CASPER-2
Gold Member
Went there earlier this year - I got 20 rings that trip and had no major problems for my first trip there - I usually try to go to different Carrib. island(s) each year
But my girlfriend had a good time and said she would not mind going back if there was a good deal - we found a good deal on a hotel that we had seen on our first trip
and amazingly - we were able to use our skymiles for the flight - so it was free (except for the taxes) and they put us in first class -bonus! Our luck continued when we landed -
there were other planes in and thought we'd be in customs area for an hour like the first trip but planes that were there had probs - so we off loaded first - being in first class - we were first in and
the very first in line in customs - it was a ghost town and we were able to go right thru - being first class - our bags were off first too - we got shuttle immediately and were at hotel in no time - 2nd in line to check in - in room after 3pm - put my machine and scoop together and was in water by 4pm - told my girlfriend - "just throw your suit on and go down to beach" - This resort had an adult only little beach and a family beach that was huge. I jumped in walked out to waist deep..put mask on ...turned machine on ...walked to chest deep and Bam - first signal. Scooped and saw gold band slide down into scoop. First signal and I got gold - my gal could not believe it and I thought I was going to heaven. Alas ...after that ...I covered the small beach in no time and came up with a few bottlecaps...few nails..and about 4 coins. Come to find out - that adult beach was made this year and only sees like 10 people a day - so reason for lack of finds I guess. I walked over to the family beach and jumped in. The conditions at this beach - complete opposite of the adult one - the adult one had nice new sand - this one - beach was sandy but in the water - in shallow about 1-2 inchs of sand - under that hard hard clay - it would take all my weight on my scoop and about 40 twists of my scoop to get down 3 ins. into it. As you go to waist deep - there was a layer of muck that felt like walking in cow manure. When you step in it you slid and when trying to scoop with foot on scoop ...the other would slide out. This area had bad silt and with each step it would be like someone dumped a gallon of whole milk in front of you - so visibility was zero most of the time. So you have silt on 2-3 inches of muck and then clay again - which would plug you scoop completely - you could shake to the cows come home and this stuff would not move - luckily I brought gloves and I would have to stick my hand in it and churn it and break it up to get it to filter - so each target would take 3-5 mins+ to retrieve most times - and that's if you got it on the first scoop.
out farther - chest deep - you got silt...muck...then sea grass with roots about 5 inches down and then a different type of clay mix - roots were tough to cut thru - if you don't have a good scoop and a large basket - it would make for a long day or longer day. A floating sieve would be ideal to help = but who takes one on flights and it would have to be a heavy gauge wire type - plastic ones would probably sink or tip with the weight of the clay plugs I was digging. Ive dug in solid rocky beaches in New England - coral beaches in Fla. ..hard bottom Carrib. bchs where you cant scoop but have to drop down and fan targets in pockets- this is probably the worst digging Ive ever had to deal with . If you have a small scoop - youre out of luck here (I tried my smaller stainless one for one hunt- no good) -If you did not have gloves - I don't think you'd want to stick your bare hand in this muck - there were sharp shells and some small glass and other stuf that could do damage to your hand - I don't know why I wore my gloves at this spot - but glad I did. I only hit here for a little while - to get the lay of the land for next few days - plus there were people to work around and we had to get cleaned up and unpack still and do diner. I got a titanium alloy mix band and a few coins and normal trash - not real productive but I had a lot of signals and because of the digging conditions - thought others would have a hard time here and it had promise ...even though it was gonna be hard working. So I ended the first day with 2 rings - got a gold ..so I was happy.
titanium is marked Ti & Ag Pd
Next morning - could not get myself up for sunrise like I wanted to. I had worked the night before the flight and was up over 24hrs straight. We made plans to go to a private beach in town. Got there right after they opened and there were only a few in the water - so I had run of the place for a while. What a complete difference. Water was clearest as I have ever hunted - you could read a book on the bottom
Sand was nice and you could see where to scoop and get most targets on first try. I was told by waiters there that this spot was popular with TH'ers and they get guys from cruise ships there al the time - soi knew I was gonna be going for fresh drops and possibly stuff out farther than others guys go since I wear mask and snorkel. I was getting many Jamaican lower denomination coins which are steel alloy and go off as a low tone on my CZ21 which is iron signal in ID mode - I hunted in all metal and dug it all but time to time I like to quick notch to zero in ID mode to see what I might be digging. Low tone I know I going to digging their coins or bottle cap or trap wire. Detected easily for about 2 hrs - had a bunch of coins and a ring (unmarked). Then the cruise ship tourists rolled in and I had to find open areas here and there. finally got a heart shaped gold signet ring. Right after I got a thin band with diamonds (part of a wedding set) - slowed down and gridded that spot from every direction to see if the main ring was thing - nope.
