Ever since the people started sailing and exploring seas and oceans, discovering the treasure of the deep has occupied our imaginations. Stories and legends about pirates and sailors who vanished at sea intrigue those who would like to know what happened to the valuable cargo they transported.
Mel Fisher, an American treasure hunter, popularized treasure hunting. In 1985 he discovered a Spanish galleon, the Atocha, which carried treasure, estimated to be valued at $450 million! Some of the treasure still hasn’t been recovered.
There is still plenty of other undiscovered treasure at sea, including:
You can join a treasure hunting expedition, but need to have expert skills, like archaeology or navigation.
Go underwater treasure hunting
If underwater treasure hunting is just a hobby, shallow water diving can be just as satisfying.
You don’t need much equipment, but you’ll need
- your usual diving equipment
- some good dive gloves (specialized silicone gloves)
- a waterproof compass
- sand scoop
- a waist-bag
- an underwater metal detector
- a waterproof pinpointer.
Great locations for finding small valuables like rings, gold chains, earrings, cameras, watches, phones, and money are those where tourists often go, and where water is deep enough to hide it from the sight. Expect to find a lot of worthless keys, tokens, anchor chains and sunglasses as well.
You can also try your luck in the beaches’ shallow waters. The more visitors the beach has, the more chances you’ll get to find something really valuable. It is worth knowing that currents and winds usually place items of similar weight very close to each other, so you can expect to find several coins or similar rings in the one place. The best time to do this is one or two hours before low tide.
Be aware of local laws in the area you wish to hunt. Some places don’t dive for treasure without a special permit, and some require permits for locations that have special historical value.
Are you keen to treasure hunter underwater?
Last modified: July 12, 2019
