Myers Depot Metal Detectors

FLORIDA PEEPS: Questions about MDing Beaches

TheCoilist

TheCoilist

Elite Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2010
Messages
2,358
Location
Virginia
Hello Florida peeps....

My brother wants to plan a trip to the 'treasure coast' and has found some article online saying that he can't detect in areas within 3000 yards of where shipwrecks have been discovered. Apparently, a lot of these are right along the coastline and that restriction distance would come up beyond the shoreline.

Can you NOT detect there? Are there metal detecting rules on the beaches there?? He mentioned only one city in particular which was Vero Beach and the surrounding areas?

I've never been to Florida so it may be a trip I go on as well next summer. lol

Thanks for any input/help!
 
I'm sure someone will come along and answer this. But just want to point out the continuing quirk :

Anyone notice that these questions of legalities-on-beaches only-ever seem to come from people bound to Florida. Hardly ever from anyone going to any other beaches on the west or east coast of the USA (despite tons of beaches, tourist zones, md'rs, etc....).

So why are 95% of these type questions about Florida only ? The answer is : That all it ever takes is a single zone or single beach or rumor to have ever been floated in the past. And .... like the O.P. here : Subsequent people find that on a post or link somewhere. So they , of course, question it in a post. Then THAT too becomes a link. Others who see that, and they too ... likewise seek clarification. Ie.: "Links lead to Links with lead to Links". And ... before long, you can never put it to rest. All the links point back-&-forth to each other. No matter how many times you answer it with assurances that it's ok, yet : The MERE FACT of a title of a post, or the mere fact that anyone else questioned it, creates the links-lead-to-links psychology phenomenon.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
I'm sure someone will come along and answer this. But just want to point out the continuing quirk :

Anyone notice that these questions of legalities-on-beaches only-ever seem to come from people bound to Florida. Hardly ever from anyone going to any other beaches on the west or east coast of the USA (despite tons of beaches, tourist zones, md'rs, etc....).

So why are 95% of these type questions about Florida only ? The answer is : That all it ever takes is a single zone or single beach or rumor to have ever been floated in the past. And .... like the O.P. here : Subsequent people find that on a post or link somewhere. So they , of course, question it in a post. Then THAT too becomes a link. Others who see that, and they too ... likewise seek clarification. Ie.: "Links lead to Links with lead to Links". And ... before long, you can never put it to rest. All the links point back-&-forth to each other. No matter how many times you answer it with assurances that it's ok, yet : The MERE FACT of a title of a post, or the mere fact that anyone else questioned it, creates the links-lead-to-links psychology phenomenon.
Click to expand...



Tom... Our forum is here for members to ask questions and we don't care how many times they are asked... this forum was started to help members.


There are area's of the coast in Fl off limits to detecting and those in the know will share that info with this member asking the question.
 
Cfmct said:
Tom... Our forum is here for members to ask questions ...
Click to expand...

Which is why I said that someone would be along to answer it.

Cfmct said:
...There are area's of the coast in Fl off limits to detecting ....
Click to expand...

Same for some CA beaches. Ie.: some are off-limits here too. But was just pointing out the oddity that only FL ever seems to get the repeated inquiries.
 
Tom_in_CA said:
Which is why I said that someone would be along to answer it.



Same for some CA beaches. Ie.: some are off-limits here too. But was just pointing out the oddity that only FL ever seems to get the repeated inquiries.
Click to expand...




We have the Cape Cod National Seashore come up now and then...

Florida is where all the ships sunk... I'd be asking as well...
 
You can detect the beaches from the mean low tide line up to the base of the dune. You cannot go in the water with your metal detector or up on the dunes and disturb the vegetation.

When you get to the area I suggest you go to the Mel Fisher museum in the town of Sebastian and buy the book "Shipwrecks near Wabasso Beach" by Earnie Richards. It's got a lot of info on beach access points to the shipwreck beaches. Also visit the McClarty Treasure museum on A1A and check the scrapbook on the counter.
 
ROBOTCOP13 said:
You can detect the beaches from the mean low tide line up to the base of the dune. You cannot go in the water with your metal detector or up on the dunes and disturb the vegetation.
Click to expand...

So you can't go in the water with a metal detector is what you're saying? For instance, you can't walk out to a sandbar and metal detect? I have read some laws and rules about this and plenty of articles, but they're not clear. Some state within 3000 yards (9000 feet, nearly 1.7 MILES) of a shipwreck... and otherwise it would be ok to be in the water. But who's to know where the wrecks are?! :shock:


And for TOM, this is the type of vital information that is probably different than California. You CAN go into the water in say... Virginia, you CAN go into the water in the Gulf of Mexico in Texas, I am sure in California you can go in the water as well.... so Florida is seeming to be quite unique if you can't take a detector into the water.
 
On the Florida Treasure Coast which is basically Indian River county and Port St. Lucie county and southern part of Brevard county the water salvage lease rights belong to the State of Florida who contracts it to the 1715 Queens Jewels salvage company. The shipwreck sites overlap effectively so you can't find an in between area to go in the water with your detector. Other Florida counties you can detect in the water but shipwreck items in the water are covered with a lot of over burden sand. Further out from shore where there may be some exposed reef some artifacts could be exposed but this is rare because visibility is bad. But the rule is no detectors are allowed in the water unless you are a licensed and contracted salvager to the salvage company.
 
