A crowded beach provides opportunities to beach hunters if you know how to read the beach and also read the people using the beach.
When plotting out a beach hunting strategy to take advantage of a crowded beach the first thing I check is the weather forecast because that tells me what people are likely to do at the beach and where they are likely to lose bobby dazzlers and top pocket finds.
For example, on a really hot day you will see more people entering and exiting the water potentially making inside the water and the lower beach the best areas to search.
On a very windy day the lower beach wet sand could be the best area to use a metal detector, note to water hunters who would rather struggle in rough surf or stay home on very windy days.
If rain showers are in the forecast the "Towel line" just up from the lower beach may become a jewelry drop zone, as people grab their clothes and gear before rushing to the beach exits.
Any watch, chain or ring taken off for safe keeping before swimming and hidden inside shoes or pockets is easily forgotten and lost in the dry sand when the rain comes pouring down.
The second thing influencing my beach hunting strategy is the age of the crowd, call it age discrimination if you will but I like searching areas of the beach used by an older crowd.
Sorry teens and surfer dudes you may be stoked but you are not losing what I am searching for brahs!
Lastly I work on timing which is the art of putting myself in the right place at the right time.
I know where I am going to search, what I am going to search for and I figure out the best time to search the area.
After or before normal beach hours is always my preferred time to go beach or water hunting, less people and what are you doing questions, but most of all more opportunities to search different areas of the beach.
Notice I didn't mention low tide times, the tide is what it is when I arrive at the beach to search an area and I deal with it when I get there.
With a selected area to search that I deem to potentially hold what I am searching for, I plod the search grid / pattern I choose most suitable for the selected site.
Plodding best describes a slow methodical way to cover a small search area really well.
I have always believed it is better to metal detect less ground thoroughly than more ground haphazardly, especially when relying on local beach knowledge and people reading skills.
Beach reading and site selection skills help you avoid having to cover the entire beach in one metal detecting session as so many newbies try to do.
Many of my best diamond rings were detected using small size search coils on my metal detector, relying on site selection and target separation instead of ground coverage.
Finds like this 2 carat Bobby Dazzler found along a high tide line after a beach event several years ago using a Minelab metal detector with an 8-inch search coil.
The afternoon I recovered this Bobby Dazzler high surf and high tide insured I had the normally heavily metal detected beach all to myself, I guess the full time water hunters figured it was not worth beach hunting and the local beach hunters figured they would wait for low tide.
Plot and plod to make the most of beach treasure hunting opportunities this summer and do not forget to make sure you have a top pocket for the rewards of site selection and putting yourself in the right place at the right time.
For more beach treasure hunting tips and tricks to finding Bobby Dazzlers check out my website at www.garydrayton.com
PS no laser ID on diamond, no posted lost ad and my Khalessi mother of dragons told me this Bobby Dazzler fits like a diamond glove!
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