Pin the exact spot on your phone, photograph it with something fixed in the frame, tell the beach staff and the town's lost-property office, and post a request on Retrievly before you leave, so a metal detectorist nearby can go and look after you have gone. The ring is almost certainly still there: a ring that slips off on a beach sinks where it falls and rarely moves far.
You are not short of a ring. You are short of days.
Tonight: fix the spot
- Drop a pin where you were standing, not where your towel was. In Google Maps or Apple Maps, press and hold, then save it.
- Take two photos. One close, one wide. The wide one needs something that will still be there tomorrow: an umbrella number, a lifeguard tower, a beach bar, a set of steps, a rock.
- If it happened in the water, note roughly how deep it was (knee, waist, chest) and take a photo from the shore looking towards where you stood.
- Write down the time. It tells a searcher where the waterline was.
- Stop digging. Every handful pushes the ring deeper and spreads the search area.
Who to tell before you go
The beach staff first. Much of the coast in Italy and Spain is run by private beach clubs, and their staff see what the morning clean-up turns over. Leave a phone number or email. Some clubs keep what they find rather than passing it on, so ask them directly.
Then the town's lost-property office. Anyone who finds a ring is legally required to hand it in there, in Italy, in Spain and in Croatia alike. If you have already registered as the owner, they can call you. In Italy this is usually the Polizia Locale; in Spain, the town's Oficina de Objetos Perdidos. In Croatia the police take found property in many towns, so ask them which office handles it locally.
Your insurer may want a written loss report. Get it while you are still there; arranging it from home is hard. More on cover: Does home insurance cover a lost wedding ring?
Post the request before you board
Nobody needs you on the beach for the search. A searcher needs the beach, the day, your pin and your photos, and a request puts all of that in one place.
Post it while you are still there. You can add a photo you forgot, or walk back and describe the spot better. From home, a precise spot tends to turn into “somewhere in that bay”.
Searchers browsing requests see only an approximate circle. Your exact pin goes only to the searcher you choose.
Retrievly is new, so there may be nobody signed up near your beach yet. When that happens, we go and look for a detectorist in the area who can go. Post a request
If it turns up after you are home
How the ring gets back to you is agreed between you and the searcher. Retrievly does not ship anything or arrange delivery. Post, a friend still in town, or your next trip: that is for the two of you to settle, along with any thank-you.
What sand, waves and pebbles do to your chances
- Sand. A gold ring is heavy and goes straight down, usually a few centimetres.
- Where the waves break, the sand is constantly reworked. A ring settles downwards until it meets firmer ground. A storm can bury it deeper; it rarely carries it far.
- Tides. In the Mediterranean and the Adriatic the tide is small, so the spot in your photo will look much the same tomorrow.
- Pebbles. Common in Croatia and on many Italian beaches. A ring slips between the stones and works a little lower with each wave. A detector reads it through the stones; digging it out simply takes longer.
- Rock. On rock shelves a ring usually ends up in a crack. A mask and your hands can beat a detector there.
- Beach cleaning is the real clock. Where machines sift the sand early in the morning or late in the evening, a ring lying near the surface can be carried off. That is why the beach staff come first on your list.
How deep a ring goes in sand, and why: How deep does a ring sink in sand?
What a metal detector can and cannot find
- Finds: gold, silver and platinum rings, including a thin wedding band, in dry sand, pebbles and shallow water.
- Harder: very thin gold, and wet salty sand, which gives off a signal of its own. That needs a machine built for beaches.
- Sounds much the same: bottle caps, foil, ring pulls. A good searcher digs them all until the ring turns up.
- Cannot find: a stone that has fallen out of its setting. No metal, no signal.
- Needs a diver: anything deeper than you can stand.
More: What a metal detector can find
Is anyone allowed to search there?
It varies by country, and in Italy sometimes by town: some towns ban detectors on the beach during the bathing season. Mallorca has its own rules, and Croatia restricts detecting heavily. Checking that is the searcher's job, not yours.
We don't search ourselves. We put your request in front of people who take a metal detector to the beach because they enjoy it.
Most do it in their spare time, and the part they like best is handing something back.
Your exact spot stays yours
Searchers see a rough circle. Your exact spot goes only to the one you choose.
It costs you nothing
No money passes through Retrievly. If you want to thank the searcher, you agree that between you.
Two things decide most searches: how soon the request goes up, and how tightly you can mark the spot. A pin and two photos from the same day is a different job from half a bay three weeks later. Retrievly does not vet anyone. Meet in daylight, somewhere public.
Post a requestNo account needed, not even to post. We ask for your email at the very end, nothing else.
- I fly home in two days. Is a search still worth it?
- Yes. A ring usually stays close to where it fell. Pin the spot, take two photos and post a request before you leave; the search can happen after you have gone.
- Do I need to be there for the search?
- No. A searcher needs the beach, the day, your pin and photos. Only the searcher you choose sees the exact pin.
- Where do I report a lost ring on holiday?
- To the beach staff, and to the town's lost-property office: usually the Polizia Locale in Italy and the Oficina de Objetos Perdidos in Spain. Anyone who finds the ring must hand it in there.
- How does the ring get back to me if it is found after I leave?
- You arrange that directly with the searcher. Retrievly does not ship items or arrange delivery.
- Can a metal detector find a ring on a pebble beach?
- Yes. The signal passes through pebbles; digging it out takes longer than in sand, and in rock cracks it is often a job for your hands.
- How deep will a ring be in the sand after a few days?
- Usually a few centimetres. Waves and storms can push it deeper, but rarely carry it far.
Kenny built Retrievly. He has snorkelled the Danube for years and keeps bringing up things that belong to other people: wallets with the ID still in them, phones, keys. That is where Retrievly came from.
More about Kenny