So Whats The Law?

[atomicscuba]

I'm hearing conflicting views of Florida laws.

So you can search the sandy beaches and shoreline as long as the detector is not in the water? If so, can you detect in the water and retrieve later at low tide, or do you have to detect and retrieve at low tide with no water present? Will you get in trouble if you touch the sea grass, (but its ok for boat motors to chop it up)?

Do you need a permit to scuba with a detector? If yes, what are the chances/procedures to get such a permit?

If "Historical" buildings were moved to another location, can you detect on the land where they were located, if its City "property" with park benches, gazebo on it? Arent WE the city, isnt it our property?

This detecting sounds complicated and risky with 3rd degree felony charges looming overhead for just trying to enjoy a sport.

[Ads]

TreasureNet.com is the premier Treasure Hunting Forum on the internet. Registered Users do not see these ads. Please Register - It's Free!

[CASPER-2]

on the "treasure coast" area (where the ship wrecks are off shore ) - you can only hunt from low tide mark to the dunes
not allowed in water without a special permit - other than that you can hunt in east and west coast pretty much unlimitted
but there are still a few state parks that dont allow it or limit it
if you plan on hitting a specific area - just ask here specific forums - beach etc and Im sure guys will tell you
where not to go

[ivan salis]

it varys by location -- in area's where there are "known" treasure wrecks near shore that are already under control of salvage companys "aka" the treasure coast spots * --one can not just jump into the water near the wrecks sites and and water hunt -- its a violatation of the "state permitted" treasure salvors rights * which they pay the state fees and a 20% cut of the finds to have -- the treasure salvors will of course call the cops if they see you "poaching' in their "leased' out areas -- in these areas its low water to dunes foot only --stay out of water and out of / off the dunes as well

all the federal park areas are totally off limits

most state parks are dunes foot to low water --but there are a few where detecting is not allowed --as per recent rules the entire "publicly owned" land area under the control of the city of st augustine has recently been made off limits by the city council due to pressure from the local city archeaologist to declare the "ebtire city' a historic preserve area"-- of course that can not control "private lands" unless the owner agrees to it but publicly owned land they can.

[Tom_in_CA]

<em>"If "Historical" buildings were moved to another location, can you detect on the land where they were located, if its City "property" with park benches, gazebo on it? Arent WE the city, isnt it our property?"</em><br>
<br>
I won't address the beach stuff (as I'm in CA, etc...). But as for the cities part of your question, you can detect on city land, unless the city has a SPECIFIC prohibition (eg.: specifically saying "no metal detecting"). If you see nothing prohibiting detecting, then presto, I guess it's not dis-allowed now, is it?

The way to find out if the city has such a thing, is to look it up for yourself. Most cities have websites nowadays, and their laws, codes, charter, etc... are all on-line. If you're skittish, do a key-word search on things like "metal detecting" "detectors" and so forth. If nothing pops up, then I guess it's not a prohibited activity. Knock yourself out.