Cyprus 2016 with CTX 3030 metal detector

This whole somewhat frantic trip started the Sunday before last at the shopping mall, when I got tired of constantly looking at last-minute tours. We went to about 3 travel agencies in the mall asking for Greece or Spain. We took one of the first reasonable offers, destination or similar attributes didn't matter and about 7 hours later we were standing in Prague airport waiting for our flight to Larnaca.

In the course of the preparatory work a problem sets in with the size of the bottom bar to the CTX. I don't lie, get in the car and borrow a bigger suitcase from Pilot, for which I thank him. There is no time to waste and I pack the individual parts of the CTX against damage in my girlfriend's carefully pre-folded clothes. In the stress of packing I can't even shout ..supr. Finally, I pack the bottom of the screen, carefully lined with socks I don't think I could get away with the whole thing at the airport .

No problem at the airport on either side, no one even asked any questions about what I was carrying in my suitcase. I was a little worried that something would happen to the suitcase with the precious luggage, but seeing it on the belt, my fears fall away. I take the suitcases and load them onto the bus. It's worth noting that Cyprus was part of Great Britain until 1960, so the classic British way of driving has been preserved, which causes great problems, especially for foreigners, when crossing the road.

We arrive at the hotel and I immediately set about checking and setting up the detector. We're pretty tired from the journey and so with a peaceful sleep I fall asleep full of anticipation for the next day. In the morning I put away my breakfast, check once more the tightening of all the connectors and curiously run to the small hotel beach.

I leave the program the same as from the Czech Republic, only in the program menu I check the box SEA WATER, I leave the tuning of the country in the machine. I'm really looking at how Minelab will cope with high salt content in the water like in Cyprus. The detector runs really quietly even the target identification on the LCD remains the same as in freshwater.

The first Euros are starting to drop, along with almost the same number of Rubles. Unfortunately, I only have the bottom of the sieve available today, so I'm keeping it pretty shallow. At a depth of about 50 cm the first Ag - Russian Orthodox ring - falls. I look around for a while and then it's time for lunch. In the room I evaluate the search, in my pocket something around 30 Euros, an Orthodox ring, a cross and a couple of children's smudges. But what struck me most was the amount of Rubles; almost 1:1 with the Euros. I ask the hotel if they accept them, but no one wants them, so somehow I can't understand the huge amount. After lunch, I don't get an exit slip to continue my search, so I have to attend to my girlfriend.

The next morning I convince my girlfriend that it is absolutely necessary to go into town to buy some essential things. By sheer coincidence we meet a household goods shop where I buy a sieve handle for 5,90 Euros.In the afternoon I talk my girlfriend into it and we go looking for fatter beaches in the city centre. The hotel beach is quite rocky and full of rocks and working with the sieve there is not exactly easy. The classics come again in the form of Euros, the Rubles have dwindled considerably but it is still a fairly common find. Before long I pull out the first GOLD in the form of a badly deformed baby ring, checking the hallmark; 375 which equates to 9 carats. Well, I imagined it a bit differently than a ring of poor weight and gold quality, but I'm not bragging :D. Followed by more and more Euros and a surgical steel ring, I pack up and we go to dinner.

The hotel dinner is classic buffet style, so I go to choose. Suddenly the chef calls me over and asks about the detector, we get to talking and the chef gradually lets it slip that he owns two Excalibers (in case one breaks :) ) and he regularly raises his standard of living by searching. I check his cell phone photos and I can't believe my eyes. Anyway, the very next morning we arrange a joint search.

I get up at 4:30 to meet the cook and my still sleeping girlfriend thinks I'm crazy. We consult for a while on where to go, but I leave it up to him. He's obviously more aware of the area. I learn that yesterday I was looking at a near search, the entire beach was supposedly thoroughly searched about 14 days ago. We get out of the car and to my surprise the cook only takes the snorkel, goggles and colander from the kitchen, a little uncomprehendingly I wonder what he wants to do with it, but I'd rather not ask stupid questions . After a while the cook disappears under the surface and only the snorkel remains above the water. I turn on the CTX and go for it. It starts out classically again... Euros,occasionally Rubles; after an hour it's enlivened by a smaller Ag ring.

