Locating the best finds is often a matter of metal detecting where others haven’t, and underwater metal detectors can help you search areas where others have never swung a coil. Water detecting can be as exciting as it is fun, and can offer some great relief from the hot weather during the Summer months.
Detecting in and around water can open up a ton of new opportunities that are often over looked and close to home. Having a metal detector that will work underwater can allow you to take advantage of these opportunities when other metal detecting enthusiasts can’t. My desire to hunt in and around water is one of the things that influenced me to purchase my Garrett AT Pro, which is waterproof up to 10 feet.
Things are easily lost in the water, and once lost they can be difficult to find underwater unless you have a detector. Many brands of metal detectors have waterproof search coils, but the units themselves cannot be submerged. This keeps a lot of detectorists away from the water, and makes it an ideal place for you to search if you own a waterproof detector.
So what kind of water areas are good to detect?
I love old swimming holes. Just about every old town that has a creek running near it will have an area of deep water that the locals have frequented as their swimming hole for ages. Back in the day when air conditioning wasn’t available, this was a great way for the locals to cool down and beat the Summer heat. Old coins are often lost in and around these swimming holes, and in these creeks is a great opportunity to find lost jewelry.
Finding these old swimming holes can sometimes be a challenge though. I have seen some labelled on old maps. Others I have found by doing various searches on Google for “swimming hole” + city or state name. But more often then not, the best way to find out about these things is to ask the locals. The old timers can be an especially good source for this information. The laws about water hunting differ from state to state, so make sure to find out whether or not there is a public easement around the water or if it is private land. And if it is private land, most farmers won’t hesitate to give you permission to detect in a creek as opposed to their front yard.
Old creek and stream crossings can be another good place to detect in the water. All these modern bridges we drive over each day didn’t used to be there. In many cases, the roads crossed the creeks in the locations that they do because there was an area of shallow water there. When people crossed these creeks by foot, by horse, or by buggy things didn’t always go as planned. A fall in the water during one of these crossings often resulted in losing items, which can be located today at the crossing or just downstream from it. Old maps can be good for helping to locate these potential spots. There may be a modern bridge there now, but there hasn’t always been.
Freshwater lakes will often have designated beach areas that swimmers frequent in droves during the hot summer months. Many of these freshwater beaches will be in city or state parks, so make sure to check your local regulations for the rules about metal detecting there. Some parks don’t allow any metal detecting at all. Some require that you check in with the park office or ranger, or maybe even hunt outside of the normal beach hours. If you can find these spots and get access to them, they can be a great spot for finding lost jewelry. Make sure that you cover any and all holes you dig, and remove all pull tabs and trash you come across. This just helps to keep our image in good standing.
Let’s not forget the beach. A lot of people will detect the sands along the shore, but there can be some great finds out in the water. At low tide you can search areas that would normally be deeper. This type of detecting can wear you out as you contend with the waves rolling into the shore. It can be rewarding as you can locate items that the beach combers won’t.
So what are some good metal detectors for use underwater?
- The Garrett AT Pro Metal Detector is waterproof up to 10 feet and good for shallow water detecting.
- The Treasure Hunter Sand Shark is fully submersible to a maximum depth of 132 feet.
- The Deep Blue 3080 is waterproof up to a depth of 65 feet.
- The Treasure Hunter Aquavision Pro is also good underwater to a depth of 132 feet.
- The Viper Trident is designed for hunting underwater and is good to a depth of 132 feet.
- And if you really want to go deep, the Tesoro Sand Shark will get you down to 200 feet.
There are many other options on the market for underwater detecting. If you are interested in getting into water detecting, then I recommend you do your research and select a model that will be best suited to the type of water hunting you plan to do. If you plan to dive in the ocean, then you definitely want to look at one of the Viper or Tesoro models that will work in deeper water. If you plan to detect in creeks, streams, and shallow lake areas, then the Garrett AT Pro would be a good hybrid detector that you could use on land or in the water.
So consider doing some underwater metal detecting and find those areas of virgin ground that the other detectorist have never been.
