Are beaches any good for beginners?

[ipcress]

I'm not sure how long it will take me to get a permission, but as I'm just over an hour from the coast I could have a go on a Crown Estate beach.

Are beaches a good place to start as a complete novice? I've read a bit about it and the issue with mineralisation seems like it could make it a bit of a challenge. If I had a detector with a Beach mode would it be ok place to start?

Thanks

Paul

[Twit]

You won't necessarily find much, though may do also (same everywhere in a way) , but to get started beaches are fine. Digging is easy, so you get to practice at finding out what different signals mean without having to spend a lot of effort on targets that are of no value.

Most all machines will handle dry sand well, only more dedicated ( hence expensive or some less expensive dig all no discrimination pi) machines will be much good in wet sand, but with the rest you can still try with reduced sensitivity and much less depth.

I like detecting beaches - a lot of space and a nice fun way to detect however suits. If afterwards you take detecting more seriously, they offer room for that also, in their own way.

[ipcress]

You won't necessarily find much, though may do also (same everywhere in a way) , but to get started beaches are fine. Digging is easy, so you get to practice at finding out what different signals mean without having to spend a lot of effort on targets that are of no value.

Most all machines will handle dry sand well, only more dedicated ( hence expensive or some less expensive dig all no discrimination pi) machines will be much good in wet sand, but with the rest you can still try with reduced sensitivity and much less depth.

I like detecting beaches - a lot of space and a nice fun way to detect however suits. If afterwards you take detecting more seriously, they offer room for that also, in their own way.

Perfect this is the answer I was hoping for.

I wouldn't be too bothered about not finding much, as long as I know it could be slim pickings before I go I wont end up too disappointed. A few cans and ring pulls would be an ok start, eyes wide open with respect to finding any stuff of real interest.

I've go a reasonable budget, so hopefully wet sand will be an option.

I'd not thought about the space and ease of digging, so that's a bonus.

ATB

Paul

[Spanish digger]

Hi Paul, I like detecting the beach more than the land,many strange pieces of metal have been lost on the beach or washed up from shipwrecks,I also travel an hour or more to the beach,this time of year you have the whole beach to yourself,mike

[Junior]

Get a tide timetable to save you turning up and there's 2ft of beach. Don't get cut off against the cliffs with no retreat and take a phone with u. Out our way wells the tide goes silly out then comes back via a small stream to then cut u off at a surprisingly rate as remember as a kid trying to get back across it. . Maybe have a dry run at high tide to see where it's safe to detect or talk to locals/ dog walkers..Take a poly bag for rubbish u dig up and see on the beach. I do mundesley , when Mrs swims. Some days it's £0.00 and most I've had is a tenner. In 10yrs been doing it only 1 9ct kids ring so don't get your hopes up too much. I've tried dues 3030 , and pi detectors to no real avail. 95% of stuff found has been in the soft. There in wet it's normally 4inch of sand then a very fine shingle which stuff doesn't seem to penetrate. Good luck.

[ROCK HOPPER]

When beach detecting keep a note of wind direction and the state of the sand, some wind directions strip sand and others will bring in large amounts of sand.
Beaches in Cornwall can change over a couple of days but at least we have nearly 300 beaches to choose from.
What I do a lot is look at the local web cams as then I don't waste time going if the sand has come in a lot.
Whilst checking a web cam a couple of years ago I noticed that part of the beach was washed out down to rocks, in six hours over two days I found two very old heavy 9kt Gold bands to a weight of 18gm. If I hadn't checked the camera I would not have found them as I don't usually detect that beach.
Good luck with your detecting.

[Saffron]

I see you are on the Shropshire / North Powys border so guess you are talking the North Wales coast, from what I have seen some of these are fine for detecting.

Safety is a priority so watch the tides and be aware of sinking mud (I am over an hour from the coast but my nearest is the Bristol Channel where there are lots of dangerous mud flats and the tide comes in very rapidly).

