle is simply amazing. Our boat tour was full of dolphins manatees and nesting birds…read moreincluding white pelicans. She really knows her way around midnight pass and her sons took my grandkids fishing. Looking forward to our first sunset cruise along Casey key this spring. If you are looking for something fun to do, take a cruise. Bonus, she does fun videos and pictures for free and sends them to you. Thank you for an awesome day Salty Adventure Boat Tours.

Cpt Danielle took us on an incredible sunset charter. We loved every minute. She is an incredible…read moretour guide and shares her love of the water and sea life. Great adventure for great value!

The whole process was seamless....from making the reservation on line, filling out the required…read morepaperwork, and the execution of a perfect Boating morning! Our Son was our Captain, he own's a boat in Boca so that was a breeze... If you have no clue....They still take time & patience to explain everything.... $$$$ pricy.... Our boat was in excellent condition and we we're instructed to call in 15 min. Before coming in, we did & staff was ready to meet us! The only thing I didn't like, was after paying 400 + for the 5 hour rental...we were charged 67.00 + in fuel. BUT, if you rent a vehicle...you must fill that up as well prior to turning it in...so...it is what it is! FUN DAY!!

We rented a half-day pontoon and it was super fun. Zack, the young man who works there was very…read morefriendly, informative, and thorough. Thanks for a great time! I definitely recommend this place

I booked a charter for today and they never showed up. I called yesterday with questions and nobody…read moreresponded. I tried calling several times this morning to no avail. super unprofessional and I wasted so much money on renting equipment and wasted my time when I could be doing something else. I came to Venice specifically for this and bought cold weather diving gear specifically for this dive. crazy to not even communicate with customers.

We tried to call Dustin 4 times in the week leading up to our dive, since we needed to rent dive…read moregear. The 5th try was via email. Still no response. My spouse finally called from his number and Dustin answered. We verbally confirmed 2 wetsuits, 2 BCDs, fins and boots for the next morning. It wasn't the best start, but as long as it got handled, we can forgive poor communication. The next day, we met the boat at the public ramp. It was not Dustin, but Joe who greeted us. Another party was already there and had been given two wetsuits. When we arrived, it was clear there were not enough wetsuits, BCDs, or fins and booties for us all. Despite having verbally confirmed gear rental the night before, we were left with the boat captains personal wetsuit and a pair of neoprene pants from the truck. The fins weren't the right size for either of us, there was one pair of booties. Again, making the most of the situation, we made do with wrong size, cobbled together gear. (My email to Dustin listed sizes and weights.) We were not vetted for dive certification or levels or really anything prior to getting underway. To be fair, Joe was great and made things work as best he could, but he was set up to fail. He put our group on the teeth and fossils. It would have been a much better, successful dive with in-water guides. Thankfully, we both had dive computers, experience, and some navigation skill, so we were able to salvage the experience. However, this is definitely not a dive-centric charter. The dive safety and gear quality focus was missing from the trip. Diving with a charter boat compared to diving with a dive shop was just a bit different. Was it the best dive trip we've taken? Definitely not. Did it end up okay? Sure. We really thought with all the chaos and the fact that our gear we rented with given to another customer that we would not have to pay the rental, but no, Dustin made sure to reach out very soon after the trip looking for more money, which we begrudgingly paid. All in all, we likely would not take a second trip with Top 2 Bottom. Joe was as good as he could be, given the circumstances. This just isn't how a dive business should be run.