Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, Mooloolaba, Noosa and Moreton Bay
Lost a ring or other jewellery on the Sunshine Coast, at Noosa or around Brisbane
From Noosa and Sunshine Beach through Coolum, Mooloolaba and Caloundra to Bribie Island, Redcliffe, Sandgate, Wynnum and the parks of Brisbane.
A ring lost on a Sunshine Coast beach, on the Moreton Bay shore or on a Brisbane park lawn can be found if you can place the spot and the search happens before the tide moves the sand. What decides it is how exactly you can mark the spot and whether it went into dry sand, the wet strip, the water or grass.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewellery recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch or phone on the Sunshine Coast, at Noosa or in Brisbane with a metal detectorist who can search there. We find the nearest searcher we can, brief them with your pin and pictures, and tell you if it is a long shot.
If you are looking at metal detector hire on the Sunshine Coast or metal detector hire in Brisbane, a hired machine is a fair option for a fresh loss on dry sand. Once the ring went into wet sand or the surf, the area is large, or the item is small like an earring, a detectorist gets more from the same hour.
How a search works here, from Noosa to Mooloolaba and down to Moreton Bay
In the first hour, fix the spot. On a patrolled beach such as Mooloolaba or Noosa Main Beach, line yourself up with the lifeguard tower and something solid on the foreshore, and take a photo in each direction. Add a pin, the time, and whether the tide was rising or falling, and send it to us on WhatsApp with a photo of the ring. On a park lawn in Brisbane, photograph the nearest path or bench instead.
We find a detectorist who can get there and send them your marked map with the Mooloolaba tide times.
Places we cover on the Sunshine Coast and around Brisbane
- Noosa Main Beach and Noosa Heads
- Noosa National Park, Little Cove, Tea Tree Bay, Granite Bay and Alexandria Bay
- Noosa Spit and the Noosa River mouth
- Sunshine Beach, Sunrise Beach and Castaways Beach
- Peregian Beach and Marcus Beach
- Coolum Beach, Coolum North and Yaroomba
- Marcoola, Mudjimba and Twin Waters
- Maroochydore Beach and the Maroochy River mouth
- Alexandra Headland
- Mooloolaba Main Beach and Mooloolaba Spit
- Kawana Beach, Bokarina and Currimundi
- Dicky Beach, Kings Beach and Bulcock Beach, Caloundra
- Woorim Beach, Bribie Island
- Suttons Beach, Redcliffe
- Sandgate, Shorncliffe Pier and Moora Park
- Brighton foreshore and Decker Park
- Wynnum Wading Pool, Pandanus Beach and the Wynnum Esplanade
- Streets Beach and South Bank Parklands, Brisbane
- Brisbane City Council parks
Beaches, bays and parks from Noosa to Wynnum where rings go missing
Each part of this coast loses jewellery in its own way.
Noosa Main Beach and the national park bays
Noosa Main Beach faces north and Noosa Shire Council calls it a sheltered spot for swimming, and lists it as a patrolled beach. From Main Beach the boardwalk and then the coastal walk lead into Noosa National Park. Tea Tree Bay, about 500 metres past the surf break at the park entrance and the Boiling Pot lookout, is a sheltered bay with its own break, swum at high and low tide, with koalas in the trees behind. Further on, past Dolphin Point, Granite Bay curves between boulders. These bays are unpatrolled, so the walking track above you is the fixed point to mark.
Sunshine Beach, Sunrise Beach and Peregian
Noosa Shire Council describes Sunshine Beach and Peregian Beach as exposed to more powerful surf than Main Beach, and lists them as patrolled beaches, with Sunrise Beach and North Peregian patrolled seasonally. A ring that slips off in surf this open moves with the sand, so the time of the loss matters as much as the place.
Coolum, Maroochydore, Alexandra Headland and Mooloolaba
Sunshine Coast Council patrols Coolum Beach, Maroochydore Beach, Alexandra Headland, Mooloolaba Main Beach and Mooloolaba Spit Beach all year. Coolum North and the Maroochy River mouth are patrolled in the school holidays. No dogs are allowed along the whole Mooloolaba Beach foreshore. Watches and Oura rings come off in the surf here, and a phone dropped on dry sand near a tower is a normal search.
Kawana, Caloundra, Kings Beach and Bulcock Beach
Kawana Beach, Dicky Beach and Kings Beach are patrolled year round and Currimundi seasonally. Bulcock Beach is patrolled on weekends, school holidays and public holidays from September to May. On an unpatrolled weekday a ring lost at Bulcock has no flags to measure from, so the stairs and shelters on the foreshore become your fixed points.
Bribie Island and Redcliffe
Woorim Beach on Bribie Island and Suttons Beach at Redcliffe are the two bathing reserves of the City of Moreton Bay, the parts of each beach set aside for swimming and patrolled at certain times of the year. On a patrolled day the flags give you a marker.
