My son has become quite the shark aficionado. At just 3 years old he can name several species of sharks by just looking at their picture in his favorite shark book. I’ve even mixed the pages up and he still gets it right! So what does any enthusiastic parent do? Why yes, nurture this shark phase of course! So when I happened to see a post on a local Mom’s group about shark hunting I knew we had to do it! There were a few locations that were mentioned, Venice Beach and Manasota Key being the best. Since Manasota Key was closest to us, under 2 hours north of us, we decided it would make for a fun spring break day-trip!

The water was the bluest blue, it was a tad cold, but enjoyable and refreshing! Almost as if to welcome us, there were a few dolphins playing in the waves as soon as we arrived, it was an absolutely perfect beach-day. There are a few restaurants nearby, but we packed enough food to get us through the day. We did stop at a local restaurant, Lighthouse Grill, for dinner on the way back, it was quite the local spot with live music and good vibes!

Manasota Key is a great place to spend a day (or more) if you’re visiting Southwest Florida. We did try to find a place to stay the night, but it was probably late planning on our part, hotels and airbnb’s were hard to find on short notice – so plan ahead!

And YES! we found quite a few shark teeth, check out the video for the full day’s adventure, and be sure to take a colander/strainer with you. It’s really a fun activity to do with the kids on a postcard worthy beach.

If you’ve been and have some tips for us let me know, I’m sure we’ll make a return trip! Let me know if you visit and loved it as much as we did.