The practical stuff that turns a beach from random sand into a readable system.
Start here
Before chasing deep old targets, learn the obvious human zones: towel line, access paths, lifeguard stands, volleyball courts, rental umbrella rows, and the walk from parking to sand.
Field move
Make one clean pass parallel to the towel line, then widen only where coins, tabs, or repeatable tones cluster.
Low tide exposes ground that was underwater a few hours earlier. That wet-sand strip is often where heavier targets settle and where competition has less time to work.
Field move
Arrive before low tide, hunt down with the water, then turn and rework the best lane as the tide starts coming in.
Wet salt sand can make a detector chatter. A quiet, slightly reduced sensitivity setting usually finds more than a maxed-out machine that makes every swing sound suspicious.
Field move
If the machine falses constantly, lower sensitivity or switch to a beach/wet-sand mode until repeatable signals stand out.
Gold rings do not always sound heroic. Depending on size and karat, they can live near foil, nickel, and pull-tab ranges.
Field move
On a beach, let the scoop do more of the sorting. If the tone repeats from two directions, dig it.
Every pull tab and bottle cap you remove makes future hunts cleaner and keeps the hobby welcome on public beaches.
Field move
Use a pouch with separate keeper and trash pockets. Empty the trash pocket every hunt.
Level up
Waves sort targets by weight, shape, and density. When you hit several coins, sinkers, or similar-weight targets along the same elevation, you may have found the active line.
Field move
Mark that elevation mentally and grid parallel to the water instead of continuing random zig-zags.
A storm cut is not automatically good. The productive version has a clear face, darker or compacted sand below it, shell hash, black sand, clay, gravel, or older target clues.
Field move
Work the base of the cut, the top edge, and the trough just seaward. If the face is all fluffy new sand, move on.
Black sand usually means heavier minerals have concentrated. That can point to the same sorting action that concentrates coins and jewelry, but it can also make detectors noisy.
Field move
Slow down, ground balance, and reduce sensitivity if needed. Do not leave just because the machine gets chatty.
Detectorists call a green-patina copper coin a greenie. It does not guarantee gold, but on a beach it can hint that older, heavier, long-buried targets are being exposed or preserved in that layer.
Field move
When you find one, slow down. Spiral out, then grid the same elevation before leaving the area.
Rings, coins, sinkers, and older copper often cluster because water sorted them into the same pocket. Beginners celebrate and walk away; better hunters interrogate the spot.
Field move
After any strong keeper, rescan the hole, then work a 10- to 20-foot radius before moving on.
A beach concert, tournament, race, or packed holiday can matter almost as much as tide. Fresh drops load towel lines, access paths, and gathering points.
Field move
Hunt early the next morning, starting at access funnels and setup zones before the beach fills again.
The simple rule
Start broad enough to find the active line, then get boring on purpose. When the beach gives you a clue, repeat that exact elevation, texture, or structure until it stops paying.