Fort Lauderdale and Deerfield Beach
Lost a ring on Fort Lauderdale Beach?
From the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk up past the Fort Lauderdale wave wall to the Deerfield Beach pier.
A chain goes without being felt: over the head with a wet shirt, off the neck as a towel comes up. It lies flat in the sand rather than standing on edge, which makes it a clearer target than a ring, and on this coast the question is how quickly someone gets to it before the rake does.
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 or phone lost in Fort Lauderdale, Deerfield Beach or the towns between in South Florida.
Tell us what happened and where. We find who can reach that beach, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor. A lost ring is the usual reason people write, and a chain, an earring, an Oura ring or a watch come off in the same places.
Do it before the rake comes through
Stop sifting the sand with your hands, which only spreads a small thing further. Take photos from the spot with a lifeguard tower, a street end or a pier in view, drop a pin on your phone map and note the hour. Then send us the pin, the photos, a picture of what went missing and what you were doing when it came off.
Say whether it went down on dry sand, in the wet strip the tide works, out past the shore break or off a pier, because those four are planned very differently. Speed counts for more here than on most coasts, because this sand is raked daily.
Places we cover in Fort Lauderdale and Deerfield Beach
- Fort Lauderdale
- Fort Lauderdale Beach and the wave wall promenade
- Las Olas Beach
- Sebastian Street Beach
- Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
- Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
- Anglin's Pier and El Prado Park
- Pompano Beach
- Fisher Family Pier, Pompano Beach
- Deerfield Beach
- Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier
- Hollywood
- Hollywood Beach Broadwalk
- Dania Beach
- Dania Beach Ocean Park and pier
- Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park
- Parks, lawns and gardens across Broward County
Broward beaches where chains, rings and jewelry go missing
Each town has its own landmarks, and each landmark helps place a loss.
Fort Lauderdale Beach, Las Olas to Sebastian Street
The Fort Lauderdale Beachfront Promenade runs for two miles beside the Atlantic, edged by its white wave wall, with Las Olas Beach at the east end of Las Olas Boulevard. Lifeguards are on duty year round, and the Sebastian Street tower keeps a beach wheelchair. On a stretch that looks the same from end to end, the tower number is your best marker.
Hugh Taylor Birch State Park
The park sits between the Intracoastal Waterway and A1A, with a mile long freshwater lagoon where people paddle canoes and kayaks, and a pedestrian tunnel under A1A leading across to the beach. Still fresh water, a tunnel and ocean sand inside one park means three different searches within a few hundred yards.
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea and Anglin's Pier
The first band of natural coral reef lies about 100 yards from the beach, so snorkellers and divers go in straight from the sand, and a ring or watch lost while snorkelling may be out on that reef rather than in the shallows. El Prado Park is the town's best known beachfront park, and Anglin's Pier stands at Commercial Boulevard.
Pompano Beach and the Fisher Family Pier
The Fisher Family Pier stretches nearly 900 feet into the Atlantic from the Pompano Beach shore. Paddle boards go in around lifeguard towers 1 and 5, so a tower number places a loss well. A phone dropped from far out on the pier lands in water too deep for a quick look.
Deerfield Beach and its pier
The 976 foot International Fishing Pier stands at 200 N.E. 21st Avenue. Nine lifeguard towers watch the beach every day of the year, with tower 9 in front of the Embassy Suites. A watch or an Oura ring lost while surfing is easiest to place by tower, so name the one you parked your towel beside.
Hollywood Beach Broadwalk
The brick-paved Broadwalk stretches nearly 2.5 miles along the Atlantic, with a children's water playground at Charnow Park. Accessible beach paths start at streets such as Carolina, Johnson, Tyler and Harrison. An earring can fall on the sand just off the Broadwalk, and the street you came down is your marker.
Dania Beach Ocean Park and the state park
Dania Beach Ocean Park has a narrow beach of latte coloured sand dotted with shells, a fishing pier lit for night fishing and year round lifeguards. Just to the north, Dr. Von D. Mizell-Eula Johnson State Park sits beside the Port Everglades inlet, with a boardwalk to the beach and a 1,000-foot jetty walkway.
Why people who lose a ring in Broward contact Ring Seekers
One person on WhatsApp
You deal with the same person from the first message to the end.
The detectorist gets your map and photos
We pass on your pin and your photos of the tower, street end or pier, so the search starts in the right place.