Robocop13 is correct. Also if there is no erosion you will have trouble detecting anything old. Look at treasurebeachesreport dot blogspot dot com


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
TheCoilist said:
Hello Florida peeps....



My brother wants to plan a trip to the 'treasure coast' and has found some article online saying that he can't detect in areas within 3000 yards of where shipwrecks have been discovered. Apparently, a lot of these are right along the coastline and that restriction distance would come up beyond the shoreline.



Can you NOT detect there? Are there metal detecting rules on the beaches there?? He mentioned only one city in particular which was Vero Beach and the surrounding areas?



I've never been to Florida so it may be a trip I go on as well next summer. lol



Thanks for any input/help!
Click to expand...
I hunt that area frequently. Most of the info was covered by others but here are two more pieces of info:

You can apply for a sub lease to gain salvor rights. If you are awarded the lease and have the thousands it costs, then you may hunt legally. The caveat is the state of florida has first right of refusal for whatever you find. E.g. they can keep your finds if they desire. If they do not, they assess a value and you are required to pay tax on that value. Additionally and depending on your lease agreement, the lessor has a 2nd right of refusal and/or entitled to a very hefty portion of the states valuation.

Hunting illegally is a Federal offense and includes a fine up to $10k, incarceration, and permanent confiscation of all related equipment which isn't limited to your detector, they could go after your vehicle/vessel if they thought it aided in your hunting activity.

While hunting in a legal area of a treasure coast beach, I was questioned twice, given a warning and seen another fellow arrested. The warning was because i was hunting on a beach were signs were posted that said no hunting on any area of the beach. Since i was with my family and had entered from an egress with no sign, LEO cut me slack (thankfully).

If in doubt, approach a sheriff or park ranger and ask permission first. Best o luck!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk
 
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Tom_in_CA said:
Which is why I said that someone would be along to answer it.



Same for some CA beaches. Ie.: some are off-limits here too. But was just pointing out the oddity that only FL ever seems to get the repeated inquiries.
Click to expand...

Besides the Brother Johnathan that sank near Crescent City, are there treasure ship wrecks on the coastline that have national attention? The answer is no. The 1700 shipwreck fleet is of world renown and who the heck goes to CA in the winter time? :lol:
 
AlpoRanch said:
... and who the heck goes to CA in the winter time? :lol:
Click to expand...


Haha, well the point remains: Very very little of the FL coast is off-limits. MD'ing is quite common-place on FL beaches after all. And for those few isolated zones that are not allowed: Sure .... perhaps for "good reason" (eg.: the brother jonathan doesn't compare too the 1700 fleet, blah blah ... sure). But the point remains : EACH state has probably the same percentage of off-limits beaches (if you asked long enough and hard enough to enough high-rank-brass). Yet it's only Florida that gets the repeated inquiries.

And the reason is NOT the nature of the reason for the few isolated-zones . Because ... no matter WHAT the reason for the off-limits, it doesn't change the "off-limits" status. Right ? Yet ... CA gets little to no inquiries.

I chalk this up to the "links lead to links" theory. That's NOT to question the validity of laws that ... yes ... might exist, but just pointing out the way the things evolve.
 
If I was going to CA to metal detect I’d of asked the same questions as I’m not from the state and would appreciate input from locals as to the laws. I’d answer questions for those who had asked of Texas. Which Texas has a unique antiquities code that technically makes it illegal to recover ANY artifacts from the ground that is not on the surface. But that isn’t enforced as I suspect there aren’t many outside of troopers and rangers who keep up to date on antiquated state laws.

And upon my research I have found a fairly up to date KML file that was put out by NOAA and another historical group that contains all the shipwrecks found to date up to about 2015. At least the info that can be publicly released. And there are literally hundreds around the state of Florida and the keys. A ton of them overlap too. And so it definitely makes sense that they have such laws in place as far as the lease goes. Lot of them are actually within hundreds of yards from shore and in 20ft of water.

Anyway appreciate the help, and I did send the book info out to my brother. He got the book and the person sold him the book is someone around Florida. This person has invited him to contact him and to pay him and his museum a visit. Not sure if anyone is familiar with Arthur Smith? Apparently he has one of the rarest gold coins minted for G. Washington himself. It’s like 1 of 9 or something. Crazy so if we connect with him that’s be awesome. Heck, maybe he’s on here as he mentioned being into metal detecting for decades.
 
TheCoilist said:
... and would appreciate input from locals as to the laws ... .
Click to expand...

And herein lies the devil in the details. How do those "Locals" come up with the answer ? After reading the inquiry that .... something might-be-wrong in the fist place ? Simple : They'll "ask" right ? :?:

TheCoilist said:
... But that isn’t enforced as I suspect there aren’t many outside of troopers and rangers who keep up to date on antiquated state laws....
Click to expand...

But the question isn't "is it enforced?" The question is "What's the law?". Right ? Like jaywalking or spitting on sidewalks, the question is not "enforcement", the question is "laws" right ? :?:
 
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