AT Pro for snorkeling in fresh and salt water

I have only used my AT-Pro in the dirt. I have read Forum posts which indicated to me that the AT-Pro does OK in the sand but not so great in the saltwater. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. GL and HH. Matt

The AT Pro is not built for salt despite what some marketing material may say.

Salt water requires either a multiple frequency or Pulse Induction machine - the AT Pro is single frequency.

It's just a matter of different technologies.

+1 Marcus


My experience with the ATP at our salt water beaches is that it will do ok in the powder dry sand. Once it is used in the moist or wet sand, the unit gives false signals. To avoid false signals, you must decrease the sensitivity and frequently ground balance the unit. Depending on the area, this may or may not alleviate the problem; however, if it does fix the problem, the decreased sensitivity means you lose depth and/or the ability to find small targets such as thin rings, earrings, or thin chains.

Buying the right equipment will set the stage for a hobby that you quickly enjoy or one that really annoys you. So an ATP would be good if most of your hunting is inland with the occasional salt-water beach hunt -- a hunt that you know will require some extra finesse to use that machine.

Alternately, a PI detector is about the same cost as an ATP and almost impervious to the effects of salt water. It is an ideal machine to dive with, especially since almost all PI machines are submersible. However, the downside to the PI is that it is almost impossible to discriminate targets. Ie, avoid junk iron, bobby pins, etc.

Finally a multi-frequency detector will be able to hunt inland, at salt water beaches, and areas with high mineralization. MF-detectors can effectively discriminate unwanted targets as well. Their prices (new) start just a little more than the ATP, and can be 2-4x the cost if you want a waterproof model.

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marcus118 said:

The AT Pro is not built for salt despite what some marketing material may say.

Salt water requires either a multiple frequency or Pulse Induction machine - the AT Pro is single frequency.

It's just a matter of different technologies.

Click to expand...

The AT Pro can be ground balanced to a saltwater environment. Doing so, it is capable of locating high conductive metals at the expense of becoming small gold dead. Of course, you would be having no interest in finding gold jewelry in a seawater environment. Stay on the dry sand for that.

I personally contacted Garrett and received a reply. In part Garrett says, "...The goal is to be able to maintain a search field while basically overlooking or (ignoring) the surrounding medium yet still finding the preferred targets. . (i.e.: ground minerals or in this case saltwater). Then you have discrimination. (ie; the pixel notch ) . This is necessary when you are looking for targets that are basically the same conductivity as your search field medium. You must deal with the conductivity of the salt water which is equal to your small gold. It is unlike searching for a needle in a haystack , yet more like searching for a needle in a stack of needles. No current VLF machine can do what you're asking. Engineers are always creating and experimenting with new ideas. I hope this will help in your quest for answers."

It appears those engineers have created the machine for a seawater environment...the ATX.

Ok...here's my current situation. I have an ace 250 with after market large and a sniper coil. I go to the beach 2 times a year (salt) and i would also like to start detecting in rivers or streams. I was going to sell the 250 and buy a at pro. Now im thinking should i keep the 250 and buy a water detector? Or is it even worth it for the yearly trip to the beach. I havea feeling that i'll kick myself no matter what. Thanks for all of the great feedback so far!

pghcoinhunter said:

Ok...here's my current situation. I have an ace 250 with after market large and a sniper coil. I go to the beach 2 times a year (salt) and i would also like to start detecting in rivers or streams. I was going to sell the 250 and buy a at pro. Now im thinking should i keep the 250 and buy a water detector? Or is it even worth it for the yearly trip to the beach. I havea feeling that i'll kick myself no matter what. Thanks for all of the great feedback so far!

Click to expand...

The AT Pro is great in fresh water. I think if you only go to the beach once per year, just get the AT Pro and stick to the dry sand.

Thats what i'm thinking marcus.

I had a JW fisher pulse 8 it locates everything and the salt water had no affect. There is no discrimination so plan on digging wire and bobby pins

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Been hunting the dry sand here in Monterey are for a couple of months with the ATP and am loving it! Have yet to find any jewelry, just clad but I am learning with every swing and digging MUCH less pull tabs and bottle caps now!!

marcus118 said:

The AT Pro is great in fresh water. I think if you only go to the beach once per year, just get the AT Pro and stick to the dry sand.

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I took mine to the beach and was able to find some stuff in the wet sand, but it was not great. Even with Ground balancing it very carefully it was really noisy. When it went over a coin I could easily tell though and I tested it on a small gold coin and it found it no trouble.It did great in the dry sand as you have stated.

It's great in fresh water and I just got the waterproof headphones today! I'm going swimming this summer! I just wish I could justify a hooka pump!

pghcoinhunter said:

I am considering picking up an AT Pro. I'd like to use it at the beach this summer as well as at some fresh water lakes and streams. My question is....how does this hold up in sand and salt water. I see a lot of people using them in fresh water but not in the ocean. Any opinions would be appreciated.

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In that price range get the Garrett AT Pro and just be aware in the salt water it will be more erratic and lose depth. It will work but of course the better options are MUCH more expensive.

Fresh water its a monster!

Used my ATP in Saltwater this past Saturday. I didn't find much, but neither did my buddy with a muti frequency White's.

Each beach is different. I reduce my sensitivity only after manually adjusting the ground balance. It will still be noisy and in saltwater or very wet sand you will probably not get an accurate vdi number(it will jump around). I did find a few coins, the deepest was 6 inches.

The beaches here are long, and the people are spread out over miles. Finding targets worth much can be difficult.