From June into August, a dredge pipeline ran along Venice's Gulf shoreline. Weeks Marine pumped sand from a borrow area about 11 nautical miles southwest of the city, off the coast of Englewood. Sand placement stopped on August 16. By then the contractor had put nearly 620,000 cubic yards on roughly 3.2 miles of beach, from the Humphris Park south jetty to South Brohard Park.
Caspersen Beach starts just south of where that work ends. Its shoreline was left alone this summer, so it still has the same surface it had last year. It also still has no road. For shark tooth hunters, that splits the season in two. The beach that kept its old surface takes a walk or a bike ride to reach. The beaches you can drive to are covered in new sand, and nobody has published a word on what that sand holds.
Where the New Sand Went, and Where It Didn't
The City of Venice project page lists every beach between the Humphris Park South Jetty and South Brohard Park as part of the project, including Venice Beach and Service Club Park. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers marked the end of the job with a ribbon cutting and a ceremonial sand-pail toss in early October. The federal agency called it the third periodic renourishment of the Venice Beach Shore Protection Project. It replaced sand lost since the last nourishment in 2015.
Here is how each stretch stands this fall:
| Stretch | 2026 fill | Access as of early October |
|---|---|---|
| Humphris Park and South Jetty | North end of the fill | Jetty walkway and Humphris Park lot closed after hurricane damage |
| Venice Beach and Service Club Park | New sand | Open. Outfall work at Outfalls 1 and 2 was expected to finish by mid-October |
| Venice Fishing Pier | New sand north and south of the pier | Pier open 24 hours |
| Brohard Park and Brohard Paw Park | New sand to just south of South Brohard | Paw Park beach access closed October 7 for sand tilling |
| Caspersen Beach | Outside the fill | Walk or bike in. No vehicle parking, restrooms or playground |
The pier deserves its own line. The city says its hurricane-damaged T-structure was repaired in August and September 2025, and the pier is open around the clock. Low tide at the pier comes at different hours through the week, so a pier that never closes lets you go whenever the tide is out.
What a Fresh Layer of Sand Means for a Shell Bed
Venice gets its teeth from below. WWSB's September guide to hunting here went out with the family behind Shark Frenzy and Fossil Frenzy. The station explained that the coast sits along the Peace River Formation, a submerged layer full of prehistoric marine life. Waves and tides keep eroding that old seabed and wash fossil teeth into the surf. The technique they showed starts with dense, dark shell beds and coarse sediment right where the waves tumble ashore.
The fill came from somewhere else. Both the city and the Corps describe it as beach-compatible sand from the borrow area off Englewood. Neither says whether that material held fossils. Your sifter this fall is the only test anyone is running on the question.
The last cycle offers a clue but does not settle it. A Venice Gondolier guide to Caspersen, written after the 2015 project, said teeth were not abundant on the stretch north of the Venice Fishing Pier to the Casey Key inlet. It pointed out that this strip gets periodic replenishment, most recently 790,000 cubic yards in 2015.
The new beach is also still being worked on. The city's September 30 update had Weeks Marine finishing rock remediation and sand tilling across the project area by late October. Outfalls at Aldea Mar, Golden Beach and the Coast Guard station were done, with Venice Beach and Venice Sands to follow. Tilling loosens freshly placed sand, so the surface will keep changing for a few more weeks.
Caspersen Is the Control Sample, and It Has No Parking Lot
If you want to hunt shoreline the dredge never touched, Caspersen is the obvious choice. Getting there takes some planning. Sarasota County's park listing says the Harbor Drive access washed out in the 2024 storm season. Restrooms, vehicle parking and the playground stay closed until repairs are made. The park is open to walkers and cyclists from South Brohard Park or the Venetian Waterway Park Trail at the City of Venice Festival Grounds, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The repairs are a long way off. After the 2024 storms, the Venice Gondolier reported that South Harbor Drive had no replacement timetable. Nicole Rissler, the county's director of Parks, Recreation and Natural Resources, said the county was stepping back to decide what the park should become. She asked:
"How can Caspersen be reimagined for generations to come?"
In the same report, Rissler said rebuilding on the old alignment looked unlikely. She called the effort a multiyear project. The options under discussion were a route around Red Lake on city property that includes Lake Venice Golf Club, a long and expensive bridge, or no vehicle access at all, with ferry service floated as an idea. Linda Hervas, owner of Shark Frenzy and Fossil Frenzy, told the paper that she hears complaints about not being able to drive to the park. Most people, she said, see it as a nuisance of finding a parking spot and walking in. We found no later decision, and the county page still shows the closures.
Parking moved toward the pier instead. In May 2025, the Herald-Tribune reported that Venice planned 90 to 100 spaces along Harbor Drive near the fishing pier. Those spaces would offset some of the roughly 180 lost at Caspersen. That story describes a plan. It does not confirm the spaces were built.
That leaves an odd arrangement. To reach the unfilled beach, you park near the filled one and walk south past the end of the new sand.
Building a Morning Around the New Map
Put together, the local sources suggest a sequence for a morning on either side of the line:
- Pick the tide first. The independent collector site Fossilguy recommends low tide. It calls a morning low tide after a storm the best window, because fewer people have searched and the waves have stirred up fossils.
- Bring the right screen. The same guide suggests a sifter screen no larger than a quarter inch.
- Work the shell hash, not the clean sand. The Shark Frenzy team told WWSB to scoop wet shell hash, let the Gulf water rinse out the fine sand and look for glossy enamel and triangular points. They said fossil teeth here come out jet black, slate gray or deep charcoal.
- Compare both sides of South Brohard. Hunt a stretch of new sand one morning and Caspersen another. That is how you learn where this season's teeth are turning up.
Afterward, the downtown shops can identify what you found. WWSB reported that the father-and-son team behind Shark Frenzy and Fossil Frenzy co-invented the floating Shark Tooth Sifter in 2013. Their shops identify and catalog hunters' finds. Shark Frenzy lists itself at 262 Tamiami Trail S and Fossil Frenzy at 272 Miami Ave W. A few doors down, Earth Treasures and the Venice Fossil Museum just moved to 235 Miami Ave W. The fossil collection displays are still inside the shop, along with beach-combing and sifting gear.
You can keep the teeth you find. The Florida Museum of Natural History says fossil shark and ray teeth are exempt from the state fossil permit. Other vertebrate fossils found on state land do require one. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection says that permit costs $5 and lasts one year. The Florida Museum also says municipal and county lands are outside the state permit requirement, and it tells collectors to check local rules.
The Season's Calendar Runs Back Downtown
Several dates this fall and winter fit around a morning on the beach:
- 53rd Annual Sun Fiesta, October 16 to 18 at Centennial Park. Admission is free.
- 38th Annual Downtown Venice Art Festival, October 31 and November 1, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on the 200 and 300 blocks of W. Venice Avenue.
- Venice Christmas Boat Parade, December 5 at 6 p.m., per the city's December 2026 calendar.
The Venice Sharks Tooth Festival has posted April 10 and 11, 2027 as its next dates. The 2026 festival was held at Centennial Park, 200 West Venice Avenue. The 2027 announcement does not name a venue yet. By April, hunters will have had a full winter of tides on the new sand from the south jetty to South Brohard.
Melissa Gissinger follows how Venice's shoreline is changing, from the renourishment schedule to the open questions about Caspersen. If you are weighing a beachside property and want to talk through how the beach in front of it is built, maintained and reached, Book an Appointment.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
