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Gran Canaria · Canary Islands

Lost a ring on a beach in Gran Canaria

Stop walking. A ring does not roll away and the sea does not take it — it is in the sand under you.

One thing worth knowing before anyone starts: nobody may search the Maspalomas dunes. The beach in front of them is a different rule.

The first few minutes

  1. Do not take another step. That is where it is. Walk away and tomorrow somebody has twenty times the ground to cover.
  2. Mark the spot. Parasol pushed in, a towel, a stone. Something the wind will not move.
  3. Do not scrape at it. You push it deeper. Dry sand behaves like water.
  4. One photo of the spot, one of the beach. With something immovable in frame: a lifeguard tower, a ramp, a kiosk.
  5. Time and date. The waterline moves several metres, and it is the first thing a searcher will ask you.

Not the dunes. The beach, yes.

The Maspalomas dunes are a protected natural space. Nobody takes a detector in there — not you, not whoever comes to help — and there is no permit a private person can be given. The same goes for any site catalogued by the Cabildo.

The beach strip is a different matter. Recovering your own property on an ordinary beach is not archaeological prospecting, which is what Canary heritage law actually regulates. Knowing where that line runs is the searcher's job, not yours.

Where it usually happens

Las Canteras in Las Palmas — a city beach, busy all year, with the La Barra reef flattening the swell. Most losses here are dry-sand losses, somewhere between the towel and the promenade.

Playa del Inglés — very wide and almost featureless, two identical parasols two hundred metres apart. A photograph with one fixed landmark in it is worth more here than on any other beach on the island.

Amadores and Puerto Rico — imported sand, still water, and a lot of people standing chest-deep. If it came off swimming, the circle is small, and that is good news.

If it went into the water

The sea here is mild rather than warm. Twenty degrees is enough to shrink a finger, which is why so many of these rings are lost in the first swim of the holiday rather than the fourth.

Say so when you post. In the water needs a waterproof detector and not everyone owns one. What a metal detector can and cannot find.

If you have already left the island

You do not need to be there. Most people notice at the airport or unpacking. The beach, the stretch of it and the day is enough to start with.

Where Retrievly comes in

Retrievly does not search. It connects the person who lost something with the people who own a detector and like an excuse to use it.

We are new here. There may be nobody signed up near your beach yet — in which case we go looking, in the island's groups and forums, 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, and only then.

For now, it costs you nothing

No money goes through Retrievly. A thank-you is arranged directly with whoever goes out.

The sooner it is posted and the smaller the circle, the better the odds. Retrievly vets nobody — meet in daylight, somewhere public.

Post a request

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

Common questions
Can you metal detect on the Maspalomas dunes?
No. They are a protected natural space and there is no authorisation available to a private person. The beach strip is different.
I lost it at Playa del Inglés and I am not sure exactly where.
Go back with whatever photo you have and find one fixed thing: a lifeguard tower, a ramp, the hotel that was behind you. That is enough to draw a usable circle.
What if it went in the sea?
Say so when you post. It needs a waterproof detector and not everybody has one.
What does it cost?
Nothing at the moment, and no money goes through Retrievly.
Are there searchers on Gran Canaria?
There may not be yet. We are new. When a request arrives 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 in Gran Canaria? | Retrievly