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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Still on the coast? What to do before you fly home.
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.
In public only a rough circle is shown. The exact point goes to the one person you choose.
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 requestNo account needed, not even to post. We ask for your email at the very end, nothing else.
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.
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