Lost ring Hanauma Bay Tag | Page 26 of 35 | The Ring Finders

This ring find began when I got a text from Nichole who lives in Hawaii Kai on Oahu. While she was enjoying a day at Ala Moana Beach park with her husband Keli’i and their two young sons; Keli’i asked her to hold his ring while he went in the water. She was going to secure it in her purse but got distracted and put the ring on her thumb while playing with their youngest son. At some point the ring came off and she wasn’t positive whether it was in the sand or the water. I started my grid search in the dry sand working towards the water line. A few coins, an aluminum toe ring and two pull tabs later I was at the waters edge. I told Nichole to take me to the extreme left edge of the grid and I would work towards the right. Nichole acted as my shore marker and Keli’i stood at my last dry sand mark. I worked out to waist deep water and back to the shoreline. A few more coins kept me encouraged that no other detectorist had been in the area for awhile…we had a chance. Then as Nichole and Keli’i were about to meet on the shoreline I got a great tone in between them. One scoop down and there was Keli’i’s ring. No doubt with the engraved Hawaiian style. I could tell Nichole was holding back tears. That’s OK joyous tears they would be. Aloha to Nichole & Keli’i!

This ring find began this morning at work when I got a text from Vanessa who hails from Trinidad and now lives in Honolulu. Vanessa wanted to know what I charge for finding rings as she found me on the internet. During my coffee break I told her it was reward based and it would be up to her. Since this was a dry sand hunt I told her it should be fairly simple. What happened was she was enjoying the day at the beach with her children when her daughter Adelle asked her to watch her ring. Vanessa put it in the chair pocket with her keys. After the days outing they went back to their car and Vanessa realized she had taken out her keys but the ring was no where to be found. They went back to the area but didn’t find it. I told Vanessa we could meet after I got off work and go down to the beach to find Adelle’s ring. This ring was extra special as Vanessa’s father made it for her daughter which was an identical ring her grandmother had. We drew a grid and I began the search. First leg was a dime and just as I started the second leg I got a nice low tone and there in the scoop was this fascinating hand made rosary ring. Vanessa admitted she had little hope I would find it so it was obvious she was overcome with joy. Many thank yous and a hug showed her gracious appreciation. She now has a new found faith in metal detecting and said she couldn’t wait to leave a comment. Aloha to Vanessa & Adelle!

This ring hunt began while I was about to enter Lagoon 1 on Scuba. A gentleman named Troy from Arlington, Virginia just lost his ring in waist deep water while playing catch with his sons in the water. I told him I’d give it a go once I completed the dive for another ring. After completing the dive without a find it felt good to find Troy’s ring just about where he thought it had fallen off. Quick & Easy! Aloha to Troy!

This ring find began on July 24th when I got a call from Darian who lives in Fairfield, California. While enjoying the day at the resort with her boyfriend Jon, Darian put her rings in the chair pocket and when she left forgot about them until she got back to their room. She & Jon went back to the beach but couldn’t find the rings in the sand and that’s when Darian called me. She was leaving the next afternoon so texted me some photos and a video of the approximate area she thought the rings would have fallen out. I got to the resort around 2PM and started a grid search. I found the gold dolphin ring fairly quickly but the silver ring never showed itself. We’re guessing that one was spotted and taken. I was able to text Darian the half good news before her flight took off and promised to look one more time for the silver ring which I still didn’t find. In any case the Gold Dolphin ring is back in California with Darian and she was very happy for that. Aloha to Darian & Jon!

This ring find began when I got a call from David who was visiting Hawaii and staying at the Turtle Bay Resort. The family is from Las Vegas, Nevada and they went to the beach to take some family photos. While there David’s daughter Emma lost here silver ring he gave to her years ago in the dry sand. After a period of time searching they googled « lost ring » and that’s where I came in. The 50 mile drive to Turtle Bay is an epic North Shore cruise I enjoy doing and I made it there in about an hour and a half. David took me to the area and on the second leg of the grid there was his daughter Emma’s ring. Quick recovery happy daughter & father. Aloha to David & Emma.

