Question for the LA guys

[mehawk]

I decided to take a road trip on Tuesday to Leo Carillo. Beach was empty since it was midweek with rain possible. There was a decent cut running most of the beach so I was pretty excited when I started. I went out and walked the beach found two pennies on the surface and thought I was in for a banner day.

Then I went out with the Sov Gt and it would not settle down. I noticed the power lines were about 100yrs from the beach and there was also a line running to the lifeguard station. The beach also was literately black in some areas with black sand. I moved down the beach and detuned the machine found two more surface pennies but nothing in the sand except wire and melted alumimun. Then I decided to try the White's DF, more wire more aluminim and just a few coins. I was working a 0.0 low tide to the breakers, wave were 6ft plus so I stayed out of the surf.

Anyhow four hours of hunting and I found two more surface pennies. I ended the day with more coins eyeballed than dug and a lot of trash.

Anyone else hunt this beach? Is it always tough and do you think the coins and goodies were there but just further out or were conditions masking them? It was about 20yrd from the average place I was eyeballing coins to where I stopped checking at the surf line.

Thanks

[Compass]

I've hunted around there but not much compared to our southern beaches. Were the pennies you found the newer zinc ones? I ask because you mentioned melted aluminum which is also lightweight. If you are only finding the light stuff then that is usually a bad sign. (I do remember finding a lot of "slag" on those beaches)
If the pennies were real copper ones then there should have been a lot more there in my opinion. When I see coins laying on top of the black sand I usually find quite a bit more under it. Perhaps in tuning out the black sand you lost all your depth? It is a fine line to tune the machine for optimum depth in those conditions. Good luck! HH!

[mehawk]

Zinc pennies. The sand was still at least 20inches up at the cut, but it tapered quickly to rock at the bottom of the slope and that's why I really felt like I was missing something. I guess I just couldn't get deep enough over the good spots.

I didn't expect it to be packed with targets, but I figured far enough north most LA folks would not make the trip, but busy enough to be worth looking. And since it is, or was, popular with the Hollywood crowd and they do a fair amount of filming there it might hold something shiny.

What is the farthest north beach you would say is worth a road trip, understanding that I actually enjoy that part too?

[Drosera]

Zinc pennies and bits of aluminum are bad signs. It usually means the ocean hasn't pulled out enough sand to get to the good stuff.

Also, it is important to learn your beach. Was the cut fresh or a few days old? If it isn't fresh then the ocean may have put back a lot of sand on the beach between the cut and the water. Also, some beaches seem to form cuts all the time. That's not good because it is probably frequently sanding back in and getting recut, meaning next to nothing is in there. The best cuts are in places where they don't usually form.

I'm new to the area and haven't been to Leo Carillio yet, but the Malibu beaches are my main hunting ground. On "normal" days where nothing exciting is going on with the beach I prefer hunting beaches that get lots of tourists because you are more likely to find recent drops (old drops will be too deep). But I'll go to any beach where a new cut opens up since you could be literally searching though 100 years or more of beach visits (I found a 1907 Barber dime once).

As for how far north to go... where do you live? Your profile says Lompoc but it sounds like you are in LA. Since I'm in Ventura county I hit Malibu and sometimes the Ventura county beaches because they are close and fairly popular. But if I was in LA itself I'd spend most of my time from Santa Monica south, even with more people hunting there. Other than that, the answer is basically that you can make great finds on any beach but the more visitors the better. I wouldn't spend much time in the stretch between Ventura and Santa Barbara, but either of those cities are good. You'd know more about Lompoc than me as I've never been there. Otherwise the next place I'd try is Pismo Beach. Then the Monterey-Santa Cruz area would be next. I used to live there and made some amazing finds when the conditions were right. The Bay Area beaches would also be great, you just have to be careful not to hunt in the Golden Gate National Rec. Area which unfortunately covers most beaches in San Francisco itself and western Marin County. I probably wouldn't go out of my way to hunt beaches north of Sonoma County and the population drops off quite a bit.

[Compass]

Other than cuts you also want the wet sand underfoot to be firm. If you sink down much that usually is not a good sign. Even without a cut, a steep, firm slope will generally yield some good targets. HH!

[SCYoungGun]

I've detected at Leo Carillo also...out of all the beaches between Malibu and Santa Barbara that I've been to...that beach...uh...well lets just say your finds are consistent with what I've found there as well (the most I've ever found there in a single day was maybe... $2.00?). I hit that spot with a PI in the wet sand after there was some good short wave intervals and the heavier material was revealed and also the dry sand with my Silver uMax & Cleansweep board and not found much except for lots and lots and lots of trash (especially lead sinkers, beer bottle caps & newer pulltabs). I've hit spots at Leo, Zuma & others along there that should have produced after some busy days and there is very little to find (I'm thinking that beach cleaner at Zuma maybe it sucks up some of the stuff?). The finds I did find at Leo seemed to be older... say clad probably dropped during the past 10-20 years but nothingl worth mentioning....maybe the surfers there don't carry much change?
It could also be that it seems the beaches in Malibu are getting hit pretty hard by lots of metal detectorists. Almost every time I've gone out I see other guys swinging coils sometimes several in the span of a couple of hours. I've even gone to some very remote out of the way desolate spots early in the morning, middle of the day or late in the evening and bumped into other guys detecting as well. I think that a lot of people are trying their luck maybe? That might explain why I don't find much there except for in weird spots most would not bother trying to detect.
For example... I have gone to Malibu and found over 130 coins ($14.00) in one day ...but I think that was a one time deal when I went to a section of beach no one had ever detected...I only had to walk a 2+ mile round trip to get there...he he he
That being said I've had simliar luck with areas north of Santa Barbara...if you have time maybe Lompoc has some spots like that worth trying? Of course the popular beaches up there are worth a try also.
As for Ventura & Oxnard...I'd pass if your using a PI unless you do not mind digging a hundred rusty pieces of iron for every good target...I started detecting there with my PI and almost gave up after digging a thousand pieces of junk. I got so desperate i started detecting the dry sand with my PI...bigger mistake. Ventura & Oxnard beaches are where people go to have bonfires...so the beaches are loaded with nails (I've found over a hundred in a 1' square area before) . I found out later that a large sections of beaches in Ventura & Oxnard have served as trash dumps and had scores of ships washed up and subsequently broken up on their beaches...so finding large metal chunks of modern sailing ships from the 60's is quite common. (there was a flood that washed out many boats out of the Ventura harbor that broke up on the beach subsequently).
That said I think there are plenty of places to detect...but don't take my word for it because I'm still new to the hobby myself and am trying to learn as well! Good luck though and maybe I'll see you guys out there! (Compass, mehawk & Drosera)

