Shore snorkeling in Jacksonville, FL

[Pszemol]

Any interesting places in Jacksonville, Florida?
Will be on a business trip in the area so ... :-)

Any places in the city itself worth seeing?
Something like a spectacular aquarium/fish stores? :-)

[KurtG]

Pszemol wrote:
> Any interesting places in Jacksonville, Florida?
> Will be on a business trip in the area so ... :-)
>
> Any places in the city itself worth seeing?
> Something like a spectacular aquarium/fish stores? :-)

Not really. The visibility is fairly poor and you need to go 8-10 miles
off shore for any artificial reefs and those are usually in 60-80 feet
of water with visibility much less then 50 ft.

AquaZoo is my usual marine fish store. The one on Beach Blvd has a nice
selection, but they are also the ones that sold me an ritteri anemone
with 2-days of experience. However, I like to go in there and look at
their tanks.

No public aquarium. Also, watch yourself, there are some rough areas of
town where flying lead and innocent victims/bystanders seem to be the
norm, but anywhere on the beaches is good. The Jacksonville Landing
also has a nice river/downtown atmosphere. If you make it up to
Fernandina Beach, let me know. It's about 50 minutes from downtown Jax.

--Kurt

[Peter Pan]

Isn't Wayne Seller's Store In the FLA area? Maybe close enough for you to
stop in to say HEY
"KurtG" > wrote in message
.. .
> Pszemol wrote:
>> Any interesting places in Jacksonville, Florida?
>> Will be on a business trip in the area so ... :-)
>>
>> Any places in the city itself worth seeing?
>> Something like a spectacular aquarium/fish stores? :-)
>
> Not really. The visibility is fairly poor and you need to go 8-10 miles
> off shore for any artificial reefs and those are usually in 60-80 feet
> of water with visibility much less then 50 ft.
>
> AquaZoo is my usual marine fish store. The one on Beach Blvd has a nice
> selection, but they are also the ones that sold me an ritteri anemone
> with 2-days of experience. However, I like to go in there and look at
> their tanks.
>
> No public aquarium. Also, watch yourself, there are some rough areas of
> town where flying lead and innocent victims/bystanders seem to be the
> norm, but anywhere on the beaches is good. The Jacksonville Landing
> also has a nice river/downtown atmosphere. If you make it up to
> Fernandina Beach, let me know. It's about 50 minutes from downtown Jax.
>
> --Kurt

[Wayne Sallee]

I'm in Central Florida.

Also I closed the store at the end of last January.
It's just too hard to run an honest store while
trying to compete with stores that are making 3
times the sales by telling the customers anything
and everything to make a sale.

It's getting that way in so many industries. Truth
in advertising just does not count for anything anymore.

And so many companies across all industries that
used to stand for quality, are no longer making
quality products.

I have changed the nature of my business to aquarium
consulting, and maintenance.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


Peter Pan wrote on 5/3/2007 2:27 PM:
> Isn't Wayne Seller's Store In the FLA area? Maybe close enough for you to
> stop in to say HEY
> "KurtG" > wrote in message
> .. .
>> Pszemol wrote:
>>> Any interesting places in Jacksonville, Florida?
>>> Will be on a business trip in the area so ... :-)
>>>
>>> Any places in the city itself worth seeing?
>>> Something like a spectacular aquarium/fish stores? :-)
>> Not really. The visibility is fairly poor and you need to go 8-10 miles
>> off shore for any artificial reefs and those are usually in 60-80 feet
>> of water with visibility much less then 50 ft.
>>
>> AquaZoo is my usual marine fish store. The one on Beach Blvd has a nice
>> selection, but they are also the ones that sold me an ritteri anemone
>> with 2-days of experience. However, I like to go in there and look at
>> their tanks.
>>
>> No public aquarium. Also, watch yourself, there are some rough areas of
>> town where flying lead and innocent victims/bystanders seem to be the
>> norm, but anywhere on the beaches is good. The Jacksonville Landing
>> also has a nice river/downtown atmosphere. If you make it up to
>> Fernandina Beach, let me know. It's about 50 minutes from downtown Jax.
>>
>> --Kurt
>
>

[KurtG]

Wayne Sallee wrote:
> Also I closed the store at the end of last January.
> It's just too hard to run an honest store while trying to compete with
> stores that are making 3 times the sales by telling the customers
> anything and everything to make a sale.

