My return from Costa Rica

[TORRERO]

Came back from Costa Rica yesterday.
Spent 4 days there and maybe 2 days of hunting of some of the local beaches.
(several hours)

Did not get much, considering that all the locals said they never saw anyone else on the beach
with a machine.

Got about 25 coins from 25 Colones (5 cents), some 50 colones (10 cents) and several 100 Colones
(20 cents)

Some coins are made of Iron, some solid copper...
There was also 500 Colone coins ($1) but I did not dig any of those.

although all the people we met told us they have never seen anyone on the beach with a machine
the beaches seemed very clean not to have seen a metal detector, in or out of the wet sand.

Here's some pictures.

 

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[Tom Bigbee]

Seems like there would have been a couple pieces of jewelry there... Just having that beach all to myself would have been a Treasure! ( I have a very stressful job ) Remember that guy that went to a Singapore beach about 3 months ago and found several gold rings? Good job on the coins. Tom

 

[lost hunter]

 

[fireman4youu]

Awesome....!

 

[TORRERO]

Seems like there would have been a couple pieces of jewelry there... Just having that beach all to myself would have been a Treasure! ( I have a very stressful job ) Remember that guy that went to a Singapore beach about 3 months ago and found several gold rings? Good job on the coins. Tom

You know I did not understand this, seeing as people said they never saw anyone else hunting these
beaches, I found relatively little in the dry sand and almost nothing in the wet sand.
and the tides went way out.
I have been hunting for almost 30 years and if I did not know better I would have said these beaches
are hunted regularly which did not make sense.

I walked around in the wet sand and in an hour got 4 pull tabs and 1 coin, and maybe 1 or 2 pieces
of Iron....
Just did not make sense...

Anyone else on this Forum ever been to Costa Rica with a Machine ?
and Joco beach in paticular ?

 

[River Rat]

Great pics! Husband & son just returned from there last Tuesday, they spent a week going from the Atlantic to the Pacific, hiked to the volcano. Their fishing trip was out of Joco Beach 50 miles out. Son caught a sailfish. No detecting, but they did bring home some nice souvenirs and lots of coffee.

 

[oldsalty19]

 

[kevkirki]

looks like a good time!

 

[cfdfire]

I was really impressed with a guy I spotted in Barbados.He would walk along and get a signal,dig around with his foot,pick up what he found with his toes and pass it to his hand,Give it a quick look and then into his pocket...Smooth operation..

 

[hikeinmts]

I saw the heading, .......Costa Rica, and bells went off in my head.
I was with an Engineer Battalion that went down to Costa Rica in Dec 1988-March1989. Didn't take a detector with me.
But saw some very pretty sites, and met some nice Ticos. A great country, with some of the nicest most humble people
that I have had the occasion to meet. Sounds like a great two or three day getaway. (By the by, we were located on
the Osa Penninsula, southwest part of the country.) Too bad no gold. Our camp was about 20 kms from a gold mining
district, so they got gold there. But, in reality, the locals that I met were pretty poor.
Anyway, congrats on the nice days in the sun, and the finds you did have.

 

[bluehunter1973]

those people are too poor to lose anything not like us we take our change for granted. Trying to figure out why you didnt get more sun. lol

 

[hbeaton]

Hey Torrero,

Was on that exact beach in Jaco for the first week in October 2011. In fact in your 5th picture, there is a white tent set up a ways down the beach from you, that's the surf tent run by a local named Tiger and for which the apartment I stayed in was right behind it. (I was happy they had a quiznos on the main street )

I asked a few of the locals about metal detecting and your suspicion is correct...it does get hunted quite a bit, coupled with the fact that due to the impoverished surrounding area a.) not much is dropped and b.) what is dropped is scooped up by those that can afford metal detectors. I didnt get any pictures of them specifically but I did see a few early risers on the beach in the mornings with their shovels and at least one minelab excalibur that I could tell. Tourists like yourself for sure but there they were.

There has been more than one thread about metal detecting in Costa Rica on this forum alone, most of which get into the legality/shadiness of Costa Rican law when it comes to metal detecting or digging of any sort in the area as a lot of it is considered "protected". You can read more here... http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php?topic=4505.0

I thought about taking my detector when I visited but hell i was having so much fun with zipline tours, ATVing and world class offshore fishing that I little time to detect anyway

HH!
-Hunter

 

[TORRERO]

I read that last post, and remember seeing it before.
He seemed pretty negative about anyone takeing a detector to Costa Rica....
Like you might be arrested on the spot...

No one seemed to give me and my friend a second thought..
which means if I go back, my machine goes with me.

As for not finding much...
I tend to judge a place by what I find.... no mater what people say....
If a beach has not ever seen a metal detector, then your talking about 100 years or more worth of
accumulated stuff..... not just the coins and jewelry, but all the trash as well...
which we did not find much of eather.
Not much of nothing ......
Gotta be a reason.... right ?

 

[hbeaton]

I guess another angle to consider regarding a lack of finds is the socio-cultural history of Costa Rica.

Widely considered one of the poorest countries during Spanish colonization, mainly due to its lack of gold and silver resources as well as few indigenous folks that could be used in forced labor by the Spanish Crown, Costa Rica, for the most part, was left alone to develop. When it eventually gained its independence, from a monetary standpoint, it was upside down for the greater part of the 18th and 19th centuries and into the first couple decades of the 20th, mainly that it did not have a centralized mint in its own country. If you are interested, I found some interesting history regarding currency in Costa Rica here... http://www.mintofcostarica.com/en/educacion/currency-history.html

Although there are probably some old spanish escudos or reales around, its much more likely not to have much of an antiquated spread of coins to be found. I agree that if its true the area has not been touched by detectors much and we both know that beach has been heavily trafficked by tourists and locals alike there should be more in terms of coins, even foreign (US) coins, watches and other jewelry to be found.

Might have to drag my detector next time I visit.

HH!

 

[flakefinder]

Well not a lot of fines but I would trade hunting a beach in the warm sun for hunting in the cold and snow some fines are better then none.