Took a break for lunch..then jumped in for a couple more hrs. Came up with a stainless band out deep. Worked my way into the shallows - hunting on my knees to stay low in the water(I don't like sticking out in the shallows..I will actually down and hunt wearing my mask and snorkel) I ended up with two small gold bands. So I got 4 gold here - once again ...happy.
Was thinking of going back to my resorts family beach but needed to spend some time with my gal - so called it a day.
Tuesday morning I got my butt up and out like 630am. We had plans to hit another spot - but that would not be till 1030am - so off and in I went. This time I took my large RTG scoop and knew how to approach this rough beach better. I hunted in all metal but used my notch to zero ID mode technique on every target and tried to "cherry pick" not going for their coins and trying to go for more mid and high tones. It sucks working that hard of twisting your scoop 40 times to get down enough to pull up plug and then working your hand in it to get material out and then seeing a bottlecap or even one of their tiny practically worthless coins. It wasn't long before I had a crusted silver ring. I then hit a silver cross in the shallows (don't like hitting the shallows much but since there weren't many people out early - hit it while I could. Looked for the chain with no luck - went back out to chest deep and got another silver ring. Then I went out deeper - as far as I could. bottom out here was silt...muck...seagrass.. thin layer of clay and then thick layer of thin clam shells. digging here was a little easier cause these shells would break easy under pressure. Was surprised we I had a mid tone signal and looked in my scoop to see a musketball. My first in Carribean waters - few minutes later - another. Most could not give a crap but I thought they were cool - large caliber too. Who knows if from a pirate gun or British soldier. My girlfriend showed up and gave me the hook that I had to get out and head to other spot. I got silver and was happy - told her with the finds I made I was hopeful that there was gold there - just wish it was not so darn hard digging.
Headed to another spot that looked good on Google earth. Got there like 1130am - go tin quick and was not long before I had a silver toe ring. then a few coins and when I got into deeper water got a huge hit and turned out to be a huge crusty silver band - bout a size 13. It was a good sign. little while later I got another crusty silver band and thought this spot was going to be golden, but after getting a silver hoop earing & another toe ring - signals kind of dried up.
I was told by locals that guys go there all the time too. Stuff I had gotten was in chest deep or deeper and probably why they were missed. Left there and thought about heading back to the "beach bottom from hell", but told my girl I was gonna save my strength for the next morning and we just went back to the resort and hung out at the pool and then had a nice dinner
Got up earlier - around 6am. Once again had plans to head somewhere else at 10am, but was gonna make the most of my sunrise hunt. Determined to find gold at this spot. I was getting a lot of low tones and passing them up, wasting time notching to check but had to be done. Went out deep and got a nice signal - reached into clay squeezing and squishing it to get it to go thru . I felt the target - still too much material to see but I could feel a heavy band - got excited and and and ...tungsten! Blah..what a let down. I could feel the size and the weight and thought huge gold or maybe platinum...NOT.
