If you want to hunt the beaches, be very careful with any non water proof detector. If your in 2 foot of water a rouge wave will make a paper weight of a non waterproof detector. I hunt a lot of beaches, I can not count how many times I have been caught by a wave I didn't see coming as I was busy trying to recover a target and been knocked down and or rolled....
Personally I would not take any of my non water proof detectors any deeper then mid calf in the water. Too many holes to trip on, rouge waves, and any number of other things to trip on including my own feet to take the chance.....
Now as far as the Sovereign GT goes, you will not find a better beach machine then the Sovereign, if you combine it with Coiltek's WOT coil it becomes a beach vaccum. I own 2 of them, one is waterproofed with a Ikelite case so I can use it in the surf, the other is the Stock Sovereign, except I have both a WOT 15" coil and the SEF Butterfly 15"x18" coil for it.
Just a suggestion, but you might look for a good used Sovereign off the boards from a respected member. I currently own 6 detectors, 2 Excal 1000's with WOT coils, 2 Sovereign GTs with WOT coils (one is waterproofed), a Fisher 1235X for competition hunting, and a Whites 6000 XL Pro. all but one of the Sovereigns were bought used off the boards, all worked perfectly when I received them.
I have saved a lot of money buying them used, just like a car there is depreciation when you buy a detector. I just bought an Excal 1000 used off a detector board for $525 shipped to my home. I added a WOT coil I picked up used for $80, a waterproof splice for about $20 more and then custom built straight shaft for $25. I have a total of $650 into it and I could sell it for that a year from now if I choose. A new Excal will cost you $1200, and doesn't come with a WOT coil or the straight shaft.
Of the total of 10 detectors I have bought since starting 3.5 years ago, (I enjoy playing with them) I only bought 2 new, and of of the 2 new I traded in first new one on the only other new one I bought, my first Sovereign GT. I sold an Excal I bought used after owning it for 18 months for $75 less then I paid for it and that doesn't take in to consideration the diamond rings, gold rings, silver rings, watches and coins I found with it.....
If you have the money and don't want to buy used detector, remember there are other suplies needed for the beach. You will need a good scoop, which will cost you new $150-$200, don't waste time on a cheap scoop that will break on you after a few months, wet sand weighs a ton.... I made the mistake of thinking $60 was a lot of money for a scoop and it broke within a month, get a good one to begin with and save that $40-$70 you think you can get by with....A good scoop will holds its value in the long run. My first good scoop was a Beach Brute I, I got it used off a board for $100, used it for 2 years, sold it for $75 and used that money to buy the Beach Brute II for $189.
Like Sandman says, you will not go wrong buying the Sovereign GT. You will also never go wrong following any advice Sandman gives out either......
