lost wedding band Waikiki Tag | Page 33 of 37 | The Ring Finders

This ring find starts 7 May while I was looking for a lost ring in Ulua Lagoon. I was approached by a gentlemen named Terry who said his recently married Niece’s husband Reymhar from San Jose, California lost his ring in the next lagoon over while paddle boarding a few days before. I told Terry if he could show me the supposed area I would give it a hunt. Terry knew it was in the Northern third of the lagoon but not exactly where. After a brief ankle to neck deep search without a ring find I asked Terry to put me in contact with Reymhar so I could get some more details to the lost ring and it’s probable location. After contacting Reymhar he wasn’t sure exactly when the ring came off only in the Google map picture he sent me he drew a wedge of where he was paddle boarding. I went the next weekend and did a scuba dive for the ring. The deep area was very silty and it was hard to keep track of where I’d detected so it was sort of a willy nilly hunt. The next weekend I tried again and this time I was careful not to stir up too much silt. Yeah right! There were sand clouds everywhere I dug. I found a nice Palladium band with a neat inscription that hopefully remains true today. When I was about down to 600 psi I figured I’d have about three more lines to grid from 4 feet to the deep end of 15 feet. I started an out bound leg and near a plate size rock in 7 feet of water I got a nice solid tone. With one scoop of my hand Reymhar’s ring exposed itself with a triple sparkle of diamonds in the sunlight. That was a wonderful sight to see. I looked heavenward and thanked Jesus. That was one of my hardest searches too date. As soon as I got to my truck I texted Reymhar that I found his ring. Uncle Terry is going to be back in Honolulu 11 June and I will be turning the ring over to him so he can hand deliver it back to Reymhar in San Jose. Aloha to Reymhar and his wife Karen!

Wednesday evening while I was in San Diego California for a work conference I got a call from Steve from Seattle. While enjoying the cool waters of the Aulani lagoon his Platinum Wedding Band came off. He didn’t notice it missing until he was in the elevator going to his room so there was the possibility it came off at his beach chair. I told Steve I would be back on Friday and as soon as I landed I would retrieve my gear and head out to the resort. Steve and his lovely wife Christine met me at the front entrance and we proceeded to the lagoon. Their seating area was occupied so I decided to search the water first. Steve showed me the approximate route he took in the water and on about my 4th leg of the grid search I got a screaming Platinum tone. One scoop and there was Steve’s ring. I yelled to Steve and Christine on the beach that I found the ring and they met me at the waters edge. A very pleasant look of relief could be seen on both their faces. A hug and a handshake and smiles all around. Vacation continues on a high note. Aloha to Steve & Christine.

While on a ring hunt in Waikiki the Umbrella Boys approached me and said a Korean couple had lost and had been looking all day for the wife’s wedding band in the dry sand. They only knew it was Gold and had a name and hotel if it was found. This happened to be the exact spot I was searching for a Swiss couples Gold Wedding Band. I started a North South grid search and found a handful of change. On the East West grid I had a faint low tone so I took a scoop. Nothing! Then on he second scoop I saw the cutest rose and white gold wedding band with Diamonds glistening still in the setting sunlight. I let the Umbrella Boys know and they gave me the Korean couples name & hotel. I called my wife to get the Hotels number and called the front desk. I was looking for Kim Yeon Nam and her husband was put on the phone. I could hear Kim crying with relief in the back ground as her husband told her the ring was found and would be in the lobby in five minutes. We met in the lobby and I handed over the ring after confirming it was the one. Kim’s husband gave me a hug and a handshake and he told me that they were married only yesterday and Kim was so distraught after losing her ring she thought it would never come back. Nice way to end my day. Aloha to Kim.

Wednesday evening and I got a call from Shawna from Wahiawa, Hawaii. Shawna explained that when her husband Justin was playing in the lagoon in knee deep water with their adorable daughter Summer she accidentally pulled her Father’s Wedding Band off. Sunset was fast approaching and several tourists on the beach tried helping to locate the ring. The sand in the lagoon is very clean and fine and rings disappear quickly as no one had any luck finding it. One of Aulani’s Beach Attendants told Shawna about « The Ring Finders » and that’s when I got the call. I told Shawna I lived about 30 miles away on the opposite side of the island but if rush hour traffic was through I could be there in 40-50 minutes. By the time I’d get there it would be dark. Thankfully this hobby is Audio and there is enough ambient light from the resort to see in my scoop. We met at the Valet parking area where Shawna & Summer were waiting. We walked together through the resort down to the lagoon where Justin was standing in the water where the ring fell off. I asked Justin to be my waterborne marker and I started my grid search. On the third leg in knee deep water I got my first target and an awesome tone. One scoop and there was Justin’s awesome Wedding Band. I asked Justin to describe his ring again after which I handed him what I found. He said, « That’s it no way. » I explained the detecting equipment is very good and him putting me on the correct location made all the difference. After a firm « Thank You » handshake we went up to the beach to show Shawna and Summer. Shawna couldn’t believe we found the ring which is the case with most lost ring situations. Smiles all around. Aloha to Justin, Shawna & Summer!

