8" coil or 10" coil option???

A 10 inch will give you more depth. Yet it will be a little harder in trashy areas.
As far as pinpointing goes, I have seen people pinpoint with a 15 inch coil. Granted it will take some practice to pinpoint with any coil. I have seen a 10 inch hole dug to find a signal with an 8 inch coil.
I must yield to the water department for the particulars of battery life.
Before you decide I would consider the mineralization of the beaches you plan of hunting. The ex 1000 will ignore most mineralizations in the ground.

By the nature of your question, I assume you are asking which version of the Minelab Excaliber. Go with the 10". Unit comes with headphones hardwired in, you must use headphones for water hunting. You will need a good waterscoop that will allow for pushing into sand with your foot. Stainless steel is the best, but their are real rugged aluminum units as well. The Excaliber allows for descrimination of ferrous targets. It is a top quality unit, and can be used on land as well.

Jasonk,If you are speaking of the Excal,I'm not sure what to tell you.If you are speaking of the CZ20,The headphones are hardwired in.Go with the 8"coil,it goes plenty deep and you will not miss the small stuff.There is no charger.It uses 4 9v batteries,They work well for about 30 hours,although you can use them 40 hours,it starts giving up depth a bit when the batteries are on their last leg.Hip or chest mount it.It is heavy.I like the chest mount best.You will need a heavy duty scoop,aluminum or stainless steel with a long handle.Plan on digging deep.Those wire mesh deals just dont do it unless in powder sand.In the water and in wet or packed sand,you'll need something large and tough.

Hi Jason,
I use a 10.5 inch coil, but on the gold fields, I use a 7.5 inch coil. I think in some areas though, a 5 inch would be better for trashy ground.
HH Angela