That's hard Wayne. Sorry about that.

It seems that the Orlando area has quite a few fraggers that setup
business on ebay. It seems like an interesting line of business.

It just seems that a LFS has to run on something besides volume.

> I have changed the nature of my business to aquarium consulting, and
> maintenance.

That could be interesting.

There's lots of high end housing in my area and I've wondered if there
would be a business in leasing and maintaining reef tanks. Everything
would need to be automated with daily reports via an internet connection
and a weekly maintenance trip. It could be interesting and I know of
businesses that do this in other areas.

I need to remodel my kitchen and I keep thinking of a giant reef cube in
the middle of my kitchen/living room. Maybe 6ft cubed. Hopefully,
sanity and budgets will prevail, but it never hurts to dream.

--Kurt

[Pszemol]

"KurtG" > wrote in message .. .
> Pszemol wrote:
>> Any interesting places in Jacksonville, Florida?
>> Will be on a business trip in the area so ... :-)
>>
>> Any places in the city itself worth seeing?
>> Something like a spectacular aquarium/fish stores? :-)
>
> Not really. The visibility is fairly poor and you need to go 8-10 miles
> off shore for any artificial reefs and those are usually in 60-80 feet
> of water with visibility much less then 50 ft.

OK, understand...
In this case - what if I extend my bussiness trip ending Friday
for a whole weekend, and I am willing to travel somewhere South? :-)
What are interesting snorkeling places further south from JAX?

> AquaZoo is my usual marine fish store. The one on Beach Blvd has a nice
> selection, but they are also the ones that sold me an ritteri anemone
> with 2-days of experience. However, I like to go in there and look at
> their tanks.

Where do I find these two stores? Do you know their address/www?

> No public aquarium. Also, watch yourself, there are some rough areas of
> town where flying lead and innocent victims/bystanders seem to be the
> norm, but anywhere on the beaches is good.

That was not very good touristic recomendations... :-)
What parts of town should I avoid most?

> The Jacksonville Landing also has a nice river/downtown atmosphere.
> If you make it up to Fernandina Beach, let me know. It's about
> 50 minutes from downtown Jax.

Thanks Kurt!

[Wayne Sallee]

There's not much in the way of corals untill you go
farther south like Miami, Napels, Keys. But there
are some sparce coral spots in deaper water farther
north (Im not sure of those locations) If you want a
popular beach nearest you, Datona Beach is very
popular. Jacksonvill is still quite north and gets
colder in the winter. Winter lows are about 10
degrees warmer for about every 60 to 120 miles you
go south.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


Pszemol wrote on 5/5/2007 7:42 AM:
> "KurtG" > wrote in message
> .. .
>> Pszemol wrote:
>>> Any interesting places in Jacksonville, Florida?
>>> Will be on a business trip in the area so ... :-)
>>>
>>> Any places in the city itself worth seeing?
>>> Something like a spectacular aquarium/fish stores? :-)
>>
>> Not really. The visibility is fairly poor and you need to go 8-10 miles
>> off shore for any artificial reefs and those are usually in 60-80 feet
>> of water with visibility much less then 50 ft.
>
> OK, understand... In this case - what if I extend my bussiness trip
> ending Friday
> for a whole weekend, and I am willing to travel somewhere South? :-)
> What are interesting snorkeling places further south from JAX?
>
>> AquaZoo is my usual marine fish store. The one on Beach Blvd has a nice
>> selection, but they are also the ones that sold me an ritteri anemone
>> with 2-days of experience. However, I like to go in there and look at
>> their tanks.
>
> Where do I find these two stores? Do you know their address/www?
>
>> No public aquarium. Also, watch yourself, there are some rough areas of
>> town where flying lead and innocent victims/bystanders seem to be the
>> norm, but anywhere on the beaches is good.
>
> That was not very good touristic recomendations... :-)
> What parts of town should I avoid most?
>
>> The Jacksonville Landing also has a nice river/downtown atmosphere.
>> If you make it up to Fernandina Beach, let me know. It's about
>> 50 minutes from downtown Jax.
>
> Thanks Kurt!

