Any Beachcombing experience would be very much appreciated for Fla visit

[Postalrevnant]

Hello again all,

This Friday our families 4 years of saving will pay off as we take our first vacation in a very long time. IT is going to be great to take my daughter to see the ocean for the first time. She / we have been really looking forward to this and I know my daughter and family will have an awesome time.

I lived in Hawaii for 3 years while in the military so I have ocean experience a good idea on working the low tide, however I was not a metal detector back then so I have no experience on MDing beaches.

We are going to go to the Ft. Walton area on the Fla. Panhandle. This will probably be the only time for a very long time that we will be able to go to the beach.

I will be leaving Friday night around 6:30 - 7:00 PMish after my wife gets off work. I will be checking this post sometime Friday around 5pm EST. I would great appreciate any tips you all can give me here or on PM about working the beach. I have borrowed a sand scoop and hope my wrist holds out for me while I enjoy many different things with my daughter and family. I believe that I will be able to MD probably about 2 times before we leave on Monday morning. As mentioned before since this is probably the last time I ill go to the ocean or Fla for a very long time.

If anyone has a few tips on the best places to start, or on that actual area I would certainly appreciate it enourmously. If nothing else I certainly would appreciate you keeping me and my family in your prayers that we have a safe trip and that all works out well in regards to my daughter and us having such a great time that this becomes a life long great memory. I know this being her first visit to the ocean and her being 7 and really enjoying the water, looking at sea shells, and hopefully collecting some and begin her own shell collection to add to the large Hawaiian shell collection that will become hers someday. She will be in the water, building in the sand and probably MDing me. I am pretty sure that this will be one of the best weekends of her life for a very long time.

Thank you for the read. Will be checking in on Friday to see if anyone has any tips.

Great luck to all this weekend. Hope all goes great for you,

Doug

 

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[Sandman]

Hello Doug, You didn't say if you had a detector, just a scoop you borrowed. You can use about any brand detector on the dry sand just fine. It's in the wet saltwater sand that most detectors get unsteady due to the salt content and black sand together. If the dry sand is real soft, you should do fine near concession stands and places where people come and go to the parking lots. Jewelry can turn up about anywhere but it mostly is found in shallow water due to the fingers being slippery. There is much info at thegoldenolde.com/ site for beach hunting.

My eight year old grand daughter detected with me once for a whole 10 minutes and gave the detector back to me saying, "Here, I'm done with this." Just enjoy what ever she wants to do.

 

[JOe L]

Doug, I have NO experience on the beach other than Surf Casting but, after reading your post, I have to say enjoy the Vacation and I'm sure your whole family will return home with big smiles on their faces. Enjoy and let us know how it went when you get back...JOe

 

[ScrewcapRoy]

Hello Doug and glad to hear that you will have the opportunity to visit Florida and the beaches. Sandman is correct in searching the dry sand near concession stands. I would also search areas where there is a rest room if no concession stand is near. Most people tend to sit about 10 to 25 feet back from the high water mark. Just think of where you set up and search in that general area. I generally like to search in a V shape to cover an area instead of a straight line. However, you can do what you like. The reason I use the V is because people set up their spots in that manner.
Also, word of caution. You have beach experience but your daughter doesn't. Watch out for undertows or ripe tides. In her excitement she may not realize what she is doing and just jump right into the water. Make sure you or your wife keeps an eye on her at all times but have fun. I hope you find some good stuff and really have a safe and wonderful vacation.
HH Roy

 

[Farmercal]

Doug, of all the times you could have come down here to my neck of the woods (or beach, depending on how you look at it), you decide to come when I am heading to Cullman, Al for an organized hunt. Since I can't show you the best areas personally, I will give you some advice. I have found more goodies at Destin beaches than the Fort Walton Beaches. The beach near the boardwalk just over the bridge as coming from the west (Fort Walton Beach), has a guy using a machine to clean the beach which scoops up a lot of targets and what the machine doesn't get the local retired detectorists scoop up. Don't be discouraged though because I was just swinging here and there and was picking up quarters, dimes and even nickels all over that beach anyway. Be inventive and don't just stay out in the open. Hit around the volleyball nets and playground areas. You can't detect next to the metal playground but all around it will be lost coins. Also detect around the steps going to the beach and perhaps under the wooden walkway (if you can). I find more quarters at Destin than I do at FWB. Good Luck and HH.

Cal

 

[Postalrevnant]

I thank you all for the good advice. I will be using the Fisher CZ-6A and thankfully it does have a setting to use it in salt water. I have heard it doesn't act wacky in salt water, so hopefully I heard correctly.

It was a great point about my daughter not having experience around the ocean. Great tip about riptides and undertow for those that have never been. Fortunately I was a master diver and had to become rescue diver before that in Hawaii. I was also a lifeguard for awhile. I have already told my daughter of those dangers and she will not be in or near the water unless I am with her. Also we plan to hopefully find a place to rent some snorkel gear. I don't want her in the ocean without snorkel and fins to help her out, and of course with me.

Farmercal thank you for those local tips. I do wish you or someone would have been there, would have been nice to find another detecting partner and meet another fine person. Your tips are absolutely awesome and I will check the area's you spoke of. I am mainly hoping for jewelry so I do plan to do some low tide ocean combing, I realize it is rare to find jewelry, but then again it has to be atleast a small amount of a better chance than the fields and areas I have been detecting here in SE Kentucky. I wish you good luck on your detecting meeting. I hope you do very well and will be checking on Monday when I return to see if you posted some great finds.

Screwcaproy, although I lived and dove in Hawaii and practically stayed at the beach all the time I did not put 2 and 2 together until you mentioned it. I never really noticed the V pattern of setup or even thought of it until you mentioned it. Now with reflection on my years in Hawaii I realize that a lot of peps sat up like that. Thank you excellent tip.

I hope all have a great weekend. I will be leaving in an hour or so headed for that 10+ hour drive. Will probably stop half way tonight and start again in the morning. Have hotel booked for Ft. Walton area. Plan to try to see Destin and FT. Walton area. As far as detecting goes will probably only be able to detect a small amount. Detecting is really an after thought on this trip. Of course my daughter's playing in the sand, water, collecting shells etc is the main goal. However when I do detect I might venture off the beaten path if I can find a place and see if there is a place not looked at as often. LOL of course that is easy to say, but who knows.

Great luck to all, and thank you all for the great tips.

Postalrevnant