Abaco
The Oura ring came off out on the sandbar at low tide
At Tahiti Beach the time of day counts as much as the spot.
At low tide a sandbar is revealed at Tahiti Beach, extending the beach out into the water, so a loss out there has a time attached to it as well as a place. A search can be set up if you can give us both: roughly where on the sand you stood, and what time it was when you noticed.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Abaco with a metal detectorist who can search there.
Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
Tahiti Beach is on Elbow Cay, one of the cays strung between Great Abaco and the open Atlantic. This page covers the rest of Abaco too, from Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay on Great Abaco out to Man-O-War, Great Guana and Green Turtle Cay.
Fix the spot from dry land, and note the time
Start with the clock. Write down the time you last felt the ring, watch or keys on you and the time you noticed they were gone. Everything you did between those two moments is where a search would look. If you can still get back to the water line level with where you stood, drop a map pin there, and note whether you were on dry sand, wading or swimming.
Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay are on Great Abaco, where most settlements can be reached by car. Elbow Cay, home to Hope Town and Tahiti Beach, lies across the water from Marsh Harbour and is reached by ferry or private boat, and so is Man-O-War Cay. Green Turtle Cay is a short ferry ride from Treasure Cay. Put the name of the cay in your first line, and the ferry or boat if you took one.
Places we cover in Abaco
- Elbow Cay
- Tahiti Beach
- Hope Town
- Hope Town Reef
- Lubbers Quarters Cay
- The Sea of Abaco
- Great Abaco
- Marsh Harbour
- Man-O-War Cay
- Great Guana Cay
- Treasure Cay
- Treasure Cay Beach
- Green Turtle Cay
- New Plymouth
- Little Harbour
- Cherokee Sound
- Sandy Point
- The Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park
- The Fowl Cays National Park
From the southern tip of Elbow Cay up the Abaco chain
Where visitors spend their days, on the cays and on Great Abaco itself.
Tahiti Beach
Tahiti Beach is on the southern tip of Elbow Cay, a curve of soft white sand lined with coconut trees, with calm, clear water in front of it. It is reached only on foot, by bike or by boat. People swim here and collect shells, starfish and sand dollars, especially at low tide, when a sandbar stretches the beach out into the water. It is a spot for a picnic in the shade of a palm, and the tree you sat under makes a good marker in a photo.
Hope Town
Hope Town is the only settlement on Elbow Cay, with the red and white, candy-striped lighthouse on its banks. People get around by golf cart and bike and eat at the waterfront restaurants, so for a loss in the village rather than on a beach, the restaurant or shop you were in is the place to start. Hope Town Reef is a snorkeling site. Lubbers Quarters Cay, south of Hope Town, is reachable only by private or chartered boat.
Marsh Harbour
Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco is the commercial center of the Abacos, with full-service marinas where visitors dock their own boats or rent a sailboat or powerboat. The ferries out to Elbow Cay and Man-O-War Cay leave from here, so tell us whether a loss in town was on a dock, a marina walkway or aboard.
Man-O-War Cay
Man-O-War Cay lies north of Elbow Cay and is reached by boat or by ferry from Marsh Harbour. Its protected harbor is lined with boat fitting and sail shops, so name the dock you tied up at or the shop you walked into.
Great Guana Cay
Next up the chain, Great Guana Cay has a white sand beach tucked below a tall dune, facing the Atlantic. Day trippers and snorkelers come for the coral reefs around the cay, some of them close to shore. The dune behind the beach makes a handy marker in a photo from where you sat.
Treasure Cay Beach
Treasure Cay, north of Marsh Harbour on Great Abaco, is a resort district built as a hotel, golf and marina development wrapped around its beach. The sand is soft and white and the water in front of it is the Sea of Abaco. Boats leave from here for Green Turtle Cay.
Green Turtle Cay and New Plymouth
Green Turtle Cay is a long, narrow island reached only by boat, private or ferry. New Plymouth is its main settlement, and visitors rent a golf cart or a bicycle to reach the beaches, so tell us where you left the cart or bike as well as where you sat.
