Work for salt?

Welcome to the forums. Not sure about that machine on salt beaches. In case you don't know the laws as they are extremely strict there, I can tell you that you're not allowed to detect the beach at Matanzas as it's a Federal park, you can only hunt the wet sand in Anastasia State park, no dry sand hunting there at all as it's a State Park rule and you can't detect anywhere on public land in St. Augustine without permits and archaeological permission except on the beach. The law also states you can not detect the two miles of St. Augustine beach around the pier but it's not enforced. No dune detecting anywhere. If you knew the laws already then disregard all that. If your machine gets too noisy on the wet sand turn your sensitivity down. Gold luck!

Welcome! I had a BH Discovery 3300 for years and killed it! It paid for itself in clad alone in the 1st year. Stay away from the wet sand and you'll be good. Great light detector!

Good luck on the SA beaches. Good advice from Kapi. She knows the game there.

Kapi said:

Welcome to the forums. Not sure about that machine on salt beaches. In case you don't know the laws as they are extremely strict there, I can tell you that you're not allowed to detect the beach at Matanzas as it's a Federal park, you can only hunt the wet sand in Anastasia State park, no dry sand hunting there at all as it's a State Park rule and you can't detect anywhere on public land in St. Augustine without permits and archaeological permission except on the beach. The law also states you can not detect the two miles of St. Augustine beach around the pier but it's not enforced. No dune detecting anywhere. If you knew the laws already then disregard all that. If your machine gets too noisy on the wet sand turn your sensitivity down. Gold luck!

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Ok so I called the city and the county and talked to several people. The only place I can not hunt is the state parks. I don't need any license or anything. Obviously I can't do the dunes cause they are protected areas.

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mohawk918 said:

Ok so I called the city and the county and talked to several people. The only place I can not hunt is the state parks. I don't need any license or anything. Obviously I can't do the dunes cause they are protected areas.

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Whoever you spoke to was incorrect or misunderstood you.

The Federal park (Matanzas) is a HUGE NO NO.

You are allowed to detect Anastasia State park on the wet sand only.

Again the pier is within city limits but the no detecting law there is not enforced on the beach.

Happy hunting

You can read the actual laws here:

https://www.municode.com/library/fl/st._augustine/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH6ARPR_S6-3DE

Saint Augustine City

Sec. 6-7. - Excavations on public property.
No individual shall be allowed to use a probe, metal detector or any other device to search or excavate for artifacts on public property, nor can any individual remove artifacts from public property without the written permission of the city. Furthermore, no disturbances or construction activities shall be authorized within properties belonging to the city, including public streets and rights-of-way, without a city right-of-way permit and without such archaeology efforts as may be addressed by this chapter. Any proposed archaeological work and delays relative to a disturbance or construction work shall be in accordance with provisions of this chapter relative to major and minor disturbances in Archaeological Zones I, II and III.

Kapi said:

Whoever you spoke to was incorrect or misunderstood you.

The Federal park (Matanzas) is a HUGE NO NO.

You are allowed to detect Anastasia State park on the wet sand only.

Again the pier is within city limits but the no detecting law there is not enforced on the beach.

Happy hunting

You can the actual laws here:

https://www.municode.com/library/fl..._of_ordinances?nodeId=PTIICOOR_CH6ARPR_S6-3DE

Saint Augustine City -The pier is in the city limits

Sec. 6-7. - Excavations on public property.
No individual shall be allowed to use a probe, metal detector or any other device to search or excavate for artifacts on public property, nor can any individual remove artifacts from public property without the written permission of the city. Furthermore, no disturbances or construction activities shall be authorized within properties belonging to the city, including public streets and rights-of-way, without a city right-of-way permit and without such archaeology efforts as may be addressed by this chapter. Any proposed archaeological work and delays relative to a disturbance or construction work shall be in accordance with provisions of this chapter relative to major and minor disturbances in Archaeological Zones I, II and III.

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Well thank you for showing that to me. Yeah I meant all the parks and land like the matanzas is off limits like you said.
Weird about the pier though. I see tons and tons there detecting. Is there a distance I can be from it?

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mohawk918 said:

Well thank you for showing that to me. Yeah I meant all the parks and land like the matanzas is off limits like you said.
Weird about the pier though. I see tons and tons there detecting. Is there a distance I can be from it?

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You can detect the pier all you want. Everyone does. I as well do it all the time and have for years. I know most of the officers that patrol it and they have my contact information to help retrieve lost jewelry when it's brought to their attention. The law there is not enforced.

Several years back a TV show came into town and dug up 'gold' in the city itself and the city freaked out thinking everyone would be coming to dig up the city. The archaeologists freaked out as well and had that law passed. They didn't word it to allow for hobbyists that detect for lost jewelry so instead of changing the law when called out on it the Mayor stated they would not be enforcing no detecting for lost jewelry on the beach. Will the next mayor do the same? Probably. But for the moment, you can detect the beach all you want. But again it's technically not legal according to the actual law.

Here's more you should be aware of if you happen to dig up an artifact: (though with all the sand the county pumped in that is unlikely to ever happen anytime in the near future)

On state-owned and controlled lands, including sovereignty-submerged lands, digging for artifacts without a permit from the Division of Historic Resources is a third degree felony (Chapters 267.061 and 267.12-13, Florida Statutes, and Rule 1A-32 of the Florida Administrative Code). Digging on Federal land, such as the beaches within Fort Matanzas National Monument, also requires a permit, and illegal digging is a felony offense with first time offenders potentially subject to a $20,000 fine and a one year jail sentence (Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979). Finally, St. Johns County’s cultural resource laws make it illegal to knowingly disturb an archaeological site on county-owned or managed lands (Land Development Code 3.01.07), and our County park laws prohibit digging on any archaeological site (Ordinance 2005-114). These laws apply to all our beaches, parks, waterways and recreational and conservation lands.

You can read more on that here:

http://archive.flsenate.gov/Statutes/index.cfm