Maine
Keys dropped on a Maine beach with the tide coming in, or off the dock at camp
Southern beaches, Popham and Reid, Sebago, Rangeley, Moosehead, Bar Harbor and Bangor
Between low and high water the sea at Portland rises about 9 feet (2.8 metres). So the sand at Old Orchard Beach or Popham where your car keys slid out of a bag may be under water by evening and bare again at a later low tide. Inland the trouble is depth. Keys that went off the dock at camp, as people in Maine call a lakeside cottage, lie in a lake that has no low tide to uncover them. For lost keys and for a lost ring the questions are the same: where, what time and how deep.
Ring Seekers is a lost ring and jewelry recovery service that connects people who lost a ring, wedding band, watch, keys or phone in Maine with a metal detectorist who can search there. Tell us what happened and where. We find a detectorist who can reach the place, brief them with your map and photos, and tell you honestly if the odds are poor.
We also help with engagement rings, Oura rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets and chains, and with Apple Watches, phones, key fobs, metal-framed glasses and hearing aids.
What to note before the tide comes in or you leave the dock
If the keys went into beach sand, photograph the place before you leave: one picture looking out to sea and one looking inland at something that will still be there tomorrow, such as the pier at Old Orchard or the path you came down. Write down the time, so a detectorist can look up the tide for that hour. At camp the dock does that job. Note which side the keys went in, how far from the shore end, and how deep it is.
Send the photos, a dropped pin and a picture of what you lost on WhatsApp. You can stop searching for a metal detectorist near me. The place decides who we ask, because wet sand at low tide and the lake bed beside a dock are different jobs, and metal detecting in Maine covers both.
Areas and towns we cover in Maine
- Southern Maine beaches
- Ogunquit
- Old Orchard Beach
- Cape Elizabeth
- Portland
- Popham Beach State Park, Phippsburg
- Reid State Park, Georgetown
- Sebago Lake State Park
- Rangeley Lake State Park
- Lily Bay State Park
- Moosehead Lake
- Bar Harbor
- Acadia National Park, Sand Beach and Echo Lake
- Baxter State Park, Togue Pond
- Bangor
Salt water from Ogunquit to Bar Harbor, fresh water from Sebago to Moosehead
Sandy beaches between Ogunquit and Portland
Ogunquit Beach is three miles of sand, from Main Beach to North Beach. Old Orchard Beach has seven miles of sand and a pier. Crescent Beach State Park in Cape Elizabeth is a mile of sand backed by dunes. In Portland, East End Beach lies below the Eastern Promenade on Casco Bay. The Southern Maine beaches page goes through them one at a time.
Popham Beach between the Kennebec and the Morse
Popham Beach State Park is in Phippsburg, 14 miles south of Bath. The long sand beach has a river at each end, the Kennebec and the Morse. Sandbars show at low tide and are covered again by cold, fast water as it rises. The sand here moves a great deal, so a photo from the day helps. Tell us whether you were on the main beach or out on a bar.
Mile and Half Mile beaches at Reid State Park
Reid State Park is in Georgetown. Its two beaches, Mile and Half Mile, are long and wide, with large sand dunes behind them and the rocky Griffith Head looking over the park. Tell us which beach you were on and which end.
Sebago Lake State Park in Casco and Naples
The park sits on the shore of Sebago Lake, off US Route 302 between Naples and South Casco. It has sandy beaches, a campground, a day use area and a boat launch, so we ask which part you were in. Keys off the dock at a camp elsewhere on the lake raise the same questions.
Rangeley Lake and Lily Bay on Moosehead
Rangeley Lake State Park is in the Western Mountains. Its beach looks out at Saddleback Mountain, and the boat launch has finger docks. Lily Bay State Park is nine miles north of Greenville on the east shore of Moosehead Lake, with a beach, a boat launch and a shoreline trail that runs from the beach to the Rowell Cove campground. East of Moosehead, Togue Pond Beach sits by the south gate of Baxter State Park, about 17 miles (27 km) from Millinocket, and is the park's busiest spot for a swim and a picnic.
Bar Harbor, Acadia and Bangor
In Bar Harbor, Agamont Park looks over the town pier and Frenchman Bay from the end of West Street. In Acadia National Park, Sand Beach is reached by a staircase from the Park Loop Road, and Echo Lake Beach is the freshwater one. Bangor's Cascade Park, on State Street, has trails, a fountain and picnic areas. For a lost ring, an earring or a hearing aid on one of these lawns, tell us where you sat and which way you walked across the grass.
