We are always looking for new training sites, so we decided to hit Holmes Beach (Manatee Beach) just north of Spanish rocks today. The idea was to find a site that will have better viz in bad weather (sugar sand versus the clay we have down in Venice) and facilities like a shower and bathroom as well. The site is actually very nice with picnic tables, nice showers, snack shack and restrooms.
So, we got in the water and were immediately flagged down by the lifeguard who told us we couldn't dive in the swimming area. It is important to note that there are no signs or indications that you cannot dive there - besides the fact we were the only one in the water. Okay, no problem, you just have to stay out of the area marked by the buoys. I also looked at the Manatee County website and found no information there either. The deal is that you should use the picnic area to suit up and then head out to the south about 50 feet past the last swim marker. Of course I know that scuba divers cause all sorts of problems for swimmers, so this rule makes complete sense to me.
Once you are out there, the bottom slopes VERY gently to 20 feet and then it gets real flat. So flat in fact that we swam off-shore for 20 minutes and I never saw the depth change. The only structure we ran across was random locations for Stone Crab holes (about 10 or so in each cluster). We came back south along the beach and still didn't run into any structure. I know that the rocks from Spanish Rocks extend north, just not all the way to Holmes Beach.
Having said all that, however, the site lives up to expectations with viz. Even with the slightly rough surf we had yesterday, viz was a solid 10-15 feet and we found lots of interesting sand dwellers there, including a Seahorse, rays, lots of crab, and a fair number of anemones. Greg
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