detecting in South Padre, Corpus, etc

[luke1049]

Hi All,

I am relatively new to detecting and after swinging a pick to get a 4 inch hole over a signal up here near Fort worth thought it might be nice to dig in sand. Was contemplating a trip down the Texas coast hitting common areas like Galveston, Port Aransas, Corpus, and South Padre during spring break. I hear a lot of conflicting information regarding detecting along the coast; in particular South Padre.

I know there are a lot of well marked nation parks, seashores, etc, but was wondering about the legality of hitting common public beaches to just look for jewelery, coins, etc? Does anyone know if you can hunt these areas? Seems like the popular South Padre beaches would be fun and productive.

Thanks!

 

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[xXx]

Luke, I went to South Padre Island about 7 years ago and hunted the beaches. The first day out I received 3rd degree sunburns on my shoulders and my entire trip was over. I was never questioned while I was on the beach. Didn't seem like a problem?
xXx

 

[navychief1968]

Hey Newbie,

I live in Portland, TX and hunt the beaches here pretty often. As far a the legality goes, it against the law to hunt on the National Sea Shore, but all other beaches are fair game. The hunting here is pretty poor though compared to other places I have been like Panama City Beach and Virginia Beach. If you come down to this area in the next couple of weeks let me know and I'll see if I can show you around. It will have to be soon though because I deploy to the Persian Gulf next month and will not be back in the states until late fall at the soonest.

Chris Reynolds
Chief Petty Officer, USN

 

[Leon]

Hey navychief,,, God Bless, Good luck, and stay safe over there...

 

[luke1049]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the replies. It is a bit relieving cuase all I hear are horror stories of people accidently wandering onto a state owned beach and then having all their stuff confiscated.

CPO - being a former Marine I never thought I'd hear myself say "Go Navy" but in these times I wish you the very best and a short safe tour over there. I cannot get down your way till early March but I sure do appreciate the offer anyway.

Luke

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Chief, I took the Excalibur to Kuwait and Iraq with me. Prior to the start of the war, I had a chance to do a couple of dives in the gulf with our PJ?s, did not find anything, but the dive was a good escape from reality, for a while I forgot that I was in Kuwait. After our push north I ended up just outside the city of Ur in Iraq, and did some detecting. The only problem was all the UXO?s (un-exploded ordinance). Be careful and be safe my friend.

 

[juniorb]

Well hello there,
I currently live on SPI and have recently (since Christmas) started detecting. I stopped a Policeman on the beach yesterday to ask him about the legality of it and his words were, "I don't know of any law that prevents it." He also said he'd get back to me about it and hasn't yet. Folks detect here year round so you shouldn't have any problems. Come on down.

 

[luke1049]

Hello JuniorB,

You live on SPI - wow, lucky you! Thanks for your reply and hope you are enjoying your new detector!

 

[juniorb]

Thanks,...Home is where the Coast Guard sends you

 

[navychief1968]

Luke,

I hunted North Padre Island just south of Port Aransas today. I took away a couple of dollars in clad and one ring in a matter of a hour. The hunting is pretty good right now. We had forty knot wind gusts yesterday and it really kicked up the surf. Lots of beach erosion going on right now. I think I'll hit the beach again on Saturday morning and get a good hunt in before mother nature replaces all the sand she has washed away. If anybody reading this would like to tag along, just let me know. I got over night duty on the ship Friday, but I should be off by 08:30 Saturday morning.

P.S. The ring I found to day is "ghetto gold". That's the term I use for gaudy gold plated or gold filled jewelry.


Chris Reynolds
Chief Petty Officer, USN