Megalodon teeth

[Trey9123]

I'd like to go diving this summer for Megalodon teeth and I guess now is probably the time to book trips. I was just wondering if anyone had had particularly good experience with any of the charter companies and who you would recommend doing these dives with. I would be willing to drive anywhere along the Carolina's coasts. I have heard stories of whole boats going out looking and only finding 3 teeth for all 6 people on board. I have also heard stories where everyone has filled up their bags. I want to go on one of those trips. Let me know if you have any advice.
Thanks,
Trey

[ScubaJW]

Hmm.... Not sure about Carolinas. But there is Venice Beach in Florida - you are guaranteed to find shark teeths and maybe if you are lucky, you will find a meg tooth. So far, I have found a nice one after I did about 3 dives in Venice Beach. It's a shore diving type, don't have to use the boat to go where you need to get meg teeth.

[Osprey]

I second Ven beach, I have several buddies who attest to finding chunky teeth there even on their first outing

[fireflock]

The Cooper river in SC is popular for shallower water with reduced viz. In NC, you want to go from the Wilmington or Topsail beach area and the sites are offshore in 100+ feet of water but the water is clearer (until you stir it up digging).

AquaticSafaris.com runs trips to fossil ledges in NC, and Home probably has the best reputation for teeth trips in the NC region.

[Bigg_Budd]

Florida West Dive School out of Venice Beach. They are a great operation, and seem to know where the teeth are. I literally surfaced with 6 meg teeth, mind you not all were complete. Only one is really "display" worthy, but they are all nice. It's also fun stumbling upon the little ones...

It's a fun dive. Be comfortable diving solo, and make sure your nav is up to par. You have to eventually find your way back to the boat.

[jeepbrew]

All of the above are helpful comments. I have probably done 75+ shark tooth dives in the past two years. I have found teeth in the Cooper River, Atlantic Ocean (off Wilmington, NC coast), AL River, and Venice Beach, FL. If you want to guarantee you "have one of those dives where everyone fills their bags", go to Venice Beach. The Cooper River is much closer to you though, and comes in at a close 2nd for the amount of teeth you could find.

If you choose Venice Beach, you can shore dive. However, I would recommend diving with Florida West Scuba School. Steve (the owner) will put you right on top of the teeth. Odds are, you will find some Megs. If you want to do more diving, do an afternoon shore dive. Keep in mind, most dives in Venice last around two hours each b/c the water is shallow. Two boat dives and one shore dive will give you 6 hours of bottom time per day. Don't plan on diving with a buddy if you dive in Venice... you won't know where your buddy is after about 30 seconds under water anyway (plus you will be more interested in finding teeth!).

If you choose to dive the Cooper, you will need to be ready for even muddier (black water) diving, with a pretty strong current at times. Also, don't take anyone that is afraid of gators.

If you go tooth diving, don't get discouraged if you don't find a ton of teeth at first. Once you get the hang of it and know what you are looking for, they will almost jump out at you. If you are like me, you will start seeing shark's teeth when you close your eyes at night! After just a few dives, I starting finding tons of teeth. I can't remember the last time I went tooth diving when I didn't find at least 200 teeth per tank. I have a collection of well over 10,000 teeth at home with about 400+ of those being Megalodon teeth.

Good luck, and let me know if you need any tips/advice or even a dive buddy for your tooth hunting!

[Trey9123]

I've been to Topsail every summer of my life and I have a huge jug of teeth up to about 2 inches long. I'm out to find the big boys though. I definitely woulden't mind trying Venice beach when we make it down their, but I really want to know who the best dive boats off of NC specifically the Topsail or Wilmington area are for putting you on top of that ledge where the teeth are. I'll be staying at Topsail for two weeks in July and I wanted to try and book a tooth trip now.
Thanks,
Trey

[jeepbrew]

I will post a little motivation for you... these are some of the teeth I found on my most recent trip to Venice. I will be going back in about 10 days as well!

(Click on picture to enlarge!)

[jeepbrew]

One more:

[Trey9123]

That's awesome, that's what I want to find. Where in Vennice Beach do you go, is it shore diving, or do you need to take a boat out? What are the conditions like?