Any machine will handle the dry sand at the top of the beach. Ideally a machine with a dedicated beach mode will be better suited to the wet sand, however I started with a fairly basic Garrett 250 (fantastic value and great starter machine) which does not have a beach mode and on the beaches I went on it was fairly good on the wet sand with only the odd falsing (but beaches in the SW are fairly "detector friendly" and I do not know if this would be the case in North Wales). Even if wet sand is a problem knocking the sensitivty down a bit very often resolves the issue, admitedly at the cost of a bit of depth.

Remove all the rubbish you dig, and fill your holes in. Expect to find a lot of ring pulls, drinks cans and bottle tops, but if lucky you will find a few "spendables" and after that what turns up depends on the normal "pot luck" of metal detecting.

Evan

[Rivers rat]

When beach detecting keep a note of wind direction and the state of the sand, some wind directions strip sand and others will bring in large amounts of sand.
Beaches in Cornwall can change over a couple of days but at least we have nearly 300 beaches to choose from.
What I do a lot is look at the local web cams as then I don't waste time going if the sand has come in a lot.
Whilst checking a web cam a couple of years ago I noticed that part of the beach was washed out down to rocks, in six hours over two days I found two very old heavy 9kt Gold bands to a weight of 18gm. If I hadn't checked the camera I would not have found them as I don't usually detect that beach.
Good luck with your detecting.

Should have down that last time I went to Cornwall..................I spend hours battered by the wind with my PI to get jack s$%t but I had fun


RR

[Fireburst]

I love hunting the beach... great exercise, lovely views and plenty of space. You will mainly find modern stuff but if the beach has been cut you get to the interesting things if lady luck is with you.

[oldartefact]

Beaches are perfect ... and sort out the men from the boys. If you are committed to detecting there is nothing to fear, but if one comes at the hobby half-cocked, a noisy beach will bring the best of us to our knees, and want to chuck the thing away.

[dave1265]

Beach is good if you have nothing else, our beaches near the East Riding have great history of old churches falling over cliff edges due to erosion but they are used for RAF bombing practice so they are littered with munitions & all their aluminium fragments, try to avoid sunbathing areas as you will find more ring pulls than goodies as this could destroy your soul,anywhere along a coast line could have good finds from sunken ships etc. Do some internet research for beaches where you intend to go & see if anything intresting pops up.
Good luck in your searching.

[siddy39]

Yes, but to be in any danger on a bombing range, you would have to venture out quite a long way. And by this time, you would have realised that you are actually on a bombing range.

[ipcress]

I see you are on the Shropshire / North Powys border so guess you are talking the North Wales coast, from what I have seen some of these are fine for detecting.

Safety is a priority so watch the tides and be aware of sinking mud (I am over an hour from the coast but my nearest is the Bristol Channel where there are lots of dangerous mud flats and the tide comes in very rapidly).

Any machine will handle the dry sand at the top of the beach. Ideally a machine with a dedicated beach mode will be better suited to the wet sand, however I started with a fairly basic Garrett 250 (fantastic value and great starter machine) which does not have a beach mode and on the beaches I went on it was fairly good on the wet sand with only the odd falsing (but beaches in the SW are fairly "detector friendly" and I do not know if this would be the case in North Wales). Even if wet sand is a problem knocking the sensitivty down a bit very often resolves the issue, admitedly at the cost of a bit of depth.

Remove all the rubbish you dig, and fill your holes in. Expect to find a lot of ring pulls, drinks cans and bottle tops, but if lucky you will find a few "spendables" and after that what turns up depends on the normal "pot luck" of metal detecting.

Evan

Yes Evan it would be North Wales beaches.

I'm pretty sure I'll be getting something with Beach mode, but good to know that it's doable with any machine on dry sand.

Re rubbish I'm very anti littering, so would be removing and junk I found.

ATB

Paul

[ipcress]

And thanks to everyone else for their positive input, much appreciated.

ATB

Paul

[tricky micky]

if you doing the beaches you will need a big bag to take to rubbish away , so many ring pulls coke cans and general rubbish its very sad to see , the main thing i found was so many people coming over to talk to you , if i had a pound for every "have you found anything" was asked i would be rich, anyway i have only done beaches twice , found nothing the first time but the second time i managed to cover my car parking fees 70p in total , good look