The Bahamas
Lost a ring on a Bahamas beach?
Lucaya, Xanadu, Taino and Gold Rock on Grand Bahama, plus beaches on Long Island, Cat Island, San Salvador and the Berry Islands.
An earring dropped in the sand at a fish fry, or a watch or ring lost off a Grand Bahama beach, can be looked for after you have gone home. What settles the chances is what lay under it, sand, shallow water over reef or deep water, and whether you can name the stretch of beach you were on.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that works with experienced local metal detectorists to search for a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone lost in the Bahamas. Tell us what happened and where. We choose an experienced detectorist who knows the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Sheltered by reef on Grand Bahama, split by coast on Long Island
Grand Bahama's shoreline is sheltered by reef. Its best-known activity beaches are Lucaya Beach and Taino Beach, while the secluded beaches lie along the main highway toward the southwest and southeast of the island.
Long Island has two very different sides. Its eastern coast is all cliffs and caves taking the Atlantic waves, while on the western lee side sandy beaches slope gently into the Bahama Bank. San Salvador is surrounded by reefs.
Our part in a Bahamas search
One name on the chat
You talk to the same person at Ring Seekers on WhatsApp, from your first line to the last word on the search.
Which island, which beach, which spot
The Bahamas is a lot of islands, so the detectorist who takes the search gets the island, the beach and your pin in that order, with your photos alongside.
Where your odds sit
Some losses on these islands are far easier to search for than others. We tell you plainly where yours falls, and why.
Your ride there
Rental car, tour bus or boat: how you reached the beach, and from where, helps us tell one secluded Grand Bahama beach from another.
What you would pay, and when you hear it
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
Our Ring Finder Service Locations in Bahamas
Grand Bahama and the islands without their own page
Nassau and Paradise Island, Exuma, Eleuthera and Harbour Island, Abaco and Bimini each have a page of their own, listed above. The cards below keep to Grand Bahama and the islands that have none.
Grand Bahama, then Long Island, Cat Island and San Salvador
Lucaya Beach and Coral Beach
Lucaya Beach lies across from the Port Lucaya Marketplace, in the Lucaya part of Freeport, with water sports and activities of every kind. Coral Beach, a short distance west, is less crowded.
Xanadu Beach
Xanadu Beach, in Freeport, is a popular tourist beach with water sports, straw goods for sale and places to eat and drink.
Taino Beach and Smith's Point
Taino Beach, in the Lucaya area, has several restaurants and limited water activities. Smith's Point, next to it, is where the fish fry draws visitors and locals to eat and dance at night.
Gold Rock Beach
Gold Rock Beach, in East Grand Bahama, is secluded and reached along a boardwalk. At low tide its shoreline stretches out for yards into the sea. Say how far along the beach you walked from where you arrived. Peterson Cay, a tiny cay a short kayak paddle off the shore of Grand Bahama, has snorkeling just yards off its beach.
Paradise Cove at Deadman's Reef, and West End
Paradise Cove is a quiet beach in the west of the island, and its reef can be snorkeled straight from the beach. Pin where you went in and roughly how far along the shore you swam. West End, at the westernmost tip, is a quiet fishing village with marinas.
William's Town, Mather Town and Fortune Beach
William's Town Beach is in the William's Town settlement. Its eastern side has banana boat rides, jet skis and snorkeling, while the town side has local restaurants and bars. Mather Town Beach is a place to swim and spend time with locals, and Fortune Beach is a quiet one.
Long Island
Cape Santa Maria Beach is one of the calm, quiet white-sand beaches on the western shore. Across the island at Stella Maris, pink sand meets the wild Atlantic. Dean's Blue Hole is tucked beneath the cliffs, with a white-sand beach, and free divers go down into it. A short boat ride away, uninhabited Conception Island draws sailors and snorkelers to its reef.
Cat Island
Cat Island's beaches are secluded. Among them are the white sand of Old Bight Beach and a rose-colored stretch near Port Howe. Seafood is served at beach-side bars and at the Fish Fry in New Bight.
San Salvador
Grotto Beach at Sandy Point, Bonefish Bay Beach and Snow Beach are favorites with visitors, all secluded and with powdery white sand. On Long Bay, a stone cross marks the spot of Columbus's first landfall.
Andros
Along the east coast of Andros, the barrier reef stretches for mile after mile between the island and deep water, much of it shallow enough to snorkel. Fresh Creek is the main settlement of Central Andros.
