Metal detecting on the beaches is best during the summer. The sun, sand, and water attract a lot of traffic during the summer, which means there’s a better chance of finding lost treasures. With this knowledge, more and more detectorists are combing the beaches in search of buried objects. Due to this competition, you will have to learn some metal detecting tips and secrets that only a few know in order to produce more finds.

Naturally, the beach is more frequented during the summer months. This is the perfect time to go on metal detecting hunts. Since there are many people visiting the beach, there will be more lost items for you to collect. Early morning and late at night are the best times to go spotting.

Try to go where most novice detectorists don’t. Saltwater hunting is a bit more difficult, but you may discover hidden treasures that others miss. This type of hunting requires a waterproof detector and you will need to enter shallow water. You can take advantage of low tides and enter areas where there may be buried treasure. You may find a lot of trash that comes from splashing water, but this just means you have to go a little deeper. Because you are in the water, it is more difficult to hear the signals from the detector. You’ll have to listen to the little signs and dig up what you can. If you don’t find anything, you can always wait a few days as the tide might bring you something.

You can get ahead of the competition by combing the beach with some planning. Newcomers to metal detecting often do random searches. They are just hitting popular places without any plan. Take some time and decide how you will grid the beach. Gridding the beach is a search method where you cover a smaller area of ​​the beach that has been heavily trafficked in a specific pattern. You can choose which pattern to search in: circular, straight, or straight on its side. For a circular pattern, you’ll start in the middle of the beach and walk in larger circles as you comb the area. You can try a straight pattern where you start walking directly from the high shore line to the low tide line. Or, you can start at the high bench line and spot lateral turns after 12 feet or so and move one foot on what is called a straight lateral pattern. While your choice of gridding the beach is all about preference, with either of these patterns you’re marking the area with your feet so you know where you’ve combed and where you still need to metal detect for treasure. This definitely gives you an edge over those who randomly search the beach and end up searching the same spot over and over again.

Using the metal detecting tips above, you should be able to come up with a plan to find buried treasure. If you have a plan and comb popular areas of the beach, you’re sure to discover something hidden that others might have missed because they didn’t have a specific metal detecting plan or method.