[mehawk]

Thanks, in a way that's good news at least I know I wasn't just doing something dumb.

Given that there are some targets there I wonder if there is a channel out there full of the heavy good stuff. It would be nice to get there some day with dead calm and low tide and check out a bit further with the White's DF but I live to far too check it for the right conditions.

[Drosera]

SC,

Funny you say that about Zuma. I'm there all the time and today was the first time I saw more than one other guy with a detector. I've had decent luck there (junk rings, silver) but no gold yet. It is the most heavily touristed beach along the Malibu coast so it is overall the most likely to have goodies.

I don't think the beach sweeper is nearly as bad as people think. The actual sweeper only runs once or twice per week. The rest of the time they drag a rake behind a tractor. That only smooths the sand. I find $3-6 in clad per outing plus tons of pull tabs and bottle caps and the occasional piece of jewelry. That is too much stuff for me to think the sweeper is good at cleaning small things out of the sand. My feeling is that it picks up big stuff like bracelets and watches but not too many rings.

I've tried Zuma twice on Sunday evenings after big beach weekends (Labor day and the weekend before last when it was super hot) and found very few drops from that weekend. I had a similar experience when I lived in the Monterey area and hit the beach after a big weekend.

mehawk, in regards to your last post... have you seen the thread in the other forum called "Revised Beach Tips" by Tom in Salinas? That is one of the best posts I've seen discussing the factors that are involved in beach hunting. If you can't find it let me know and I'll send you the link. In short, there probably isn't a magic channel further out that you are missing. Instead the beaches are sanded in now and the pockets of coins and jewelry are buried too deep for us to find. When the conditions are right the ocean will pull out the sand and leave the targets sitting just below the surface.

[SCYoungGun]

Drosera, I'm wondering if your one of the guys I saw after Labor day...he he he. I saw a guy far down the beach...he he he. I've found jewelry there as well buy it's always costume jewelry. As for clad... I seem to find either $1.00 or $4.00+ hence my thinking that when I have a difficult day that maybe some "thing" or "someone" already beat me too it. I've had the same thing happen on beaches that don't have beach cleaners in which the same thing happens.
I've lived here my whole life and only recently have I seen so many people with detectors. I agree with you though that there are things to find but you have to go at the right times. I recently found a Silver Benjamin half dollar...along a small beach cut...well to be honest it was not silver...it was purple black...at first I thought it was another one of those crematory tags....creeps me out finding those...he he he

[Drosera]

Originally Posted by SCYoungGun

Drosera, I'm wondering if your one of the guys I saw after Labor day...he he he. I saw a guy far down the beach...he he he. I've found jewelry there as well buy it's always costume jewelry. As for clad... I seem to find either $1.00 or $4.00+ hence my thinking that when I have a difficult day that maybe some "thing" or "someone" already beat me too it. I've had the same thing happen on beaches that don't have beach cleaners in which the same thing happens.
I've lived here my whole life and only recently have I seen so many people with detectors. I agree with you though that there are things to find but you have to go at the right times. I recently found a Silver Benjamin half dollar...along a small beach cut...well to be honest it was not silver...it was purple black...at first I thought it was another one of those crematory tags....creeps me out finding those...he he he

Maybe! I'm in my 30s and I'm usually wearing a Duke Blue Devils baseball cap. I'll be swinging either my Exporer or Whites PI. If you ever see someone matching that description come over and say hi!

Anyway, most of the jewelry I've found there has been costume. My best finds at Zuma were a silver wedding band and a silver necklace with a silver cross pendant. No gold yet. I need to try out more beaches.

[Compass]

About 6 or 7 miles north of Leo Carillo there is a big sand dune on the side of the cliffs next to PCH (easily visible on Google Maps). The first time I hunted there in the 1970's I found a Walking Liberty Half that had been exposed from the wind or rain. People have been sliding down those dunes for over a hundred years and still do so you never know what you might find there.
If the beach is no good I have always found coins on those dunes but it is hard work because of the steep terrain and amount of trash. HH!

[mehawk]

Funny you say that. We lived in Westlake Village when I was a kid and I spent many weekends on that dune, California sledding at its best!!!

I though about stopping there, but so many rocks now and never seem to see anyone on it when I go by. Certainly worth keeping in mind though on the way down or back.

I think I am settled on Santa Monica for the next trip south and Avila Bay when I want to go north.

6.4 tide today with a low -.7 following so I came in to work and hour early and will be leaving early to hit something local. Can't decide between my favorite beach, that I have really picked over, or something else. As I drive down the coast I will just have to check a couple spots for new/big cuts like this one. (it was a few day old when I took this pic, Goleta Beach, CA)