Places we cover in the Bahamas
- Lucaya Beach, Freeport
- Xanadu Beach, Freeport
- Coral Beach, Lucaya
- Taino Beach, Lucaya
- Smith's Point, Lucaya
- Mather Town Beach, Grand Bahama
- William's Town Beach, Grand Bahama
- Fortune Beach, Grand Bahama
- Gold Rock Beach, East Grand Bahama
- Peterson Cay, Grand Bahama
- Paradise Cove, Deadman's Reef
- West End, Grand Bahama
- Cape Santa Maria Beach, Long Island
- Stella Maris, Long Island
- Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island
- Conception Island
- Old Bight Beach, Cat Island
- Port Howe, Cat Island
- New Bight, Cat Island
- Grotto Beach at Sandy Point, San Salvador
- Bonefish Bay Beach, San Salvador
- Snow Beach, San Salvador
- Long Bay, San Salvador
- Fresh Creek, Central Andros
- The Andros Barrier Reef
- Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands
- Sugar Beach, Berry Islands
Metal worth looking for on these beaches
Gold, silver and platinum
- Wedding bands
- Engagement rings
- Earrings, studs and hoops
- Gold chains
- Anklets
- Bracelets
Worn for the day, carried in a bag
- Oura rings
- Smartwatches and dive watches
- Phones
- Keys on a metal ring
- Metal-framed sunglasses
Settings on Grand Bahama and beyond
- A snorkel from the beach at Paradise Cove
- Low tide on the ripples at Gold Rock Beach
- A banana boat ride at William's Town Beach
- The fish fry at Smith's Point
- Kitesurfing on Cat Island
- Watching the free divers at Dean's Blue Hole on Long Island
What we need, and what we do with it
The island and the beach come first, since this page spans several islands.
Name the island and the beach
Your first WhatsApp message only needs the item and the island. We ask for the rest as we go.
The spot and the piece
A map pin where you sat or waded in, a picture of the beach if you have one, and a picture of the piece, worn or in its box.
A detectorist for your island
What counts is who can get to the island you were on. We find that person and hand over your pin, photos and notes before they set out.
The search, then the news
With your go-ahead the search is arranged, and afterward you hear how it went, whichever way it went.
Questions about the Bahamas
My wedding band came off at Lucaya Beach, but we tried several water sports that day. Which one matters?
Put the day in order and mark two points in it: when you last saw the band on your finger and when you first saw your finger bare. The activities between those two are the ones to tell us about, with where each started on the sand. Lucaya Beach faces the Port Lucaya Marketplace, and Coral Beach, less crowded, is a short way west, so mention it if you wandered over.
We ate at the picnic tables at Gold Rock Beach, then walked out at low tide. Now an earring is missing.
The picnic tables and barbecue pits stay where they are, so begin by pinning the table you used. At low tide the shoreline there reaches out for yards into the sea, which means the sand you walked on may be under water again by the time anyone searches. Tell us roughly what time you went out and how far toward the sea you got.
A smartwatch went missing at Xanadu Beach. We are not sure if it was in the water.
Then a search covers your spot on the sand and the water straight out from it. Xanadu is a popular tourist beach with water sports, so say which part of it you were on, nearer one end or the middle, and the last time you remember checking the watch.
Where would you start for a necklace that went during the banana boat ride at William's Town Beach?
With where the ride set off and where you came back to the sand. Banana boat rides, jet skis and snorkeling all go from the eastern side of William's Town Beach, and the restaurants and bars are on the town side. Say too whether anyone fell in, and whether the clasp could have given way on the sand before you climbed on.
We spent the day on the beach at Dean's Blue Hole on Long Island, and my watch is missing. Where does a search begin?
On the white-sand beach tucked beneath the cliffs, where day-trippers watch the free divers go down. Pin where you sat and say whether you swam out over the hole itself. It is among the deepest blue holes in the world, so a watch that sank out there is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
We only know we were somewhere near Port Howe on Cat Island when the engagement ring went.
Near Port Howe the sand is rose-colored, which sets that stretch apart from the white sand at Old Bight Beach. Cat Island's beaches are secluded, so a pin counts for more than a name. If you did not drop one at the time, the location saved with the photos on your phone may show where you were.
Shell hunting at Sugar Beach in the Berry Islands, and the ring was gone by the time we left.
Sugar Beach is a set of sandy coves among cliffs, with caves. The shelling is good, and people walk the beach looking for what the sea brings in. Say which cove you were in and how far along it you walked.
The Bahamas
Grand Bahama or one of the smaller islands
Your first WhatsApp message can be two lines: the island, and what is missing. A map pin for the spot comes next, and it is the first thing we will ask you for.