Depending on your detector and how it will react to salt, I like to start just after high tide and work down with the tide in the wet sand, then back up with the tide until it's high again.
I've found that the evening tide is the best to work. During the day is when people are usually swimming and loosing their goodies, so working the tide out right after this has happened will greatly increase your chances of finding anything. If you hunt the morning tide, it's already pushed the sand over everything lost the day before.
I usually start by working a straight line with the water line. Then if I find a spot giving a lot of signals, good or bad, I'll start a patern from the water line to the dry sand and back until I go about 6 lengths without a signal. Then I go back to a straight line with the water and so on.
If you have a lot of time, I'd skip straight to the patern hunting. This covers the most area.
I've found that hunting the dry sand can be productive, but you dig 20 times as much trash and pretty much come up with the same amount of good targets.
This is just my way, doesn't make it right. There's probably a lot of hunters in here who have their own techniques. All of them work, it's just finding the way you like best and is most productive for your hunting style.
Good luck,
xXx
