Minelab CTX 3030 or Excalibur for beach or shallow water hunting?

Tom from Poland recently asked me this question, but I get asked this question a lot so I will share my answer. 

Both of these superb metal detectors are my favorites for beach and shallow water hunting, and I own and use both metal detectors.

In my opinion, the CTX 3030 is better than the Excalibur on the beach and in shallow water. The CTX 3030 allows you to change search coils and headphones, and has many bells and whistles to help you detect what you are searching for at the beach. 

The CTX 3030 is well balanced and has a faster recovery speed than the Excalibur, it is also deeper and more sensitive to small targets thanks to the 11-inch search coil. 

On the beach and in shallow water all of the advantages are on the side of owning a CTX 3030, when it comes to deeper water hunting the pendulum swings over to the Excalibur. 

Obviously, the Excalibur is the choice for scuba divers because of the 200 ft depth rating. 

Once you submerge the screen, many of the advantages of using a CTX 3030 may be taken away unless you can put a mask on and see the screen under the water.

In really rough surf or low water visibility I often use an Excalibur, it all depends on the site I am searching. 
When I am searching using an Excalibur at a beach with a lot of iron or trash, I see why I like using my CTX 3030.

The Excalibur is probably the most seen metal detector at heavily hunted beaches, putting the large 17-inch search coil on the CTX 3030 will allow you walk straight over ground covered by Excalibur users and detect deeper targets. 

Switching from the discrimination search mode to an all metal mode and vice versa, or changing discrimination just takes a press of a button. 

You can modify an Excalibur to be more like a CTX 3030, adding a push button pinpoint, waterproof connectors to change coils or add custom headphones.
Modded Excalibur's are good for beach or water hunters who are searching for specific targets and want an Excalibur customized to detect those targets.
You do not have to mod a CTX 3030, or add a straight shaft to make it more comfortable to use. 
It is a testament to both metal detectors how highly regarded they both are by beach and water hunters.

So as you can see both of these metal detectors have their advantages, depending on your budget you cannot go wrong choosing either one.

Even though I own a CTX 3030 I will not be selling my Excalibur's any time soon as I am having too much fun using them at the beach.

I have found when you are married and own both metal detectors, it helps to have a good reason why you need both metal detectors lol ! 

Ready for any beach or water hunting situation is my excuse.