Went in to waist deep and got another nice signal - worked scoop back and forth ..back and forth..what a work out. Finally got it up and after pushing material thru- saw huge whitish goldish looking ring. Alas again - nitro. Only comfort was that I was getting rings and I knew if I was finding these and silvers from before - that there had to be gold. Checked my watch and knew time was running out. My gal would be coming to get me soon. I moved back in to about thigh deep and got another nice hit. Scooped and once again felt a ring in the clay and was happy when I saw yellow. Used to be like to see white gold but with all the other alloys that are same color - titanium etc. - I want to see yellow where I know what I got. Nice mens band and not as second to soon as I saw my girlfriend coming around the corner. I nodded at her which told her I had gold. Told her I knew there was gold out there - just a matter of time. Told her I thought there was a lot more out there cause I barely touched the place in my opinion
Off to the next spot. Jumped in - got 3 coins -then Bam! ...loud surface target. Was only there like 10 mins. - just scooped down a couple inches and heard the sound of what I knew sounded like a ring jingling in my scoop. Looked in to large white band - hoping for platinum, but was 14k white gold - Happy again though. Thought once again I was going to score big here, but was told again others had been there not long ago.That ring was probably lost real recent and it does not have a scratch on it ..so probably lost on honeymoon. I was trying to dig it all here as you can see by the pic. I got a deep faint signal and scooped and saw band in scoop but even before plucking it out - I could tell by the color - titanium. I slowed down after this really faint target hoping to get other deep ones the other guys missed. Got a few really deep coins - few really deep screwcaps too. Got a faint high pitched tone and pulled out a large silver band from about 1 1/2 feet down. Targets were few and far...got another faint one and pulled up the claudagh silver ring. Once again I was just glad I got one gold. Once again was contemplating if I should head out for sunset hunt on my last night, but told my gal the sunset belonged to her, but told her I would get up real early on our final day for one last hunt at the "hell beach". wanted to prove to myself there was more there.
Got up at 545am. Ran over to the family beach one last time before I had to get back to pack. Was not in the water long when I got a large silver spinner - still getting the rings - what I want to see, but want that yellow. Went out to spot where I had gotten musketballs and was surprised with another. Headed to another area where people had been a few times and did not want to get close to them. Got a mid tone and was surprised with a wide yellow gold band..Yes!..I would end my trip with a gold. Went about 10 feet and got a similar signal and to my surprise came up with a white gold band..oh yea!. This one also does not have a scratch on it and looks brand new too. Time was running out - got another nice signal and once again reaching into the clay - felt target and my finger went thru and knew I had another ring, but was disappointed when I saw copper showing thru. Oh well..Im not greedy - 4 ring day with 2 gold for a few hour hunt and a nice way to end the vacay. I know there's more in there - I'll go back one day.
THE KEEPERS
THE COINS
THE MISC.
THE BALLS
SOME CRUSTY COINS
THE TRASH
But my girlfriend had a good time and said she would not mind going back if there was a good deal - we found a good deal on a hotel that we had seen on our first trip
and amazingly - we were able to use our skymiles for the flight - so it was free (except for the taxes) and they put us in first class -bonus! Our luck continued when we landed -
there were other planes in and thought we'd be in customs area for an hour like the first trip but planes that were there had probs - so we off loaded first - being in first class - we were first in and
the very first in line in customs - it was a ghost town and we were able to go right thru - being first class - our bags were off first too - we got shuttle immediately and were at hotel in no time - 2nd in line to check in - in room after 3pm - put my machine and scoop together and was in water by 4pm - told my girlfriend - "just throw your suit on and go down to beach" - This resort had an adult only little beach and a family beach that was huge. I jumped in walked out to waist deep..put mask on ...turned machine on ...walked to chest deep and Bam - first signal. Scooped and saw gold band slide down into scoop. First signal and I got gold - my gal could not believe it and I thought I was going to heaven. Alas ...after that ...I covered the small beach in no time and came up with a few bottlecaps...few nails..and about 4 coins. Come to find out - that adult beach was made this year and only sees like 10 people a day - so reason for lack of finds I guess. I walked over to the family beach and jumped in. The conditions at this beach - complete opposite of the adult one - the adult one had nice new sand - this one - beach was sandy but in the water - in shallow about 1-2 inchs of sand - under that hard hard clay - it would take all my weight on my scoop and about 40 twists of my scoop to get down 3 ins. into it. As you go to waist deep - there was a layer of muck that felt like walking in cow manure. When you step in it you slid and when trying to scoop with foot on scoop ...the other would slide out. This area had bad silt and with each step it would be like someone dumped a gallon of whole milk in front of you - so visibility was zero most of the time. So you have silt on 2-3 inches of muck and then clay again - which would plug you scoop completely - you could shake to the cows come home and this stuff would not move - luckily I brought gloves and I would have to stick my hand in it and churn it and break it up to get it to filter - so each target would take 3-5 mins+ to retrieve most times - and that's if you got it on the first scoop.