This ring find began when I got a call from Kim on the beach at Hale Koa hotel. She called to say she was helping Alison who just had her Engagement Ring fall off into the King Tide surf along the shoreline and was frantically searching for it. I asked Kim if she could put Alison on the phone so I could get some details. Alison had been crying awhile but she finally calmed down enough to give me the details as to what happened and the ring. I told her to relax on the beach and I would get there as fast as I could. Rush hour traffic was just starting but I was able to get there in 20 minutes. Alison’s fiancee Spencer met me at the Atlantis pier and took me down to the area of the beach the ring came off. He also told me that they were visiting from St. Petersburg, Florida. Alison was in the water diving down trying to find the ring and had been doing that for quite awhile. I told her to relax on the beach and to let me conduct my search. She told me while her and Spencer were sitting in the shallow water a wave came in and took her ring away. She was fairly certain the wave had pulled her ring seaward. I decided to search the low tide mark and expand from there. I immediately found a pull tab and continued on. Another target sounded really good but it ended up being a metal button. Then the detector ran silent for over 40 minutes. There were absolutely no other targets. Alison knew exactly where she was in the water but the ring wasn’t there. I was at the point of total exhaustion working in the King Tide surf and I told Alison & Spencer I would try one more grid search then would have to comeback in the morning when the tide would be at its lowest. As I walked towards the water swinging my detector I got an awesome tone and there in the wet sand one scoop down was Alison’s stunning engagement ring. The surf actually threw her ring up onto the sand rather then into the water as she had thought. No matter the ring was safely back on her finger in a microsecond. Overcome by the joy Alison couldn’t stop crying and thanking me for finding her ring. What a relief I felt as tourists along the beach that had been watching the search erupted into applause. We had a celebratory drink at the beach bar and met some retired Navy folks from Virginia who joined us in the celebration. They told us they said a little prayer that the ring would be found…my belief is prayers work wonders. Aloha to Alison & Spencer!

This ring find began while I was on the hunt for a Silver Heirloom ring at Ala Moana Beach Park. I was hunting the shoreline rocks when a gentleman came over to me and asked if I could find a young ladies ring that just fell off in about waist deep water. Knowing this other ring find was going to require clear water and scuba I said sure I’ll be right over. There were about 20 people in the murky water diving down looking for the ring thinking the sun might glint off the diamond. I couldn’t even see my coil in the water. High tide and at the end of the day this beach is cloudy with barely 1 foot visibility. I went in the water to meet the young lady and found out the whole group were members of the Triathlete Club « Boca Hawaii ». I found Kristen and her husband Brad who live in Honolulu and are from Buffalo, New York. While Kristen was doing some swim training she went to adjust her Engagement Ring and it fell off into the murky water and disappeared. I started a grid search but so many people were in the way I asked Brad if he and Kristen could remain in the water and have everyone else clear the area. The evacuation went off without a hitch and I had Brad & Kristen be my grid markers as we did a proper search without all the distractions. We searched from East to West and on about the 7th leg no more then a few feet from Kristen I got a great tone and in one scoop I saw Kristen’s ring. I walked over to her and let her pull the ring out of the scoop. She was so happy and shocked at the same time and tears began to flow. Another successful recovery and for such a wonderful couple. Aloha to Kristen & Brad.

