Tesoro Sand Shark Review

In our Tesoro Sand Shark Review, we’ll run through the features of this excellent Pulse Induction metal detector that works equally well underwater and on land.

About the Tesoro Sand Shark Metal Detector

What do you want your metal detector for? Beach hunting? Underwater metal detecting in the ocean? Pulse Induction (PI) detectors a great choice for treasure hunting on wet salt beaches. The unit won’t be affected by the salt water conductivity. The Sand Shark is waterproof to a depth of 200 feet (66 meters).

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The Tesoro Sand Shark is best for:

• wet salt beach hunting
• SCUBA diving and underwater metal detecting to a depth of 200 feet (66m)
• coin and relic hunting on dry land
• gold prospecting.

The Sand Shark offers two distinct operating modes:

• Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO) mode for pinpointing in ‘all metal’ mode
• Normal mode.

When hunting in the VCO mode the threshold generates a louder, higher pitched tone as your targets get closer to the coil. This is great for pinpointing.

The Normal mode works with a single tone and is used for combing beaches and other prolonged searches.

The microprocessor built into this metal detector will help you to customize the unit to suit your needs. Our Pulse Width control allows you to tune your detector to the best balance of depth, sensitivity, and battery life.

The battery life is OK, but the Sand Shark has a drop-in battery compartment for quick and easy changes.

I love that the controls are outside the box – a rare find in PI metal detectors – making it so much easier to adjust to the best balance of depth and sensitivity.

It weighs about 4.5 pounds, so you’ll probably want a hip mount for extended use.

The 8.5-inch vs 10-inch search coil debate

The 8.5″ search coil has a better reputation for pinpointing targets over the 10.5″ coil. When faced with the decision of whether to get the 8.5″ or the 10.5″ search coil, think about what’s more important to you. Do you want to cover more search ground? Or do you want more accurate pinpointing? Personally, I’d go with the 8.5″ search coil because I like my pinpointing to be accurate. Plus you’ll get less drag in the water with the 8.5″. The search coils used to be interchangeable but now they are hardwired into the detector, so you have to decide the size of the search coil you want before buying.

Who the Tesoro Sand Shark is best for

With a bit of learning and willingness to practice, we think the Sand Shark is suitable for the novice through to experienced teasure hunters.

Tesoro Sand Shark shipping information

Here are the things you need to know about its size and weight if you want to get one shipped:

• Product dimensions: 21.4 x 8.8 x 4.6 inches
• Item weight: 4.5 pounds
• Shipping weight: 6.2 pounds

The Tesoro Sand Shark warranty

Tesoro equipment is protected by a lifetime warranty. You can read more about the warranty on the old Tesoro website. (They are sadly no longer in business)..

Last modified: June 1, 2020