out farther - chest deep - you got silt...muck...then sea grass with roots about 5 inches down and then a different type of clay mix - roots were tough to cut thru - if you don't have a good scoop and a large basket - it would make for a long day or longer day. A floating sieve would be ideal to help = but who takes one on flights and it would have to be a heavy gauge wire type - plastic ones would probably sink or tip with the weight of the clay plugs I was digging. Ive dug in solid rocky beaches in New England - coral beaches in Fla. ..hard bottom Carrib. bchs where you cant scoop but have to drop down and fan targets in pockets- this is probably the worst digging Ive ever had to deal with . If you have a small scoop - youre out of luck here (I tried my smaller stainless one for one hunt- no good) -If you did not have gloves - I don't think you'd want to stick your bare hand in this muck - there were sharp shells and some small glass and other stuf that could do damage to your hand - I don't know why I wore my gloves at this spot - but glad I did. I only hit here for a little while - to get the lay of the land for next few days - plus there were people to work around and we had to get cleaned up and unpack still and do diner. I got a titanium alloy mix band and a few coins and normal trash - not real productive but I had a lot of signals and because of the digging conditions - thought others would have a hard time here and it had promise ...even though it was gonna be hard working. So I ended the first day with 2 rings - got a gold ..so I was happy.
titanium is marked Ti & Ag Pd
Next morning - could not get myself up for sunrise like I wanted to. I had worked the night before the flight and was up over 24hrs straight. We made plans to go to a private beach in town. Got there right after they opened and there were only a few in the water - so I had run of the place for a while. What a complete difference. Water was clearest as I have ever hunted - you could read a book on the bottom
Sand was nice and you could see where to scoop and get most targets on first try. I was told by waiters there that this spot was popular with TH'ers and they get guys from cruise ships there al the time - soi knew I was gonna be going for fresh drops and possibly stuff out farther than others guys go since I wear mask and snorkel. I was getting many Jamaican lower denomination coins which are steel alloy and go off as a low tone on my CZ21 which is iron signal in ID mode - I hunted in all metal and dug it all but time to time I like to quick notch to zero in ID mode to see what I might be digging. Low tone I know I going to digging their coins or bottle cap or trap wire. Detected easily for about 2 hrs - had a bunch of coins and a ring (unmarked). Then the cruise ship tourists rolled in and I had to find open areas here and there. finally got a heart shaped gold signet ring. Right after I got a thin band with diamonds (part of a wedding set) - slowed down and gridded that spot from every direction to see if the main ring was thing - nope.
Took a break for lunch..then jumped in for a couple more hrs. Came up with a stainless band out deep. Worked my way into the shallows - hunting on my knees to stay low in the water(I don't like sticking out in the shallows..I will actually down and hunt wearing my mask and snorkel) I ended up with two small gold bands. So I got 4 gold here - once again ...happy.
Was thinking of going back to my resorts family beach but needed to spend some time with my gal - so called it a day.
Tuesday morning I got my butt up and out like 630am. We had plans to hit another spot - but that would not be till 1030am - so off and in I went. This time I took my large RTG scoop and knew how to approach this rough beach better. I hunted in all metal but used my notch to zero ID mode technique on every target and tried to "cherry pick" not going for their coins and trying to go for more mid and high tones. It sucks working that hard of twisting your scoop 40 times to get down enough to pull up plug and then working your hand in it to get material out and then seeing a bottlecap or even one of their tiny practically worthless coins. It wasn't long before I had a crusted silver ring. I then hit a silver cross in the shallows (don't like hitting the shallows much but since there weren't many people out early - hit it while I could. Looked for the chain with no luck - went back out to chest deep and got another silver ring. Then I went out deeper - as far as I could. bottom out here was silt...muck...seagrass.. thin layer of clay and then thick layer of thin clam shells. digging here was a little easier cause these shells would break easy under pressure. Was surprised we I had a mid tone signal and looked in my scoop to see a musketball. My first in Carribean waters - few minutes later - another. Most could not give a crap but I thought they were cool - large caliber too. Who knows if from a pirate gun or British soldier. My girlfriend showed up and gave me the hook that I had to get out and head to other spot. I got silver and was happy - told her with the finds I made I was hopeful that there was gold there - just wish it was not so darn hard digging.
