Ring found at night in a hotel rooftop pool in Barcelona on a honeymoon

Radu and his wife were in Barcelona on their honeymoon, staying at a hotel by the Fòrum with a pool on the roof. On the evening of 24 August a ring went into the pool and sank to the bottom, somewhere between 1.5 and 2 metres down.

A pool sounds like the easy case, and in some ways it is. There are no waves, no sand for the ring to bury itself in, and nothing moves it once it has settled. But a small ring on a pale pool floor at night is surprisingly hard to spot from the edge, and a dark or patterned floor hides it even better. Diving down blind and feeling around rarely works.

Just after ten at night Radu sent us the hotel’s location and asked if anyone could come. He sorted out permission with the hotel staff while we called our local detectorist, who said he could go straight away if the pool lights were on. They were, so he went that night rather than waiting for the morning. In clear water he could probably have managed by eye, but he brought the underwater detector anyway, because that is what turns a long look into a short one.

Before midnight Radu wrote to say the ring had been found and that we had saved their honeymoon. The photo above was taken on the roof straight afterwards, ring back where it belongs.

Two things made this quick. Radu got in touch within minutes instead of spending the night diving for it, and he had the hotel’s permission ready so the search could start as soon as our detectorist arrived.