[Pszemol]

"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message ink.net...
> There's not much in the way of corals untill you go
> farther south like Miami, Napels, Keys. But there
> are some sparce coral spots in deaper water farther
> north (Im not sure of those locations) If you want a
> popular beach nearest you, Datona Beach is very
> popular. Jacksonvill is still quite north and gets
> colder in the winter. Winter lows are about 10
> degrees warmer for about every 60 to 120 miles you
> go south.

Thanks for the info, Wayne...

I am booking my flight and it looks like I will only have
Friday evening and Saturday before noon as free time...
Not a lot.

I know that north side, "Atlantic Beach" is flat and sandy.
Where will be the first place on the Atlantic side with more
"rocky" shore? I bet I would have more chances to find some
interesting creatures wading on a rocky shore than sandy beach.

[Wayne Sallee]

I've never walked that shore. I have been to Datona
Beach a few times. Another thing you will want to
keep in mind is that there is so much built up
around the shore, that it is often hard to find a
place to park, or to get access. But as far as rock,
that would be areas where rocks were dumped. And
this would not be a normal swimming area.

Now at Tampa, there is a cauwsway that has both
rocky and sandy areas for swimming and boating.

Also do a google earth and look at the area before
you go down.

Are you familiar with google earth?

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


Pszemol wrote on 5/6/2007 9:10 AM:
> "Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
> ink.net...
>> There's not much in the way of corals untill you go farther south like
>> Miami, Napels, Keys. But there are some sparce coral spots in deaper
>> water farther north (Im not sure of those locations) If you want a
>> popular beach nearest you, Datona Beach is very popular. Jacksonvill
>> is still quite north and gets colder in the winter. Winter lows are
>> about 10 degrees warmer for about every 60 to 120 miles you go south.
>
> Thanks for the info, Wayne...
>
> I am booking my flight and it looks like I will only have
> Friday evening and Saturday before noon as free time...
> Not a lot.
>
> I know that north side, "Atlantic Beach" is flat and sandy.
> Where will be the first place on the Atlantic side with more
> "rocky" shore? I bet I would have more chances to find some
> interesting creatures wading on a rocky shore than sandy beach.

[Wayne Sallee]

Also don't trust the gps numbers on Google Earth.
I've found it to be extremely faulty. But if you
have not tryed Google Earth, you should.

Wayne Sallee
Wayne's Pets


Wayne Sallee wrote on 5/6/2007 2:51 PM:
> I've never walked that shore. I have been to Datona Beach a few times.
> Another thing you will want to keep in mind is that there is so much
> built up around the shore, that it is often hard to find a place to
> park, or to get access. But as far as rock, that would be areas where
> rocks were dumped. And this would not be a normal swimming area.
>
> Now at Tampa, there is a cauwsway that has both rocky and sandy areas
> for swimming and boating.
>
> Also do a google earth and look at the area before you go down.
>
> Are you familiar with google earth?
>
> Wayne Sallee
> Wayne's Pets
>
>
> Pszemol wrote on 5/6/2007 9:10 AM:
>> "Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message
>> ink.net...
>>> There's not much in the way of corals untill you go farther south
>>> like Miami, Napels, Keys. But there are some sparce coral spots in
>>> deaper water farther north (Im not sure of those locations) If you
>>> want a popular beach nearest you, Datona Beach is very popular.
>>> Jacksonvill is still quite north and gets colder in the winter.
>>> Winter lows are about 10 degrees warmer for about every 60 to 120
>>> miles you go south.
>>
>> Thanks for the info, Wayne...
>>
>> I am booking my flight and it looks like I will only have
>> Friday evening and Saturday before noon as free time...
>> Not a lot.
>>
>> I know that north side, "Atlantic Beach" is flat and sandy.
>> Where will be the first place on the Atlantic side with more
>> "rocky" shore? I bet I would have more chances to find some
>> interesting creatures wading on a rocky shore than sandy beach.

[Pszemol]

"Wayne Sallee" > wrote in message link.net...
> Also don't trust the gps numbers on Google Earth.
> I've found it to be extremely faulty. But if you
> have not tryed Google Earth, you should.

Google Earth is EXCELLENT idea! Thanks again, Wayne!