Anna and I were in the Tampa area for a few days. We ended up diving Spanish Rocks, which is a shore dive located between 31st and 33rd streets at Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island.
This is a great vintage beach dive if you are in the area. We walked out onto a really nice beach, left some stuff on a towel, and walked into the Gulf. We swam about 300-400 meters out, and found a great reef at 20-25 feet of depth. Water temp was about 78 degrees, and visibility was about 15 feet. The locals said it is usually way better, but the wind was decently up today. We saw lots of fish, starfish, and we came back with pockets full of dead sand dollars that were in excellent shape. After that, we baked on the beach for a while. Nobody messed with our stuff either
If you get a chance, give it a shot. We did it in swimsuits only, and it was awesome.