Headed to another spot that looked good on Google earth. Got there like 1130am - go tin quick and was not long before I had a silver toe ring. then a few coins and when I got into deeper water got a huge hit and turned out to be a huge crusty silver band - bout a size 13. It was a good sign. little while later I got another crusty silver band and thought this spot was going to be golden, but after getting a silver hoop earing & another toe ring - signals kind of dried up.
I was told by locals that guys go there all the time too. Stuff I had gotten was in chest deep or deeper and probably why they were missed. Left there and thought about heading back to the "beach bottom from hell", but told my girl I was gonna save my strength for the next morning and we just went back to the resort and hung out at the pool and then had a nice dinner
Got up earlier - around 6am. Once again had plans to head somewhere else at 10am, but was gonna make the most of my sunrise hunt. Determined to find gold at this spot. I was getting a lot of low tones and passing them up, wasting time notching to check but had to be done. Went out deep and got a nice signal - reached into clay squeezing and squishing it to get it to go thru . I felt the target - still too much material to see but I could feel a heavy band - got excited and and and ...tungsten! Blah..what a let down. I could feel the size and the weight and thought huge gold or maybe platinum...NOT.
Went in to waist deep and got another nice signal - worked scoop back and forth ..back and forth..what a work out. Finally got it up and after pushing material thru- saw huge whitish goldish looking ring. Alas again - nitro. Only comfort was that I was getting rings and I knew if I was finding these and silvers from before - that there had to be gold. Checked my watch and knew time was running out. My gal would be coming to get me soon. I moved back in to about thigh deep and got another nice hit. Scooped and once again felt a ring in the clay and was happy when I saw yellow. Used to be like to see white gold but with all the other alloys that are same color - titanium etc. - I want to see yellow where I know what I got. Nice mens band and not as second to soon as I saw my girlfriend coming around the corner. I nodded at her which told her I had gold. Told her I knew there was gold out there - just a matter of time. Told her I thought there was a lot more out there cause I barely touched the place in my opinion
Off to the next spot. Jumped in - got 3 coins -then Bam! ...loud surface target. Was only there like 10 mins. - just scooped down a couple inches and heard the sound of what I knew sounded like a ring jingling in my scoop. Looked in to large white band - hoping for platinum, but was 14k white gold - Happy again though. Thought once again I was going to score big here, but was told again others had been there not long ago.That ring was probably lost real recent and it does not have a scratch on it ..so probably lost on honeymoon. I was trying to dig it all here as you can see by the pic. I got a deep faint signal and scooped and saw band in scoop but even before plucking it out - I could tell by the color - titanium. I slowed down after this really faint target hoping to get other deep ones the other guys missed. Got a few really deep coins - few really deep screwcaps too. Got a faint high pitched tone and pulled out a large silver band from about 1 1/2 feet down. Targets were few and far...got another faint one and pulled up the claudagh silver ring. Once again I was just glad I got one gold. Once again was contemplating if I should head out for sunset hunt on my last night, but told my gal the sunset belonged to her, but told her I would get up real early on our final day for one last hunt at the "hell beach". wanted to prove to myself there was more there.
Got up at 545am. Ran over to the family beach one last time before I had to get back to pack. Was not in the water long when I got a large silver spinner - still getting the rings - what I want to see, but want that yellow. Went out to spot where I had gotten musketballs and was surprised with another. Headed to another area where people had been a few times and did not want to get close to them. Got a mid tone and was surprised with a wide yellow gold band..Yes!..I would end my trip with a gold. Went about 10 feet and got a similar signal and to my surprise came up with a white gold band..oh yea!. This one also does not have a scratch on it and looks brand new too. Time was running out - got another nice signal and once again reaching into the clay - felt target and my finger went thru and knew I had another ring, but was disappointed when I saw copper showing thru. Oh well..Im not greedy - 4 ring day with 2 gold for a few hour hunt and a nice way to end the vacay. I know there's more in there - I'll go back one day.
THE KEEPERS
THE COINS
THE MISC.
THE BALLS
SOME CRUSTY COINS
THE TRASH
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