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Costa Blanca · Spain

Lost a ring on a beach on the Costa Blanca

Stop walking. A ring that comes off on a beach stays close, and usually it is right under your feet.

This coast is kinder than most: on nearly every beach in the Valencia region nobody needs a permit to use a detector. The exceptions are named, and two towns are worth knowing about before anyone sets off.

The first few minutes

  1. Do not move your feet. Where you are standing is the middle of the search.
  2. Mark it. Parasol in the sand, a bag on top. Something that will still be there after lunch.
  3. Hands off the sand. Digging pushes it down.
  4. Photograph the spot and the beach. Get something fixed in the frame: a lifeguard tower, a beach access number, the block of flats behind you.
  5. Ask the lifeguard. Rings do get handed in. It costs you one question.

Where it usually happens

Benidorm. Two long city beaches, Levante and Poniente, either side of the old town and busy all year. Say which one, and which hotel or tower you were in front of, because from the sand they all look alike.

Alicante. El Postiguet under the castle, and San Juan, the long beach running north out of the city. On San Juan the landmark that helps is the street or the beach access you came down.

Calp, Altea and Xàbia. Smaller beaches, some of them shingle. Stretches of all three are on the region's protected list, so naming the exact beach matters more here than anywhere else on the coast.

Torrevieja and Orihuela Costa. As many people live here all year as visit. If you are one of them, you can go back and stand on the spot, and that is worth a great deal to whoever comes.

Two places to check first

Dénia. Every beach in Dénia is on the Valencia region's protected list, so the exemption for ordinary beaches does not apply there and a detector needs the regional permit.

Guardamar del Segura. A town bylaw of 2021 bans searching the sand and the dunes with a detector, with fines of up to 200 euros. In 2022 the town refused a search for a woman's wedding ring lost on Playa Centro, even with a detectorists' association asking, as The Olive Press reported. If it was Guardamar, we will tell you so rather than send someone. What still works there: asking the lifeguards and the town hall whether it was handed in.

Everywhere else on the coast

Since a circular of March 2021, ordinary coastal beaches in the Valencia region are exempt from the detector permit, except those in the region's archaeological register or within 100 metres of one. Stretches of Xàbia, Calp, Altea and Alicante are on that list. The rest, with the law, is in our guide to metal detecting in Spain. Whoever goes checks the beach first. That part is theirs, not yours.

If somebody found it

Anyone who finds a ring in Spain has to return it to its owner or hand it in at the town hall (Article 615 of the Civil Code). Ask at the town hall of the town the beach belongs to, or the local police, and ask again after a week.

If you are already home

Plenty of people only notice at Alicante airport or while unpacking. You do not need to be here. The beach, the stretch of it and the day are enough to start.

Where Retrievly comes in

Retrievly does not search. It connects the person who lost something with people nearby who own a detector and will go and look.

We are new on this coast. If nobody near your beach has signed up yet, we go and look for someone in the local clubs and groups, and send them your request.

Your exact spot stays yours

In public only a rough circle is shown. The exact point goes to the one person you choose.

It costs you nothing

Posting is free and no money goes through Retrievly. A thank-you is arranged directly with whoever goes out.

Post soon and keep the circle small; nothing matters more. Retrievly vets nobody, so meet in daylight, somewhere public.

Post a request

Browsing needs no account. You only sign in to post.

Common questions
Can someone look for my ring on a Costa Blanca beach?
On most beaches, yes: ordinary beaches in the Valencia region need no detector permit. Not in Guardamar del Segura, where a town bylaw bans it, and not on the protected list, which includes every beach in Dénia.
I lost it in Benidorm and I am not sure where.
Levante or Poniente first, then the hotel or tower you were facing. That is enough to draw a circle.
What if it came off in the sea?
Say so when you post. It needs a waterproof detector, and not everyone has one. Rings come off where you can still stand, so the circle is smaller than the sea.
What does it cost?
Nothing. Retrievly is free, and no money goes through it.
Are there searchers on the Costa Blanca?
There may be nobody signed up near you yet. We are new. When a request comes in, we go and find someone nearby and send them the link.
Who writes this

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.

Lost a ring on a beach on the Costa Blanca? | Retrievly