Newbie beach/sand questions

[dbvettez06]

Hi i am in Florida for the next 5 months,[hard life].....I have a new Minelab Quattro which i am getting to know, having been out 3 times...What are some of the better ways of detecting in sand, maybe some kind of a pourus siv? Quite a few coins, but just current stuff...Guess the older stuff might be deeper,12+ inches?? Opinions appreciated...

[Steve in PR]

Beaches are subject to all sorts of changes caused by waves, erosion, wind and tidal currents. The sand moves, especially where it meets the water. A storm with large waves will tend to move tremendous amounts of sand off and on the beach and that will expose and/or bury anything that was in the sand. You will see most detectorists go out after a large storm has passed or almost passed in order to see what the waves have uncovered. The beaches on the Atlantic side are more likely to change more often than those on the gulf side. Tropical Storm Noelle brought a lot of targets out.

The sand that is pushed back up on the beach to become the "dry" sand area may have been there for some time or only since the last storm.

What you will most likely find in the dry sand on a beach that has been heavily hunted and has been fairly stable are recent drops. Coins and some jewelry from the weekend or recent past. But, a lot depends on where you hunt and the machine you are using. If you can, find out when low tide occurs and try to hunt near the area wher the water meets the sand. (Make sure your coil is waterproof.) That's where most of the sand movement occurs on a daily basis.

If there was a storm system that went by, get down there and look for "cuts", places where the waves eroded away an area of the beach and left a small cliff, maybe a foot high. Sweep the area in front and sweep the face of the cut. That's where new targets are most likely to get uncovered.

Dig everything until you get to know your machine real well. I know it is tedious but its how you learn. This is a hobby that requires time and patience. Good things come to those who swing slow and are methodical in their hunting.

Bottom line: Beaches are dynamic, in constant change. Any questions, let me know. Hope this helps.

[dbvettez06]

Thank you for the advice, patience, tough but necessary!!!

[JCWhite]

I can't add anything to the great advice Steve gave ya..... Just have fun. JC

[Buster]

Good advice. I will try some of that down here after the next storm.Thanks...Buster.....

[grasshopper]

we use sand scoops usually to beach hunt. here's some:

Hand Held Scoops at Kellyco Metal Detectors

[johnj45586]

I hunt the dry sand on the beaches, exclusively. To start with it was because that is where the most exercise is. But now it is because of my expertise in searching the dry sand - or blanket line. Check out my posts in the Finds forum - I usually explain the strategy that led to a specific set of finds.

I still dig everything - but then I am searching dry sand, digging is really just scooping. You need a sieve, basket or scoop. I use a round basket that is about 9 inches across that I picked up for 25 cents at a thrift store. A good rule is that the squares of the scoop should have a diagonal that is just less than the diameter of a dime. Buy a rare earth magnet of about 3/4 to 1 inch diameter and place it in the center of your scoop. This will suck up nails, screws, bobby pins, hair clips etc. that would slip through your scoop and cause you to scoop over and over.

Scooping everything is important, especially if you ever plan to return to the same area. A lot of times a foil or iron target will mask a target you are really looking for. Today at the beach on at least eight occassions I scooped foil only to find dimes in the scoop with the foil (they didn't show up).

Tuesday I found a large gold ring that had been missed by several inexperienced MDers. Their complaint was that they couldn't find the ring because of all the "nails" in the sand. When I went through the area where the ring was found I scooped all the nails in my path and ended up with a clear signal of something gold and large (or a lead sinker!).

Look for signs that a sand sifter is used to clean the beach. This can be bad news. Everything 4 inches and less, larger than a penny will be collected. However, that doesn't mean that all treasure is lost. I found a nice silver ring and a large silver bracelet in sand today that had be sifted on Tuesday. A strategy for working the sand sifter is to detect at the edges of the sand that has been sifted. Also look to find places the sifter didn't touch like little sand coves, obstacles and holes the kids have dug.

Look for signs of kids playing in the sand. Those can be holes, mounds or just marks in the sand. The parents will have set up on the side of the sign away from the water.

Look for places that surfers may have put their belongings - rarely works, but sometimes is good. That is what got me a gold ring last Tuesday.

Visit the beach the day before the hunt with your digital camera. Establish where the current blanket line is. The blanket line will change with the tidal maxima and minima. Download the local tide table.

These are all dry sand techniques. I follow behind MDers all the time. At Main Beach in Laguna Beach, CA I have followed behind as many as 5 others at the same beach on the same day. I came home with treasure and they didn't. Concentrate on a type of MDing and get very good at it.

While I don't hunt the water (my ACE 250 isn't happy in the surf although the coil is waterproof, it has ground balance problems!) I acknowledge that it is a great place to hunt if you have the right detector. A minelab is the right detector from all I have read. I can't help you there, sorry.

I don't know about the other coasts of the country, but in California everything from the water to the mean high tide is public domain. Plus, a strategy to get free lifeguards and beach improvements is to provide public access to the beach by donating beach to be come a local park. That means I can just go down the coast highway and find new beaches.

Happy hunting! There is plenty of treasure out there to be found.

[Buster]

Man John, That's a lot of real good info. I will surely try some of these. Thanks for a good post. Happy Hunting....Buster....

[Zman]

Good luck with your beach hunting. John great info and great post.

[dbvettez06]

Thanks for the very informative info...Great forum!!!