Plain about poor odds
If it went into deep water off the end of a pier, or the spot cannot be placed at all, we say so before anyone travels.
We plan around the daily rake and the tide
This sand is turned over every day and the wet strip is worked twice more by the water, so a search here is timed rather than fitted in.
What it costs, before anyone sets off
You are told what a search would come to at the same time as our honest read on it, and you decide from there.
What a detectorist works with on the Broward coast
A small tide, warm water, and sand that is turned over every day.
Sand and daily raking
Fort Lauderdale rakes its beach every day to clear litter such as cigarette butts and plastic. A chain lying near the surface can be turned under or carried along by the rake, which is why a pin and photos taken on the day are worth more than the same details a week later.
Tides from NOAA
At the NOAA South Port Everglades station the mean tide range is 2.50 feet (0.76 metre), and the average range from higher high water to lower low water is 2.79 feet (0.85 metre). Anything lost at the edge of the water is best searched around low tide.
Water temperature
NOAA monthly averages at Lake Worth Pier, north of the area, run from 74.5°F (23.6°C) in January to 85.7°F (29.8°C) in August. At Virginia Key, to the south, they run from 72.5°F (22.5°C) to 88°F (31°C). Warm water all year means losses all year, not just in summer.
The reef is closer than people think
Off Lauderdale-by-the-Sea the first band of natural coral reef sits about 100 yards from the beach, so snorkellers swim out from the sand rather than from a boat. That short distance is the difference between a wading search and one that is out of a detectorist's reach.
Want a first idea of your chances? Try the lost ring recovery calculator.
Asked by people up and down this coast
My chain came off in the sand by the wave wall. Can it be found?
A chain is a good target, because it is longer than a ring and lies flat, so it reads across a wider sweep. The white wave wall runs the length of the Beachfront Promenade for two miles, which is exactly why the lifeguard tower number matters more than the wall itself. Give us the tower, how far down the sand you were, and whether the sand was dry or damp where you sat.
I lost my wedding band at Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. Where would you look?
It depends which side of the tunnel you were on. The park sits between the Intracoastal Waterway and A1A with a mile long freshwater lagoon where people paddle canoes and kayaks, and a pedestrian tunnel under A1A leads across to the beach. A band that went over the side of a canoe is one job and one dropped on the walk through is another, so tell us which, and where along it.
My ring came off snorkelling at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. Is that reachable?
It depends how far out you got. The first band of natural coral reef lies about 100 yards from the beach, so people swim in straight off the sand and a ring can come off anywhere between the two. Close in, that is a wading search. Out on the reef it is a long shot, and you would hear that from us first. El Prado Park and the Commercial Boulevard end at Anglin's Pier are the markers to line up against.
I lost an Oura ring or an earring near the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk. Worth a search?
Often, yes. An Oura ring and most earrings have metal in them, so a detector picks them up. The brick Broadwalk runs nearly 2.5 miles, with beach paths coming down at streets such as Carolina, Johnson, Tyler and Harrison, so the street you walked down is the single most useful thing you can tell us. Then say how far from the Broadwalk you were sitting.
I dropped my phone off the Deerfield Beach pier. Can it be found?
Sometimes, and it turns on how far along you were standing. The International Fishing Pier runs 976 feet (about 297 metres) out from 200 N.E. 21st Avenue, and the water under the far end is beyond wading, which makes it diver work. Near the shore end it is a different question. Nine lifeguard towers watch this beach every day of the year, so use one to place yourself.
I lost my ring on Fort Lauderdale Beach a few days ago. Is it too late?
Not always, but this is one coast where the clock genuinely runs. Fort Lauderdale rakes its beach every day to clear litter, which can turn a ring near the surface under or carry it along, and the tide keeps working the wet strip between times. A good pin and a photo taken from where you sat still give a detectorist a place to start from.
Who actually comes out to search in Fort Lauderdale?
Not us, and we say so plainly. The search is done by an experienced local detectorist. We choose an experienced detectorist who knows the stretch you lost it on, brief them with your map and photos, and give you our read on the case, with what a search would come to, before anybody travels.
Fort Lauderdale and Deerfield Beach
The tower number, the street end or the pier
Give us the beach, the marker nearest you, the hour, and a picture of the chain.
The rake goes through every day and the tide works the wet sand twice more, so today is always better than tomorrow on this coast. Send the pin, the photos and the hour on WhatsApp, and you will hear straight back how the case looks.