Shark Teeth Hunting Near Vero Beach and Sebastian Inlet, by Boat

The Islands Nobody Drives To

Between Sebastian Inlet and Vero Beach the lagoon is dotted with spoil islands — small, uninhabited, no road, no dock, no crowd. The only way onto them is a boat, and the only reason anyone is on them is the same reason you would be: shark teeth.

The islands run from dry sand down into water that is rarely more than three feet deep, and the shallows are full of them. Fossilised shark teeth, black and grey and brown, from an inch down to a fingernail. Shells and sand dollars too. On a decent day a kid can fill a bag; on a good day so can the parents, and the parents are usually the ones who don't want to leave.

How the Trip Runs

We run across the lagoon from the inlet and stop at three islands, give or take, depending on tide and where the teeth have been showing. You wade off the boat into water under three feet, which is the part families notice: small children stand up in it. We hunt, we swim in the shallows, we move to the next island. On the runs between stops you will see dolphins, and depending on the season manatees, sea turtles and rays.

Half day is four hours and three islands. Full day is eight hours, more islands, a longer swim, and lunch on the sand. Both are private — your group only, up to six, and the price is for the boat.

What to Bring

• Water shoes. The sand is soft but the shell is sharp.
• A bag or jar for the teeth. Zip bags work.
• Sunscreen, hats, towels, drinks. There is no shade on a spoil island except what the boat carries.
• Nothing else. The boat, the captain and the islands do the rest.

Vero Beach, Melbourne Beach or Sebastian?

The islands sit in the water between all three. We leave from Sebastian Inlet, which is twenty minutes from Vero Beach and twenty from Melbourne Beach, and the first island is a short run from the ramp. If you are staying anywhere on the barrier island, this is the closest thing to it you will find.

Book It

• Island Hopping — Half Day $600 or Full Day $975. The shark-tooth trip.
• Sandbar Charter — Half Day, $600. One sandbar, more swimming, fewer stops.
• Kids Fishing Adventure — 3 hours, $495. If the kids want a rod as well as a bag of teeth.

More on the water itself on Where We Fish.