Mark,
The Sandshark would be the best choice for a salt water beach if you want to hunt wet sand and go knee deep in the water. However, it is a pi unit and there is no discrimination, so you dig it all. This includes bobby pins, rusty bolts and sparkler wires a foot deep or more.
The Tigershark is a vlf and doesn't handle going into saltwater very well but would still work as a dry land detector, although you are going to have extra weight compared to a regular land detector. It is a great fresh water detector.
The sandshark and tigershark both hip mount very nicely but are too heavy with the control box mounted on the rod. If you get either of these units then let me know and I will link you to a post on hip mounts.
If you want to hunt salt water then go with the Sandshark and use your prism for land hunting. The sandshark would drive you crazy dirt digging.
The sandshark is made to find gold and that is what beach hunting is all about. Is is a great machine. Don't be too worried about having to dig it all. If you are working in sand it is very fast to recover a target and keep moving. There is a lot to know about working the beach in order to be successful. Buy a few water hunting books so you can get up to speed and not waste your time trying to learn it on your own. There are some tried and proven methods to give you a leg up on making good finds. You don't just take your detector out on the beach and start hunting in a random mannor unless you are just out for a walk on the beach and don't care if you find anything or not. If you want to be able to find good stuff you need to learn all you can about how to go about it. The beach can really pay off at times, but there are other times when the tide or conditions won't pay at all.
Hope this helps... Good luck...... highwater