How Ring Seekers handles a loss on the Maine coast or at camp
Bartek reads the message and does the asking around
You write to Bartek, who runs Ring Seekers, on WhatsApp. He contacts detectorists for you, and however the search ends, he is the one who tells you.
Your two photos and the hour are passed on as you sent them
The detectorist works from your pin, your two photos and the time you noted. For a lake that includes which side of the dock it was and how deep.
What we say when there is no spot to go back to
Keys dropped at a place you can mark, on sand or beside a dock, give a detectorist something to work from. Keys that went over the side of a moving boat out on Moosehead leave no mark to return to, and we tell you in our first reply that the odds are poor.
Why the first question differs between Popham and Sebago
At Popham the sandbars are bare at low tide and covered again as the water rises, so we start by asking the time. At a dock on Sebago nothing uncovers the bottom, so we ask how deep it was and how far along the dock you stood.
Costs come up early, not at the end
We explain the costs before any search is booked.
What the tide, the cold and the ice change about a search in Maine
Bar Harbor's tide is a little bigger than Portland's
Bar Harbor has a mean tidal range of about 10.5 feet (3.2 metres), against about 9 feet (2.8 metres) at Portland, going by NOAA's station figures. Between one low tide and the next, surf could move keys or a ring a short way or bury them a little deeper, which is why we ask for the time as well as the pin.
Cold water off Popham and in Moosehead Lake
The sea at Popham is cold, and so is Moosehead Lake. It is possible that a ring sits looser on a cold hand and comes off without being felt. For anything lost in the water we ask how deep you were.
Ice on Moosehead into May
Around Moosehead, midwinter brings ice fishermen and snowmobilers, and the state park page for Lily Bay puts ice out typically in early to mid May. For a winter loss, tell us whether it was on the lake ice, a trail or the snow around camp.
Keys under the tide, keys under the dock, and what to do next
My car keys fell out of the beach bag near the pier at Old Orchard Beach, and the tide has been over that sand twice since. Will they still be there?
They may be, and nobody can promise it today. What does not change is that the same sand is uncovered again at each low tide, and a search is timed for one of those. Tell us when you sat there, which side of the pier you were on and how far along from it.
I dropped the keys to the truck and to camp between the dock and the boat on Moosehead, in about six feet of water. Who does a search like that?
A detectorist who also dives, because six feet is past wading. The good part is that the dock does not move. Tell us which side the boat was on, how far from the shore end you stood, and whether the bottom is sand, rock or weed.
My wedding band came off in the surf at Popham, and the water was so cold I never felt it go. How would anyone know where to look?
From the time, mostly. If you know roughly when you went in and came out, a detectorist can look up where the water's edge stood and search that band of sand at a low tide. A photo from that day with the water's edge in it helps too.
Our keys are in the dry sand at the top of Mile Beach at Reid State Park. Would a metal detector rental be enough?
Quite possibly. The loss is fresh, the sand is dry and you know the patch, and that is when renting one yourself is a fair idea. The same is true of a lawn. Wet sand, water, a wide area or something as small as an earring is where a detectorist makes more sense.
My daughter's necklace came off while she swam at the Rangeley Lake State Park beach, in water up to her chest. Is that still wading depth?
Only just. Chest deep is about the limit for a detectorist on foot, so we ask for someone who can also work under water. Ask her what she could see on shore straight ahead of her and how many steps out she was.
My metal-framed glasses fell out of my jacket in Agamont Park in Bar Harbor. I have walked the grass twice. What would a detectorist do differently?
Work across the lawn in narrow strips with a detector rather than looking for a glint. Send a photo of where you sat, with the town pier in the background if you can.
My watch came off while we carried the kayaks from the car to the water at East End Beach in Portland, and I cannot say where. Is that enough to go on?
Yes. You do not have a spot, but you have a line: the way you carried the boats. Draw it on a map and add the time you launched, because the water's edge in Casco Bay will have moved since.
Maine
Send the beach or the lake, and the hour
Keys, a ring, jewelry, a watch or a phone: message us on WhatsApp with the beach or the lake, the time, how deep the water was if there was any, a dropped pin and your two photos.