Anyone md on gulf beaches in Florida?

Ummmm he asked about beaches in Fl....... there is no common sense down here. We have a lot more non-sense:laughing::laughing::laughing:
 
I think it's because Florida has a Reputation as being very Anal about controlling the Public/Citizens,And California has a Reputation of being.....well lets' just call it "looser"
stoneshirt
Florida is a 'Social Experiment"...Every Body needs a lawyer down there.
 
welcome to FMDF. I'll let someone else respond to your exact Question. But just want to point out an interesting statistic:

If anyone ever went to study all md'ing web forum pages, to find posts where someone asks about the legality of certain beaches: Has anyone ever noticed that 99% of the posts always pertain to FL beaches ? Notice we don't ever see similar inquiries about any other ocean facing state's beaches. Only ever Florida.

I have a theory as to why this is. And it's NOT that "Florida has any more or any less, potential 'laws' ". Anyone else care to take a venture ?

Tom I will try to answer your question with some specifics and some guesses.
The two largest coastlines of state are CA and FL.

First reason that Florida beaches are the subject to more legal/regulation questions than other beaches.

More vacationers go to Florida beaches than California and thus generate more questions. The reason Florida has more vacationers than CA is that Florida is near huge population centers east of the Mighty Mississippi River and often head for Florida in the Summer, Winter, Spring and Fall. California has mostly empty western states to the east of it and Hawaii to the West.

Florida also attracts a great deal of Canadian vacationers who have nice cold rocky beaches to play on and if they can afford it head to Florida. Every metal detectorist up in the northeast dream all winter about metal detecting warm Florida beaches and it is not too hard to convince the wife and family that Florida is the place to go on the next vacation.

Second reason is because of Florida’s many different laws and the abundance of sunken treasure ships that have their own unique restrictions that confuse many visiting detectorists.

You can detect on Florida State Park Beaches and all ocean beaches which are not owned but open to the public. Just stay out of the dunes, turtle nests and sea oats areas of the upper beaches.

In the areas of the 1715 treasure fleet those 11 ships sunk about 1 mile off shore. You cannot hunt around those ships since they are leased to treasure hunting companies. But on the beach near them and in the shallow water is fair game and of course legal. And sometimes valuable relics do make themselves available to the detectorists in those area after a hurricane or strong tropical storm.

Where most of the confusion in Florida comes in is with over zealous private security guards who wrongly think that the beaches in front of their condo or hotel is their little private preserve. They often run off beach detectorists who don’t know the law. If you have one of the private cops that tries to run you off a very public beach (which all are in Florida regardless of who owns the beach front property) have him or you call the local police department for clarification. The county cops typically know the laws better than rent-a-cops.

Now what was your question? Oh, yeah. Why Florida gets 99% of all beach MD hunting legal questions.

Now waiting for Tom’s thoughts on his question.
 
he didn't ask about cali beaches. you have nothing to add to this thread. he specifically asked about the florida gulf coast. I go there every October. keep this on topic. :yes: I hate reading a topic and seeing it go off the rails. :lol:

I am guessing that you are over thinking it. its just a question.

My Goodness SchmitzPlumbing. You must be getting cabin fever up there in cold WI.

sometimes simple questions generate thoughtful answers. I have seen many posts that the person would answer "I don't hunt ocean beaches so I cannot comment." Hmmm, what does that add to the thread.

You should apply for being a moderator on this or other forums.
 
I am guessing that you are over thinking it. its just a question.

My Goodness SchmitzPlumbing. You must be getting cabin fever up there in cold WI.

sometimes simple questions generate thoughtful answers. I have seen many posts that the person would answer "I don't hunt ocean beaches so I cannot comment." Hmmm, what does that add to the thread.

You should apply for being a moderator on this or other forums.

my response was over a year ago. but good idea. where do I apply?:laughing:
 
....and the abundance of sunken treasure ships that have their own unique restrictions that confuse many visiting detectorists....

Maxxkatt, out of all the reasons you mused, that might be the cause of this perpetual "FL" posts, this possibility of yours quoted above, is the only one I would put stock in. As being the reason for the perpetual questions that come up ONLY about FL (and not other states).

For all the other reasons you cite (amt. of tourism, miles of coastline, etc...) Do NOT account for the vast disparity of floated questions. CA, for example, has lots of touristy coastline, elderly retirees, etc....

And CA also has laws/rules about "bothering sea life" (mating turtles, stepping on iceplant dunes, blah blah). And CA too has some off-limits beach zones (GGNRA). Yet CA gets practically ZERO questions floated on forums about beach legalities. Florida gets perpetual posts by skittish folks.

And I can agree that the lone singular couple of shipwreck salvor zones *could* be the reason for this perpetual drum-beat of the skittish. But so too, as I say, is there "off-limits" spots in CA. Why not a perpetual drumbeat here too ?

I say that it's because of shark -attack psychology: The moment (decades ago) any such post is made (or story of someone who got "scrammed", etc...), then the shark-attack mentality takes over. Someone else sees that, and rushes to seek clarification. And so too does someone else see those new posts, and they too rush to seek clarification. And: You can begin to see the snow-ball effect.

And no matter how many times someone answers it (to say "it's not illegal"), yet the mere fact that a title of a thread ever casts out some supposed fear, will simply fuel ongoing future questions. It fuels its own self in a never-ending loop cycle.
 
Florida gulf beaches

Still trying to find out if there are any regulations to hunting on the gulf beaches.
No regulation on metal detecting on the gulf side of Florida for metal detecting
But the Atlantic side from about Melbourne Fl to Jupiter fl called the treasure coast of fl the 1715 Spanish ships that sunk someone has a lease on the water so no metal detecting in the water , in the dry sand ok
 
Really....... well go jump in the water at one of our state parks with one of the rangers present. There are rules about water line and high tide lines. For the most part on the Gulf side we are a fixture and rarely messed with. Yes the treasure coast seems to generate a belief that its restrictions are all of FL. For the most part ..... you are more likely to get a ticket for not paying the parking fee than for detecting.
 
No regulation on metal detecting on the gulf side of Florida for metal detecting
But the Atlantic side from about Melbourne Fl to Jupiter fl called the treasure coast of fl the 1715 Spanish ships that sunk someone has a lease on the water so no metal detecting in the water , in the dry sand ok
Wet sand ok too.
 
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