Opinion Question: Shallow Water or Land

[retire05]

I am pretty new and have been really looking through this site as well as many you tube videos. I have a Garrett Ace 350. With that information, what do you think is a better place to detect, shallow water or land targets? I live in Southern Virginia (Tidewater area). I'd be pretty interested in opinions of you pros out there.

 

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[dhearn]

What part of Southern Virginia are you from. The Garrett Ace 350 is a great land machine. You will prob have some issues with black sand on the salt water beaches. The one my friend had did anyway. He could run right with me on the land and I was using a much more expensive F75. I would stick to the land for the most part with the ACE the only part waterproof is the coil.

 

[retire05]

Thanks for the advice. I live in Suffolk (near Chesapeake and a bit further away is Virginia Beach). If this snow ever quits I will hopefully get out for a bit. Thanks again

 

[dhearn]

I live in Salisbury Md. On the Eastern shore. Were getting part of the snow storm your getting.

 

[Rodbuster209]

It depends on the time of year for me, when people start swimming, I hit the water with my Excalibur, all other times it is land hunting. Good Luck!

 

[LawrencetheMDer]

Do both land and wet sand/surf and determine for yourself which is best for you and your detector. In general, you'll find more junk on dry beach than the surf but much easier to retrieve targets from the beach than surf. Some VLF detectors have a hard time with wet sand and surf. Also depth may be affected so that only shallow targets are found in the wet sand/surf. Since your detector only has a water proof coil, take great care when working the surf - one drop and it is all over. Suggest you stay on dry sand until you gain experience working with your machine. When people ask what I have found, I always say "peace of mind". Don't monetize your detector time (e.g., I only found this or that in so many hours of detecting - Its not worth my time.) Rather, enjoy the experience and your time on the beach. Metal detecting is much like meditation - it calms the nerves, eases the mind and can put your head in a nice place. Enjoy the experience, regardless of what you find, and you'll love metal detecting for years to come.

 

[retire05]

Do both land and wet sand/surf and determine for yourself which is best for you and your detector. In general, you'll find more junk on dry beach than the surf but much easier to retrieve targets from the beach than surf. Some VLF detectors have a hard time with wet sand and surf. Also depth may be affected so that only shallow targets are found in the wet sand/surf. Since your detector only has a water proof coil, take great care when working the surf - one drop and it is all over. Suggest you stay on dry sand until you gain experience working with your machine. When people ask what I have found, I always say "peace of mind". Don't monetize your detector time (e.g., I only found this or that in so many hours of detecting - Its not worth my time.) Rather, enjoy the experience and your time on the beach. Metal detecting is much like meditation - it calms the nerves, eases the mind and can put your head in a nice place. Enjoy the experience, regardless of what you find, and you'll love metal detecting for years to come.

Thanks so much for your response. It makes perfect sense to me. I agree about the not monetizing the time. So far, my time mding has had a calming effect, which I very much need!! The only monetary aspect I really hope to gain out of it is to find enough to pay for the hobby toys. I got a good deal on my Garrett Ace 350 ($200) and am already about $70 towards repaying. My main interest is history so that is where my love for detecting is coming from. Once all this snow goes away I'll actually be able to do more. I've only been out about 7-8 times at most. Thanks again for the input.

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

I would not go in the water AT ALL until you have a fully water proof machine. Not likely you'll drop it in the water but you could. I never went near the water with my MXT even though it was a water proof coil up to the box. Simply because I worried about dropping it in the water.

Keep @ it and HH !