Pelican Cays and Fowl Cays
South of Tilloo Cay and north of Cherokee Sound, the Pelican Cays Land and Sea Park is reached only by boat, with snorkel moorings over extensive coral reefs and undersea caves where eagle rays swim. The Fowl Cays National Park is another boat-only stop with snorkel moorings, over coral reef, seagrass and sandy bottom. Tell us which mooring your boat was tied to.
What happens at our end
Same person, start to finish
You tell the story once. The reply to your first WhatsApp message and every update after it come from the same person.
Your times are part of the brief
When you arrived, when you last had it and when you noticed it was gone all go to the detectorist, who plans the search around them as well as around your pin.
A straight read on your case
Once we have the pin, the hour and whether it went on sand or in the water, we tell you how we see it, including when we think it looks hard.
Money talk comes first
We explain the costs before any search is booked, and there is no pressure to go ahead.
Sheltered Sea of Abaco water, and the Atlantic outside the cays
The Sea of Abaco side and the ocean side of the cays are different water.
Inside the cays
The cays off Great Abaco separate it from the Atlantic, and the Sea of Abaco between them is shallow and protected. Treasure Cay Beach faces this water, while the beach on Great Guana Cay looks out to the Atlantic. If you are not sure which water you were in, the beach name is enough for us to work it out.
When the sandbar is out
The Tahiti Beach sandbar is revealed at low tide. Note the hour you were out on it, and whether the water was dropping or rising if you noticed.
Coral near the beaches
Reefs lie close to shore off Great Guana Cay, and Hope Town Reef is a coral snorkeling site. If anyone in your group took photos or video on the snorkel, send those too, because a shoreline or boat in the frame can help place the spot.
Questions about Abaco
How can I show where I was on the Tahiti Beach sandbar once the tide has come back in?
Use the shore. Tahiti Beach is lined with coconut trees, so walk to the water line opposite the place you went out, take a photo straight along the line you walked, and drop a pin where you stand. Then say roughly how far out you walked and what time it was. For an Oura ring, add which hand it was on and whether you were picking up shells or sand dollars when you last felt it.
We spent the afternoon cycling around Hope Town, and my bracelet is gone.
People explore Hope Town by bike and golf cart, stopping at shops, art galleries and cafés on the way. Think about the moments your hands were busy: locking the bike, paying in a shop, sitting down to eat. Send the names of those places with a photo of the bracelet, and say whether it had a clasp or slid on over your hand.
Treasure Cay Beach is long. Is a wedding band lost there worth reporting?
Yes. A long beach gets smaller once we know what stood behind you. Treasure Cay grew up as a hotel, golf and marina development wrapped around the sand, so a photo from your spot with a building in it places you well. Add the pin for your towel and say whether you were on the dry sand or standing in the Sea of Abaco.
What should I say about a watch lost snorkeling off Great Guana Cay?
Start with where you got in. Reefs lie close to shore off Great Guana Cay, so a swim out from the beach and a snorkel stop from a boat are two very different searches. Tell us which it was, how long you had been in the water, and roughly when the strap was last on your wrist.
My phone went while we were getting on the ferry from Marsh Harbour to Elbow Cay.
Ferries from Marsh Harbour run out to Elbow Cay and Man-O-War Cay, so first say which dock you were on and which boat you were boarding. A phone that fell on the dock itself or at its edge gives a detectorist a small, fixed area. If it went over the side once the ferry was under way, that is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first.
A necklace came off on Green Turtle Cay, but we were only there for the day.
Green Turtle Cay is a short boat hop from Treasure Cay, and on the cay people rent golf carts and bicycles. Tell us where the boat dropped you, whether you stayed in New Plymouth or went out to a beach, and send a photo of the necklace so the clasp and chain can be seen.
Does this cover the far end of Great Abaco, around Little Harbour or Sandy Point?
It does. Little Harbour is an artists' colony on a remote corner of Great Abaco, best reached by boat, and Sandy Point is the southernmost settlement on the island, a fishing village whose beach has a large number of seashells. Tell us whether you arrived by road or by water, and where you were standing.
Abaco
The pin and the time, to start with
Details can come in later messages.
Put the cay, the beach or dock, the time you were there and your map pin in one WhatsApp message, with a photo of the ring, watch or keys if you have one to hand.