The cook still hasn't surfaced, taking the beach systematically, from shore to depth. I reach the end of the beach, grasp the weak Ag ring in my hand and go to see how the cook is doing. He unzips a kidney and pulls out a rather massive men's wedding ring. In the morning light, I'm deciphering the markings and all I can make out is the numerical purity marking again. But this time it's 750-18 carats. I mentally curse the chef and begin to admit to myself that experience will be a big part of success.

We consult the findings and the cook explains that the classic 14ct is not much worn here and most of the gold is made in 18ct. If he does find 14ct, it's usually from tourists. We return at about 9am and I still manage to have breakfast. Somehow it doesn't let me sleep and in the afternoon I head to the beach next to the hotel, it doesn't take long to drop a Russian red gold (14 karat) wedding band. Satisfied today, I turn off the detector, buy local KEO beers at the kiosk for the Euros I found and return to my girlfriend at the hotel pool. She is getting slightly nervous about my frequent absence and explains that she has other ideas about her holiday... well, tomorrow I'll have to chop the Latin and the detector will stay
in the room.

A day of lounging on the beach follows, I dedicate myself to my girlfriend to get the green light for the next day. It won't go without compensation in the form of a promised romantic boat trip. I count my losses and bemoan the conditions, but still can't talk her into a trip to the fat beaches downtown. It's about a 3.5 km trip, even with the detector, and in the local heat, it's giving even me a hard time. Anyway, I try again the small beaches around the hotel, with a little boy from Russia keeping me company while digging. Next comes the classics again in the form of Euros and Rubles. I pull out a child's Ag ring, after a while it finally comes to something local and an 18 carat chain set with 14 stones remains in the sieve. Satisfied again, I go to the room to get the Rubles and give the boy the found pocket money in the form of about 50 Rubles.

My mix from Cyprus

My friend was not lazy and promptly arranged a trip for the next day and so the search is again over. The end of my stay is approaching and before noon I go back to check the area around the hotel. The first to fall is a gilded massive Ag earring and after a while I pull out a strange looking lead badge. After an initial inspection I find that it is probably some rather old looking seal. I wouldn't expect that here. Satisfied that I have found a piece of history in addition to the modern schmutz I leave for the hotel.

A prospector should move around the island in style. At least the local prospectors drive around in it :)

It's the end of my stay and I'm about to find out why there are so many Rubles in the water. On the last day, while walking with my girlfriend, I get into a conversation with an elderly Russian, confiding that we are going home the next day. The Russian says that they have a tradition of throwing a coin into the water to return to the same place the next year. At that moment, shame overcomes me and I sprinkle the remaining Rubles back into the water in the evening.

I say goodbye to the cook, who again raises my almonds with photos of the morning ..well judge for yourself :

Chef's massive ring from our search together

Chef's mixture before my arrival

Chef's gold watch and chain

I didn't think of the trip as just a prospecting trip, I guess I can't compare to Chef, but I still left something behind. The total score remains at around 150 Euros, 3 Au and 6 Ag.

In conclusion, a few observations by me:

It seemed to me that more Euros were on the beach, or just off shore. Jewelry I fished from deeper water.
Most of the lightweight junk like tin foil and can lids float mostly on the surface, heavier items sink deeper in the sand. There's a huge number of Russians on the island and they like red gold exclusively.... how else

No one chased me off the beaches, I was just answering questions from a few curious people. A few times the cops walked by and didn't bother me at all. I didn't go searching outside the beaches, yet I collected all the crap so I would have mitigating evidence in my pocket in case someone wanted to deal with me

The chef has a pretty far-fetched Disc on Excalibur and doesn't take foil and smaller lids at all. As you can see from the photos, all the gold he has is pretty fat, but it's obviously paying off.

As I've written before, the cook has a pretty specific style of digging by first digging a hole with a small shovel and then using his hand to swirl the sand until the target appears. Some of the beaches here are quite rocky and with a sieve it would be quite a struggle. This is supposed to work reliably everywhere.

Each time you change batteries, carefully clean the area around the seal and remove and clean the sealing rubber. The area around the seal consistently gets clogged with fine sand and you need to keep an eye on it.

In the water, I'm looking for a CTX with only a conventional battery block, in the event of an accident, 8 batteries will definitely be less of a loss than a flooded accublock.

Salt in sea water is quite aggressive, so you need to desalinate the detector in fresh water after each search.

I hope you like the 80's style graphics in the photos.

Bonus video - using the new Nokta pinpointer in the salt water of the Mediterranean Sea