Sandgate, Wynnum and the Brisbane parks
Brisbane City Council says people swim in the sea at high tide near Decker Park at the Brighton end of Flinders Parade, that Moora Park below the Shorncliffe cliffs has calm water and a sandy beach for paddling, and that at low tide the mudflats off the foreshore are exposed. At Wynnum the tidal Wynnum Wading Pool and Pandanus Beach sit on the Esplanade.
What you get from Ring Seekers on the Sunshine Coast and in Brisbane
One person on WhatsApp
You explain it once. The same person takes the details, finds a detectorist who can reach your beach or park and keeps you posted.
We brief the searcher with your map and photos
The detectorist gets your marked spot, your photos and the time of the loss before setting foot on the sand or the grass.
Plain about poor odds
A ring lost in open surf at Sunshine Beach with no fixed point, or off Shorncliffe Pier into bay water, is a poor bet. We tell you so before you spend anything.
Costs agreed before anything happens
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Tide, sand and surf from Noosa to Moreton Bay
Conditions a detectorist has to read here.
Tides at Mooloolaba
The 2026 predictions for the Mooloolaba gauge give a highest high water of 2.22 metres in June and a lowest low of 0.05 metres in October and November, with an average fall from high to low of about 1.11 metres. The detectorist gets the low water time, when the wet strip is widest and the bayside flats are open.
Open surf and sheltered water
Noosa Main Beach faces north and is sheltered, while Sunshine Beach and Peregian are exposed to more powerful surf. Dry sand holds a ring close to the surface. The surf zone is different, each tide pushes it down and a rip can shift it along the beach. Sunshine Coast Council says to always swim between the red and yellow flags and explains its warning signs for large waves and marine stingers.
The Brisbane bayside
The council says swimming at Sandgate is at high tide near Decker Park, and at low tide the mudflats off the foreshore are exposed. A ring lost while paddling at Moora Park or near the Wynnum Wading Pool is therefore searched at the bottom of the tide.
Questions about the Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Brisbane and Moreton Bay
I lost my wedding ring in the surf at Mooloolaba, Alexandra Headland or Maroochydore. Is it worth a search?
Usually yes, provided it happened in the last tide or two and you can place it. Sunshine Coast Council patrols all three beaches year round, so the tower and the flags are fixed points. Stand where you came out of the water, line the tower up with a building on the foreshore, and photograph that line. Each tide pushes a ring in the surf zone deeper, so send the map as soon as you can.
Can a detectorist search Tea Tree Bay or Granite Bay in Noosa National Park?
Yes. Tea Tree Bay, Granite Bay, Alexandria Bay and Little Cove are unpatrolled bays reached by the boardwalk and the coastal walk from Noosa Main Beach, so there are no towers or flags to mark against, and a ring lost in the sand or the shallows of a sheltered bay is a fair case. If you lost a ring there, tell us which bay, where you sat, the nearest point on the boardwalk and the time.
I lost a ring or an earring in a Brisbane park or on the sand at Streets Beach, South Bank. Can it be searched?
Streets Beach sits in the 17 hectare South Bank Parklands and is patrolled by lifeguards all year. An earring dropped on grass has no tide to move it, so photograph the nearest path or tree while you remember the spot.
My Oura ring or watch came off swimming at Suttons Beach, Redcliffe or at Woorim on Bribie Island. Any chance?
Yes, a lost Oura ring has metal inside it and so does a watch, so a detector picks up both. Suttons Beach and Woorim Beach are the two bathing reserves of the City of Moreton Bay, the parts of each beach set aside for swimming and patrolled at certain times of the year. On a patrolled day the flags give you a marker. Tell us how far out you were, how deep the water was and what time it happened.
I dropped my phone, keys or sunglasses at Sandgate, off Shorncliffe Pier or at Wynnum. What can be done?
Phones and keys show on a detector. The council says people swim in the sea at high tide near Decker Park, and that at low tide the mudflats off the foreshore are exposed, which is when a detectorist can get onto the flats. Anything dropped from Shorncliffe Pier, built in 1872, lands in bay water that can only be reached at low tide. At Wynnum the tidal Wynnum Wading Pool and Pandanus Beach sit on the Esplanade, so tell us which one. Plastic sunglasses do not show on a detector and are found by eye.
What if the ring cannot be found?
Some are not found. If the spot is vague, the loss was days ago in the surf, or the tide has been over it many times since, we tell you before anyone travels. We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, Mooloolaba, Noosa and Moreton Bay
Lost something between Noosa and Moreton Bay? Mark the spot first
Which beach or park, which tower, stairs or path, what time, and a photo of the ring.
The next high tide covers the wet strip at Mooloolaba and the next low opens the flats at Sandgate. Take the pin and two photos lined up with something solid, and send us the place and the time on WhatsApp.