Beach recoveries
The beaches I search
Every beach loses rings differently. Steep cobble, wide dry sand, gentle shore break, a rocky point — each one changes how deep a ring goes and how fast it moves.
Why the beach is a different job
A ring lost on a lawn stays where it fell. A ring lost on a beach does not. Dry sand holds it shallow and fairly still. Wet sand and the surf line can bury it, move it along the shore, or hand it to the next swell entirely.
Which is why the two questions I always ask about a beach loss are what time did it happen and where exactly were you standing. With the time, I can pull the tide chart for that day and work out where the waterline was at that moment — which is often a long way from where the water is when you call me. Landmarks do the rest: which lifeguard tower, which volleyball court, how far from the stairs.
The one thing not to do: don't rake or sift the sand. It feels productive and it is the single most damaging thing you can do, because it moves the ring somewhere neither of us can predict and erases the search area.
Beach by beach
What I know about each one
Mondo's Beach
A longtime local surf spot north of town, and the site of one of my hardest water recoveries.
About this beach →
East Beach
Santa Barbara's big volleyball-and-family beach, and one of the most common places in the county to lose a ring.
About this beach →
West Beach & the Santa Barbara Pier
The sand between Stearns Wharf and the harbor — heavily used and, it turns out, rarely detected.
About this beach →
Carpinteria State Beach
Calm, shallow and family-packed — plus a campground, which means rings lost at camp as well as in the sand.
About this beach →
Loon Point Beach
The quiet stretch just north of Carpinteria, reached by a walk in from the highway pullout.
About this beach →
Solimar Beach
A narrow, cobbly stretch along the coast north of Ventura, right beside the highway.
About this beach →
Silver Strand Beach
Wide Oxnard sand between the harbor mouth and Hollywood Beach — deep, dry and very searchable.
About this beach →
San Buenaventura State Beach & Surfers Point
Ventura's in-town beach and pier area, from the Promenade down past the state beach.
About this beach →
Goleta Beach County Park
Beach, lawn, pier and picnic area all in one park — so the search is often grass as well as sand.
About this beach →
Rincon Beach Park & Santa Claus Beach
The county-line cobble and sand at Rincon, plus the quieter Santa Claus stretch nearby.
About this beach →
Butterfly & Hammonds Beach
Montecito's narrow, elegant strips of sand below the bluffs.
About this beach →
Hollywood & Mandalay Beach
Broad, flat Oxnard sand with easy access and lots of family use.
About this beach →
This isn't the full list — just the beaches I get called to most. I also search Emma Wood, Faria, Surfers Point, McGrath, Mandalay, Bates Beach, Santa Claus Beach, Summerland, Jalama, and the Malibu coast from Surfrider up to Zuma and Nicholas Canyon.
Lost it on the beach? Call today, not tomorrow.
Call or text 805-290-5009 with the time of day it happened. That one detail is worth more than anything else you can tell me.