Metal detecting in a foreign country?

[DetectorGuy]

Has anyone tried to bring an under water metal detector into a foreign country to use while diving? This may be un-ethical to some of you as divers but I think it would add the third dimension to a vacation. Not that I would try to use it in any National parks or estuaries but just to use it during shore dives. So anyway I was just wondering if any of you had any bad experiences with the federally's  ... I want to go somewhere warm this spring Maybe Mexico or Belize or somewhere that rhymes with Cuba.

[Matrim]

I have started to ship my equipment via UPS to my vacation spots it would probably be cheaper.  As to legal or ethical as long as you don't wreck coral. Good Luck

[DiverQueen]

I'd still think seriously about learning the language....And carrying enough cash to bribe your way out of jail....Otherwise, I'd hate to think of what might happen :o

Some countries are rather strict about plundering their historical artifacts! 

Actually, even here in the Minneapolis area lakes....Keep it very quiet if you find something, it may be evidence from a crime....Buoyancy compensators do have pockets for a reason!  ;D

[arcFlash]

There is another reason to go DIR, no BC pockets to temp you. Well, the dry suit has them but they have slates, tables, spools, and such in them, you'd have to be blind to miss someone with 100 lb of gold coins in his pocket.  :

[DetectorGuy]

It would be very hard to go on a guided dive and try to pocket some loot but the shore diving is free game as far as I'm concerned. The bottom of the lakes around here is a veritable JUNKYARD! Just a bit into that mud that you have been skimming over (while trying not to stir it up for your buddies sake) there is one corroded beer can every 10 feet and an anchor every 200 feet. just below that Barren waste land we call the bottom of the lake. Not treasure that you could make a truck payment with but treasure to some. Now the ocean... that is a different thing all together. Mel Fisher has inspired me, as I'm sure he has inspired some of you, with the comment that there is enough shipwrecks between Havana and Miami that if you just lined them up they would touch stem to stern from Havana to Miami. There are wrecks that should not be altered as they are these "Photo Opportunities" for these elite divers that only dive on the prestigious wrecks, did I say primadona or was I just thinking it?... anyways I figure that if you find a ballast pile that is not claimed you would be foolish not to pick up that 4 escudo sitting on the rock wouldn't you? I don't want to give you all the impression that Ive got this strange disease called treasure fever but its just my way of living out this childhood dream of finding something from the days of the Spanish conquistadors or of English pirates. Hey if I found a new bottle of corona down there then that wouldn't be too bad either... Thats what I was thinkin'

[DetectorGuy]

Arcflash, I like the DIR theory but I lack the self discipline to actually follow through. "Doing it right" is what I think about the day before the dive but "doing it with what Ive got" is the way it usually turns out...

[arcFlash]

;D That's it! Our new methodology, WIH = What I Have. I am totally going to use that if I get asked.

The competition:
WIA = Wear It All


Not to turn the thread but DIR to me is more thinking then gear. My cave instructor corrected me on one major point after I told him, I'll do it like you - you know more. He said I have to think about my diving and have reasons why I do everything. Other can only give you ideas. You chose if it's safe for you. I still struggle with that but for the most part I can mod my gear to fit into the simplest solution for me. Less is better and I don't try to fix problems, I try and remove them.

[DetectorGuy]

We can turn this into DIR... thats ok. I think its a solid plan. I work construction and we have a lot of catch phrases in the industry... some that stick out and can be applied to most anything you do, like diving are:
1. Use the right tool for the job.
2. Plan you work and work your plan.
3. Be pro-active and not re-active.
4. If you need you need help... ask.
5. The stupidest question is the one that doesn't get asked.
6. Try to engineer out the risk.
7. Most accidents happen for a reason
8. If you cant take the heat get out of the kitchen.
9. Be honest with your self. can you handle it?
10. If you are unsure get a third party peer review.

I am one that likes to have all the tools and just pull out the ones that I need for the job. I never was one to rent a tool and if I needed it I would just try to buy it. Money wasn't always easy to come by so somethings had to wait. I am a believer in not "getting in over your head" (unintentional pun) but I am also a believer in the fact that none of us is getting any younger and if you really want to do something in life then you better get on it before you are to  old and frail to do it. Life is short with a lot of cool things to see and do and someday that trick knee or aching back will tell you that enough is enough and it will show you where the rocking chair is.


Boy I must have had some bad coffee cuz I just went off on a tangent. Sorry... John

[DetectorGuy]

Hi folks, I am going to Puerto Morelos Mexico in 7 days and I'm stoked. I have all my dive gear packed, weighed, and inventoried. I have never been on a vacation since Ive been certified. No mater where I went on vacation before it always had to do with water (if you call a glacier just frozen water). This will be great even if I only get a few dives in. Another family is going with us so there will be two of us that dive and six snorkelers. Two rental cars so the divers can get to the dive shops and the others can shop, sightsee, or ??? (with less guilt). I packed my main regs and my pony reg. I packed my two detectors and fresh batteries. I went out and bought a 3mm shorty and 3mm short boots anticipating warm water. The weather is forcast to be 82 degrees during the day and 69 degrees at night. We are going to be there for 8 days if everything goes good, and if it goes bad... 5 to 10 with good behavior. I try to do what I can to not promote the "Ugly American" image when I travel most of the time. This time it is a little different and I will need to be a bit more stealthy with the detectors in tow. I really wish I had one of those little wrist detectors that look like a wrist computer on steroids. They were about the same price as the Garrett Sea Hunter 2 but the reviews I read said that they were not as good. I am not going there to take artifacts or antiquities but even a 2 year old Peso would be cool.

[DetectorGuy]

I'll be back in 8 days with a report from Puerto Morelos MX.