Upcoming Hawaii trip (Maui), thoughts?

[SweetCorn]

My wife and I are going to Hawaii at the end of August. This is a "family trip" and we aren't paying for it, so I just nod my head and say "great" whenever asked about where we are going. That said, I have searched a few times about MDing on beaches there and I'm under the impression that people don't do particularly well there for some reason. At least the handful of youtube videos I've seen from there all had really bleak outcomes. Is this true? Has anyone ever done any good there?

We will be on Maui, staying at 2 places, Hana and Wailea. I know at Wailea I will have access to a very nice beach right outside an expensive hotel.
I'll have my Excal with a relatively new NEL coil, probably Attack or Thunder. Do Hawaiian resorts produce targets? It seems like most people who go on MD trips usually go to Mexico or the Caribbean and not Hawaii. I know if I was paying for a MD specific trip, I wouldn't chose Hawaii because it's more expensive. Thanks for any thoughts/tips.

 

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[SeabeeRon]

Good luck with any detecting you get to do! Most importantly, enjoy two beautiful locations on Maui! I had never been so relaxed as when we did a stay out in Hana, so peaceful! (that is after you take "The Road to Hana"!)

 

[TommyB]

Take a mask and snorkel with you and dive in the water pools below the various falls that are on the road to Hana. When I was there several years ago, there was a local there with his
two kids that were doing that. They found rings and watches and some change as well.

 

[1KBlueTuber]

From what I know the Excalibur will work ok but will struggle with the high iron content in the volcanic rock. Most successful hunters there use PI machines to punch through the mineralization to get any sort of depth. If the Excalibur is your only weapon you might want to hunt in pinpoint only until you've located a target. That would be my plan. Good Luck!

 

[Mackaydon]

The only way that worked for me in Hawaii was a compromise: I got to MD the beaches if my wife got the credit card to go shopping (and no questions asked later).
Good luck; and by the way.....the locals are in to MD; you may not be hunting alone.
Don....

 

[The_Piratess]

They eat lots of Spam there Lol!

 

[trdking]

They eat lots of Spam there Lol!

That stuff was used to patch holes in tanks, and they eat it!
Its funny how Americas Military aid impacts the diets and favorite foods of countries around the world. If you go to France, they are crazy about Nescafe and Sanka (freeze dried coffee powder) and Lucky Strike cigarettes. Both daily items included in the MRE's dropped over france as food aid during Hitlers occupation and after. Their bodies were so grateful for anything to eat that they grew to love it to this day. Same for SPAM on Hawaii The French love Nescafe so much that a French company bought it. It is now French owned!

 

[Pacific_Searcher]

Sweetcorn the beaches in Wailea are very clean as in very little trash not a ton of targets but we do come up with good finds from time to time I use a P.I. in the water but there are a few guys that use excals here and they work fine. Personally I have not had many good finds on the dry sand almost always in the water I prefer to snorkel right at the edge of the shoreline. P.S. there are very few detectorists here as far as i know i go fairly often and have never crossed paths with another. Good Luck!

 

[SeabeeRon]

Sweetcorn the beaches in Wailea are very clean as in very little trash not a ton of targets but we do come up with good finds from time to time I use a P.I. in the water but there are a few guys that use excals here and they work fine. Personally I have not had many good finds on the dry sand almost always in the water I prefer to snorkel right at the edge of the shoreline. P.S. there are very few detectorists here as far as i know i go fairly often and have never crossed paths with another. Good Luck!

Great info PS!! It's been probably going on 2years now, but we stayed at the Sheraton near Black Rock and the snorkeling is amazing, but my point is that there was one guy there every day with Scuba gear doing very well! He is on another forum with the initials TQ.

 

[SweetCorn]

I'm in Wailea now, it's stunningly beautiful.
A short hunt last night and about 2 hours this morning has netted not a whole lot. Am on the board with 1 junker ring, a handful of clad, a portable phone charger and not too much trash.

Have only found 1 penny in the water. Everything else is dry sand. Am really scratching my head over lack of water targets. Looked for holes, low spots, riffles, etc and nothing.
I've got a new NEL Thunder coil and it's a great upgrade but I'd really like to unlock the water targets here. Any thoughts??

 

[SeabeeRon]

The locals know all the best spots and get there VERY early or night hunt!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The locals know all the best spots and get there VERY early or night hunt!

Ron, although I've never hunted Hawaii, I have heard others say the same as you: That the beaches are literally "kept clean" by local hobbyists. A buddy of mine was surprised that he could scarcely even get clad ! Sometimes several minutes of nothing but threshold hum ! He finally ended up snorkeling into the water (to get clear of most md'rs who are in the inter-tidal zone) to finally get a few rings.

Constrast to Santa Cruz main beach where ...... if you wander the dry sand, you WILL get metal @ a pretty constant rate (albeit foil, zinc, caps, etc....).

 

[Pacific_Searcher]

Sweetcorn, as mentioned earlier in the thread mask and snorkel right at the waters edge is where we get our best results. I also like to hunt any negative low tide at night as long as the wind and surf are down. We rarely find anything but small amounts of clad in the dry sand.

 

[SweetCorn]

This was from yeaterday.... 96 coins, junker ring and a set of junker earrings.
A few patterns are emerging. Trying another beach tomorrow.
Been picking up lots of eyeball ttash, caps, etc. Beaches are in general pretty clean.

 

[sonnar28]

You are in the zone,all you have to do is get your coil over a piece of gold!

This was from yeaterday.... 96 coins, junker ring and a set of junker earrings.
A few patterns are emerging. Trying another beach tomorrow.
Been picking up lots of eyeball ttash, caps, etc. Beaches are in general pretty clean.

View attachment 1488614

Maybe try reverse hunting in the middle of the activity area or slowly working down the slope in the water.

Good luck!

Charles

 

[SweetCorn]

I posted a wrap up video of my finds for the trip....



A little disappointing not finding anything that good, but I had a great trip nonetheless.
Thanks for the suggestions everyone.