Walk the tide line at Caspersen Beach in Venice and you will see people bent over, shuffling along with what looks like a small shovel on a long handle. They are not building sandcastles. They are sifting for fossil shark teeth, and most of them will go home with a pocketful.
Venice calls itself the Shark Tooth Capital of the World, and for once the sign is not exaggerating. Scientific surveys of the water off Venice have documented at least 45 species of fossil sharks and rays, along with rib bones from dugongs, an extinct relative of the manatee, and fragments of whale bone. The teeth are between roughly 2 million and 23 million years old, from the late Miocene and early Pliocene, when Florida was a shallow warm sea.
Why here?
Sharks shed teeth constantly, and when this part of Florida was underwater those teeth settled into sediment on the sea floor. As sea levels dropped and the land emerged, the teeth stayed locked in those layers. Wave action erodes the layers and brings the teeth up onto the beach. Caspersen is the most productive spot because its shoreline has never been rebuilt with trucked-in sand, so the original fossil-bearing sediment is still right there at the water's edge. Look for the dark, phosphate-rich sand the waves push up; that is where the teeth concentrate.
Do you need a permit? Florida requires a permit to collect vertebrate fossils, but shark teeth are specifically exempt, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. Pick up as many as you like.
The megalodon
Most of what you find will be small, the teeth of lemon sharks, tiger sharks, makos and bull sharks. The prize is a megalodon tooth. Megalodon was the largest shark that ever lived, and its teeth can be as big as the palm of your hand. A complete one is a rare find on the beach; the serious megalodon hunters go offshore, diving the fossil beds in 20 to 30 feet of water a mile or so out, where the teeth have not been tumbled and chipped by the surf.
How to find teeth
- Get a sifter. Locals call it the Venice snow shovel: a mesh basket on a long handle. Every Publix in town sells them. Serious collectors build floating sifters out of PVC and pool noodles.
- Work the break. Scoop where the waves are breaking and let the water wash the sand through. Teeth are black, grey or brown and glossy, and the triangle shape stands out once your eye adjusts.
- Go after a storm or a strong onshore wind. Rough water churns up fresh sediment.
- Go early. The beach gets picked over by mid-morning on weekends.
- Be patient. The first ten minutes feel hopeless. Then you find one, and then you cannot stop.
The Shark's Tooth Festival
Venice throws a festival for its fossils every spring; the 2026 edition ran April 11 and 12, with food trucks, live music, fossil dealers and hands-on digs for kids. If you are around in April, it is the easiest way to see the big stuff without diving for it.
Make a day of it on the water
Venice sits at the south end of Sarasota County, and the same Gulf that is giving up those teeth is some of the calmest, clearest boating water on the coast. Spend the morning sifting at Caspersen, then spend the afternoon on a Sarasota dolphin tour or a sandbar trip out of the Sarasota or Venice inlets. If you want to see where the teeth really come from, a local charter captain can put you over the offshore ledges where the fossil beds are.
More on the area: 15 things to do in Sarasota.
Questions people ask
Where is the best place to find shark teeth in Venice, Florida?
Caspersen Beach, at the south end of Venice. Its shoreline has never been renourished with imported sand, so the fossil-bearing sediment is still at the water's edge. Venice Beach and the jetties also produce teeth.
How old are the shark teeth found in Venice?
Roughly 2 million to 23 million years old, from the late Miocene and early Pliocene epochs, when this part of Florida was a shallow sea.
Do I need a permit to collect shark teeth in Florida?
No. Florida requires a permit for vertebrate fossils generally, but shark teeth are specifically exempt.
Can you find megalodon teeth on the beach in Venice?
Occasionally, but complete megalodon teeth are rare on the beach. Most large ones are found by divers on the offshore fossil beds a mile or more out in 20 to 30 feet of water.
What is a Venice snow shovel?
A long-handled mesh sifter used to scoop sand at the wave line and sift out shark teeth. They are sold all over town, including at local grocery stores.