Blog The Beach

How many beaches on the southwest coast of Florida appear today as they did 500 years ago? Not very many. But Caspersen Beach is one of those rare places. Just take a look at the photo above. The beach is lined with cabbage palms (Florida’s state tree). Native grasses and sea grapes join the palms to create one of the few truly natural beaches in this part of Florida.

The beach is very dark at night, and very quiet. This attracts plenty of egg-laying sea turtles and other wildlife. After sunset this beach is nearly deserted, and you can often enjoy complete solitude by taking a long walk up the beach.

There is an old road bed that runs parallel to the beach under the palms. It is nearly desintegrated now, but you can see bits and pieces of it here and there.

Caspersen Beach Park is located just south of downtown Venice, at the southern terminus of Harbor Drive. There is no fee to enter or to park your vehicle. The southern end of Harbor Drive is quite scenic. The dunes block the view of the Gulf in most places, but are themselves a wonder to behold.

Caspersen Beach, in Venice, Florida is a lovely beach. There are no buildings on the beach. Just cabbage palms, sea grapes, and sea oats. The sand is dark gray–very dark in some places–because of fossilized materials mixed with the shell and quartz. It’s fairly easy to find fossilized sharks teeth here, among other fossils. This photo was taken on a quiet afternoon in May after I stopped by the annual Shark’s Tooth Festival. It was too much noise and commotion for me, so I retreated to the quiet of Caspersen Beach and stayed for the sunset. Time just seems to disappear when I’m here. I get lost in the peacefulness of the place. Maybe that’s why turtles love to nest here–less chance they’ll be disturbed.