On February 10th I got an email from Megan from Melbourne, Australia stating she lost her engagement ring the night before in the surf in knee deep water 2 meters from the Waikiki Wall. This is a favorite Boogie Board spot and the sand is tremendously deep on the side Megan lost her ring. To add to the problem we had a South swell the night before and much sand movement occurred with the waves going way up onto the shore. I met Megan and her fiancee Daniel later that morning and started a grid search. I started in a North South pattern but no luck. I repeated the search in an East West pattern and still no luck. I carefully went through the wave curl but only found a few coins and two pieces of trash metal. I had to tell Megan her ring must be beyond my detectors depth or worst case another detectorist found it the night before. That was a slim chance because of the high tide & surf. I told Megan I’d come back with a friend Mike who is really experienced on the White’s Dual Field Surf PI and it had better depth then what my Excalibur did. Mike tried twice over the next week without any luck. The surf had subsided so I was beginning to think another detectorist got lucky. 29 days later on March 6th I met my buddy Mark at the Natatorium for an AM water hunt. We worked our way towards the Waikiki Wall and I told Mark I was going to run ahead and see if Megan’s ring ended up in the wave curl. When I got to the spot I had to dodge the Boogie Boarders as the surf was up again and they were busting some moves at the wall. After about 3 minutes I got a familiar growl. I dug down into the wave curl…Nothing! Second dig into the wave curl and there in my scoop was Megan’s ring. The sun was high over head and the Diamonds on her ring were glistening in the sunlight. That was a pretty sight! I walked down the beach to where I left Mark and held out my pinkie finger. Look at that! Pretty Ice Ring! Whoa! he said you got it. Amazing no other detectorist found it. I emailed Megan the good news as soon as I got home. To our good fortune her cousin Simone was visiting and staying in Waikiki. I was able to drop off the ring with her so she could hand deliver it back to Megan in Melbourne. That was a relief. I really didn’t want to have to trust the Postal Service. In the pic above Megan had her precious ring sized properly and she knows who to call. Aloha to Megan & Daniel.

Wednesday evening while attending the Honolulu Coin Club meeting I got a call from Jay stating his friend Robert from Las Vegas lost his wedding band in the water behind the famous Duke’s at Waikiki Beach. They had been celebrating Roberts 50th Birthday in the 50th State. I told him to email some specifics and I would look at the surf & tide report to determine when the best time to hunt would be. I decided low tide 11:30 AM would be best and the surf was coming down slowly. We met at Robert’s hotel and walked down to the beach. Robert thought the ring came off in waist deep water and he showed me the limits to search, so I started in the wave bench and then in and out from the shoreline to at least chest deep water. I found a dime, then a GoPro HERO 3 camera that took about 20 scoops to dig up. It was toast. Then half a penny and a first ever thimble. What the heck is a thimble doing in the water at Waikiki? This took about an hour without finding the ring. Then Robert’s lovely wife Carla told me she had a video of Robert losing his ring. Great! Lets take a look at it and see if we missed something. The video was dark so we went into Duke’s to get out of the bright sun to see it. Fortunately we both noticed the beach sand was flat in the video so it must have been high tide. Also where we think the ring came off was actually dry sand at low tide. So I went out to the beach and started a grid search in the sand. Where the wet sand met dry sand a little girl had built a sand castle. I initially went around her during the first hunt. This time as I passed over the remnants of the castle I got a nice tone. Two scoops down and there was Robert’s ring. Amazing the little girl didn’t find it while building her castle. Carla came running down and gave me a big hug as I handed her the ring. The tourists on the beach erupted into a round of applause! These are the best moments in this hobby and I cherish each one immensely. Carla then cutely got down on one knee and presented the ring to Robert. Another round of applause went up and there were smiles all around. Aloha to Carla & Robert.