Beachcombing Tips - How To Beachcomb

The picture shows one of my most interesting beach combing hauls, it was all found at Folkestone beach, and includes various crystals and minerals, plenty of fossils, a lot of large and beautifully coloured sea glass, pieces of old pots, a china horse...

Half the excitement of beach combing is that you never know what you are going to find, but of course finding nothing is not fun! And has happened to me on a few occasions, before I figured out where to look. - This 'how to beachcomb guide' is a pointer of places to look for certain objects based on my own experiences of beachcombing.

Stuff can be found all over the beach, but the areas mentioned in my beachcobing tips should yield a higher concentration of finds. The pictures are all objects that I have found whilst beachcombing.

What You Need To Take Beachcombing

• A few different bags and tubs to keep finds in,
• Bags for larger rocks and tubs for delicate items, like fossils and shells,
• A hammer and small pick might come in handy
• Eye protection if you intend to split stones
• A drink
• Wipes to clean your hands with
• A tide table if going somewhere where you can be cut off by the tide.

 Where to Find Shells

Find concentrations of shells on the high tide mark, or along the bottom of the low tide mark.

Shells that are found on the high tide mark are generally more robust and larger than the ones found on the low tide mark. (the shells in the pic were gathered in seconds from the high tide line on a shingle beach)

Smaller, more delicate shells are easily found on a sandy beaches, just above the low tide mark, also look for areas where shells are washed up and trapped on the lower sands. Shells from a sandy beach tend to be more protected from damage.

Where to Find Mineral Pebbles and Pretty Stones

It is best to hunt for pretty stones and mineral pebbles as near to the sea as possible, this is because when the stones are wet they show up much better. Therefore making them easier to find.

These stones would have been worked by the sea and should be nicely shaped and smooth.

Shells can also be found in rock pools, and in amongst rocks. They get trapped there just waiting to be found...

 Where to Find Crystals

Crystals are better if they are found higher on the beach, preferably near to cliffs. These will have been washed out of the cliffs, and the ones found near the base of cliffs will not have had much damage done to them by the sea. They will still have their original shape, unlike the mineral pebbles found further down the beach.

Not every cliff yields crystals, so do some research on the kind of minerals found in your area first.

Where to Find Geodes

Geodes look like large, rough, eggs, take a hammer and crack some open (wearing eye protection) you might be rewarded with crystals inside.

Geodes can be found all over the beach, and some that have seen some action from the sea will have openings with the crystals inside, this makes them much easier to spot. Look for sparkles among the larger pebbles.

Where to Find Fossils

Again, do some research first. Generally once you have established that there are fossils to be found you can look in three places, usually with success.

One is the cliffs, clay cliffs are my fave as it is much easier to get fossils out. If you learn a bit about geology it will be easy for you to find the line of fossils in a cliff. It's not my hot subject but my brother is an expert - he knows exactly where to go to get fossils from the cliff. I just get him to point it out to me at each beach.

If you don't fancy scrambling up and down cliffs then at the bottom of the cliffs is a good place to look, like the crystals, the fossils get washed out of the cliff by erosion, or cliff falls. The best specimens will be the ones caught amongst stones and boulders at the bottom of cliffs, specimens that have not been damaged by the sea.

The third place is on mussel beds and clay banks at low tide, things like fossil fish and sharks teeth get washed up and trapped here. Clay seems to be especially good at producing fossils, I suppose because it is easy for the sea to break it down and release the fossils inside.

The picture shows some fossilised wood that I picked up a few days ago, I will be replacing this pic with a more exciting one one of my whole fossil collection soon.

Where to Find Sea Glass

The best places are rocky beaches, trapped among the stones, and on the bank of pebbles closest to the shore on a shingle type beach. Busy places and old dwellings that have been re-claimed by the sea are great places to look.

On a sandy beach look in places where shells and small pebbles gather, sometimes the sea glass on a sandy beach is not worn much by the sea. 

Where to Find Sea Pottery and Sea Brick

The smaller pieces of sea pottery tend to end up on the first bank of pebbles with the sea glass, on a shingle beach, or wedged amongst boulders on a rocky beach, I have never found any on a sandy beach.

The larger pieces of sea brick can be found at low tide on mud flats and in amongst stones. Different beaches have different shaped sea brick, I have noticed. I picked these up because of their nice shapes.

Where to Find Relics and Other Exciting Bits and Pieces

I have found exciting bits and pieces all over the beach, sometimes it can be a real surprise to see what the tide has thrown up. The high tide mark is where a lot of interesting things turn up, so it's always worth following the line of debris.

Low tide on rocky beaches is also interesting, I have found bullets, pottery, and an old piece of a tile worn by the sea.

Where to Find Driftwood

Small bays are a good place to find driftwood, it seems to get washed into the bay and trapped there. I find the majority of driftwood at the high tide mark. Other good places are busy shipping areas, and countryside beaches with a lot of tree growth in the surrounding areas.