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St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands

I

Ihookmup

New member
Hey everybody,

I'm looking for a little info on Metal Detecting beaches and the waters around St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands. I have a very short notice trip and I'm wondering if it would be worth it to bring my Garrett AT PRO to do some beach and shallow water detecting. Most of the limited research I have done reveals a lot of posts from 2006 and older but I haven't been able to find any current information on the laws, rules and regs on finds, and metal detecting on the island. If anybody has any info I would very much appreciate it. It is a work trip so I would have two weeks of evening hunting and one weekend.

Thank you in advance!
 
Wouldn't the laws of any country (or island or state, or province, or whatever) be publically available info ? I mean, if you googled to their government's website, then I'm guessing there must be a page for muni-codes, laws, or whatever, right? If there were no rule or law saying "no metal detectors", then presto, it's not prohibited, eh ?

Look it up for yourself, rather than ask any desk-bound border person something like "can I metal detect?". Instead, if you can't find where the laws/rules are listed, you can ask that border consulate, or lawyer, or whatever the following: "Where can a person find the listing of all the laws for this location?" And they should refer you to a web-link. Or be able to hand you a brochure of the rules for the beach, etc.... I mean, no law is a "secret" afterall. :rolleyes: If they try to say "what is it that you wanted to know?", you repeat the question that the thing you wanted to know, is "where can I read what laws/rules exist here, in-so-far as using the beach. Example: dogs on leash only? beach closes at sunset ? No bonfires allowed? clothing optional?" etc....
 
Regarding the local "laws" i dont know, but your a "tourist", so laws or no laws, you should be able to get away with about anything if performed in moderation and discretely (not bothering anybody) ...I'd swing away..:thumbup:...

I hunt a beach where smoking is banned, yet I find fresh cigarette butts and lighters....I hunt a beach where dogs are not allowed, yet folks walk their dogs there every morning, I also find plenty of beer cans on "no Alcoholic beverages" beaches.....not wanting to start a ruckus about how its a "bad image" for the sport...just saying, if nobody of consequence sees you detecting, you are not creating any bad image. Everyone must wrestle with Situational Ethics on a daily basis...and we all break several other laws per day either knowingly or unknowingly..so a fellow sort of has to get comfortable with it, and good at it, or stay in the house!:rofl:
Mud
 
I was there in April 2014. There is no problem detecting that I could find and I did ask at each beach. The only new sign that said NO METAL DETECTING was at the entrance to Magens Beach. (4th line down on the right)The same might go for another beach, Smith Bay, run by the same organization that operates Magens Beach. One beach produced over 150 bottle caps, a few coins and a lot of local information about other beaches. Sapphire, Sugar and Water Bays produced very little of anything. Water Bay hotel is under construction, Sugar is very small and Sapphire was very nice. I wish I had had more time, but I have to share my detecting time with the rest of the family.

St. John is mostly National Shore and therefore detecting is PROHIBITED on such areas as on the mainland of the U.S.

Good luck and enjoy...the water is BEAUTIFUL! (in color and temperature)
 
Great reply, with good information. I was on St. Thomas and St. John two years ago, and after thinking about taking a detector I decided not to. We stayed at Caneel Bay and it would have been GREAT to search Caneel, Hawksnest and the others, but like you said it's all a National Park. I did enjoy the water, the shopping, the resorts and we had a great time, which I personally think would have been lessened to some degree if I was worried about detecting. It was an anniversary vacation, so that's how I treated it and it was GREAT!
 
mudpuppy said:
Everyone must wrestle with Situational Ethics on a daily basis...

Mud, I like that phrase "situational ethics"! You're right, we break laws daily, roll through stop signs, speed, hang things on our rear-view mirror, ride a bike on the sidewalk, etc. many things that are against the law but are OK to do in the moment because of the situation. If you haven't broken a law today you're either lying or laid-up! And Tom_in_CA is right too. Be very careful of the questions you ask; you may get the wrong answer from some weekend warrior out to make a name for himself.
Good luck and let us know how you did.
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If the kids are digging building sand castles throwing down candy wrappers and pop-cans I would detect. Stay below the high tide mark and dispose of found trash. Comply to posted regulations that specify metal detecting. Enjoy your vacation and spend money that is what tourist do. HH :minelab:
 
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