This ring find began when I got a call from Samantha on Ewa Beach. While she was changing her clothes to her bathing suit her 2 year old son made a bee line for the water at the beach. She immediately dropped what she was doing to chase down her son. In her successful efforts to stop him her Engagement Ring fell off into the water and the pounding shore surge and disappeared. I told her we needed to look right away as the sun was beginning to set and I didn’t want the ring to get tossed around all night. Samantha said we could meet at the local convenient store on the beach and walk down from there to the spot her ring came off. I was delayed a bit by traffic but still made it there before it got too dark. Samantha knew exactly where it fell off so I started a grid search there. First a pull tab. Then I got a nice ring tone but the shore surge washed it away. I knew that had to be the ring so I started expanding around that point. Nothing though. Damn! Did I lose my chance because if the ring went out into the coral it could be lost forever. On my second grid line I got the tone again and immediately scooped before the waves had a chance. Got it there in the scoop was a sparkling white gold ring with just enough twilight to see it glisten. I walked up to Samantha and handed her what I found, « Is this it? » I asked. Oh my gosh I can’t believe it. I explained how it got away from me and we were thankful it didn’t go seaward. Samantha’s husband Elawrence was stunned and extremely thankful. There were hugs all around and Samantha could now go back home to Illinois with her ring. Aloha to Samantha & Elawrence.

This ring find began on 11 July when I got a call from John who was visited Hawaii with his family and they reside in Katy Texas. While attending the Paradise Cove Luau the previous weekend John & Doty went into the lagoon to observe the Native Hawaiian Fish Net Casting event. While standing in waist deep water the waterproof pouch John was wearing broke open and all their precious items fell into the lagoon. John & Doty were able to find the cellphone and John’s Wedding Band but Doty’s Platinum Engagement and Wedding Band disappeared. After returning to Texas John located me through Aloha Security. We went on Google Maps and I asked John to split the lagoon in half and tell me which half to search in. The lagoon is small so I knew I could finish a half in about 45 minutes to an hour. After my search I found a large silver ring and some change but neither of Doty’s rings. I returned to my vehicle and gave John the news. Then John apologized and said he made a mistake and it would have been in the Southern half. He noticed the public entrance path and realized they were straight in from that point. Well after seeing Doty’s Engagement ring on her daughter’s toe I knew I couldn’t give up so I went in and did the Southern half. This half of the lagoon is very shallow and the water from the Northern half surges in and exits out the Southern side. As tiny as the rings were and the surface area exposed I figured the surge could put those rings anywhere in the Southern half. My hunch was right at the farthest out point along the rocky area. Shortly into the hunt I got a nice Platinum Tone and one scoop down there was the Engagement ring in my scoop. A few feet away I got another nice tone and there was the Wedding band. A local couple along the shore could tell I was pleased and asked, « What did you find? » I showed them the two rings and they were in awe. The gentleman offered me an ice cold Heineken which I couldn’t turn down as my throat was parched. We talked story for awhile then I needed to tell John & Doty the great news. After hearing Doty crying in the background that was all I needed. John asked if I would send the rings Express Mail and Insured which as you can see they have arrived safely back in Katy Texas. The entire family gave me a « SHAKA ». Aloha to Doty, John and the Kids!

This ring find began when I got a call from David Sheldon our Maui Ring Finder at about 7PM. He got a call from Kristi on Kailua Beach whose husband Blake lost his Platinum Wedding Band in the sand on the beach. Blake & Kristie and their darling baby Natalie were vacationing from Newport Beach California. David relayed my number to Kristi who called immediately thereafter. Kristi asked if we could meet in the morning and I told her we shouldn’t take that chance because besides Waikiki, Kailua is heavily metal detected. I told her traffic should be light enough that I could be there in less than 40 minutes. She agreed and off I went. With Summer break still going on I made it over in around 25 minutes. I think that’s a record for me! Kailua Beach has a landmark Green grocery store and Kristi said turn in there then call and she would guide me to where they were on the beach. Like clock work I could see Blake waving his hand on the beach so I rolled down my window and he said to park and he would meet me there. I gathered my gear and we all walked down to the lifeguard shack area where Blake was drying himself after a swim when the towel snagged his ring and pulled it off into the sand. I could see that they had been raking the sand for the ring to no avail. Blake said they searched for at least 2 hours. I fired up the Excalibur and started my grid search. On the second leg « BAM » there was Blake’s ring in the scoop. I love clean beaches! Blake was so excited and relieved that I found the ring so fast. They were so appreciative and there were hugs all around. Aloha to Blake & Kristi. Also a big shout out to our fellow ring finder extraordinaire on Maui David Sheldon!