Sea Glass
Sea glass, often referred to as 'mermaid tears,' is a fascinating product of nature's artwork and human history. These smooth, frosted gems, once ordinary glass trash — bottles, jars, lenses, and even shipwreck remnants — undergo a remarkable transformation through years of tumbling in the ocean's waves, sand, and salt. Each piece of the sea glass carries a secret story — a moment of the past. Its origins can be traced back to old shipwrecks, coastal communities, and seaside factories. This unique sea treasure comes in a kaleidoscope of hues, from translucent whites to deep blues, greens, and reds.
Sea glass can be found on the shores of beaches near areas where there has been higher human activity or sea traffic.
Glass Floats
Glass artists handcraft exquisite orbs for yearly events held at Lincoln City and Gold Beach.
Lincoln City hosts the Finders Keepers Glass Floats Event from mid-October to Memorial Day. Nearly 3,000 glass floats are hidden along seven miles of the public city's beaches. If you find a float, you can receive a certificate of authenticity for it. Some floats are eligible for a special prize. 300 Antique Japanese floats are placed on the beach during Antique Week. Red heart-shaped glass pieces are hidden on the beach during Valentine's Day.
Kissing Rock at Gold Beach is part of an annual festival similar to the one in Lincoln City. The three miles of South Beach become a hunting ground for beautiful glass floats from the beginning of February to the end of April.
Those handcrafted treasures are hidden in grass or among driftwood above the surf line. You are only allowed to take one with you. If your orb is tagged, check with the South Beach Visitor's Center for a chance to win a prize.
Metal Detecting
Beachcombing with a metal detector along the Oregon Coast can unearth (or unsand...is it even the word?) items with a unique story.
You might find modern (to pay for your metal detector) or vintage coins, perhaps something lost by an oceanside wanderer 100 years ago.
There's a fair shot at finding jewelry—rings, earrings, and even the necklace, lost by a modern or past beachgoer.
You can often encounter old fishing weights and boat fittings as a remnant of Oregon's rich maritime culture, lost to time and tides. Or something brought by the waters from the other place.
And if the metal detector beeps with a particularly enthusiastic tone, it could very well be historical relics like pieces from shipwrecks or artifacts left by early explorers or indigenous tribes.
Each find, from the mundane pull-tab to the silver dollar, is a page in the history of humanity in the Pacific. So, keep swinging that detector because you never know when the next beep might be your ticket to an untold story.
Boring Legal Stuff
Using a metal detector is legal without a permit in many spots on the ocean shore and at state parks. However, it is always a good idea to double-check the legalities of your specific area of choice. I don't want Officer Friendly to fine you.
Check the current rules and regulations on the Oregon State Parks website.
Tidepool Watching
While collecting ocean treasures, take a moment to enjoy the intricate ecosystems within the natural aquariums - tide pools. Rocky shorelines represent exceptional repositories of intertidal creatures. The exploration of tidepools is a popular and educational pastime.
While you can't keep the living creatures of the ocean (please, don't disturb the fragile ecosystem!), you can view the beauty of their shapes and colors!
You can see a variety of marine flora and fauna, including starfish, anemones, urchins, crabs, and more.
Best Times To Beachcomb
The best times for beachcombing on the Oregon coast revolve around the seasonal shifts and tidal patterns that wash ashore various oceanic gifts and remove the mass of sand and gravel, revealing the previously hidden treasure.
Winter and early spring after stormy weather are the best times since the powerful waves make hidden treasures surface.
Low tides, especially extreme low tides that occur a few times a year, reveal the hidden beach areas. Check the tide tables for those events.
Early morning is also an ideal time to find treasure since items freshly deposited overnight are undisturbed.
Be aware of various coastal dangers more frequent during these times, including sneaker waves.
For more effective and fun beachcombing, check my guide on the best tools to pack with you.
Oregon Coast Beaches & Landmarks
North Coast
The breathtaking North Oregon Coast is about 100 miles long extending from the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria to the Pacific City. Despite such a relatively short stretch of the coast, the variety of landscapes here is truly remarkable. You can see massive dunes, dense old-growth forests, expansive sandy beaches, towering sea stacks, broad gravel bars, and weathered basalt cliffs.
Central Coast
Stretching for about 100 miles from Lincoln City to Florence and Winchester Bay, the Central Oregon Coast beaches combine incredibly diverse scenery and landscapes. 2rom basalt outcropping, tree-top cliffs, and colossal sea stacks to flat sand areas, extensive dunes, and broad gravel bars -- you can see them all here in Oregon!
South Coast
The beaches of the South Oregon Coast stretch from North Bend and Coos Bay all the way down to the California border. The South Oregon Coast is an amazing destination, full of natural beauty, breathtaking shorelines, picturesque hiking trails, and a variety of places to visit that will, no doubt, make your trip memorable.
It doesn’t even say jade
Awesome! Thanks for the great outline! Taking my kids on a hunt after the next storm!
Yes, we do have coastal jade. I’m on the southern oregon coast. I found a piece of jade last week, on the beach. I have a picture that’s backlit and it’s magnificent.
We absolutely *DO* have nephrite pieces on the southern Oregon beaches. Especially around the mouth of the Rogue. What’s really surprising is that there aren’t apparently economic-sized deposits in the Klamath mountains of Oregon — surprising, because the geology is quite favorable.
Also, after collecting every single little agate-type stone you can find — even the tiny ones, *especially* the tiny ones — make sure to have a real close look at all of them before you toss any back on the beach. Save any with evident crystal faces for further examination, because they just, might, *possibly* be diamonds (yes, there are diamond deposits in the Klamath mountains — somewhere, possibly lamprophyre intrusions, or just weathering out of the upper-mantle section of ophiolites. These are subduction zone diamonds, which aren’t super well understood).
The southern Oregon beaches also have very fine gold and platinum group deposits in the black sands.
So I recently visited Oregon’s beaches between Bandon and Florence . Among the petrified wood , agates , fossils and shells was a plain white flat rock . Upon closer inspection at home I noticed it had glassy orange veins . I cut back the edges and WOW ! A beautiful piece of amber hidden inside . There’s a few identical pictures of rough amber online to reference. My dilemma is that I can’t find anything about Amber found in Oregon , and are the photos I’m comparing to actually another stone ?
So its either Quartz, Agate or Chalcedony, and the “amber” inside is Carnelian. They can range in color from yellow, orange, to red. They can dominate the whole mineral, so its glowing or have swirls inside or a combination of both.
Very hard to tell without seeing a picture, but in my experience that sounds like what you have there. Good find!