Metal detecting and beachcombing — Sebastian, Florida

Near Sebastian, metal detecting is allowed on the beach at Sebastian Inlet State Park only between the toe of the dune and the high-water line in zones the park manager designates, while empty shells and sea glass may be picked up on the same stretch.

The rules come from the agency that owns the sand. The beaches nearest Sebastian lie across the Indian River Lagoon on the barrier island, where Sebastian Inlet State Park, the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge corridor and Indian River County beach parks such as Golden Sands and Treasure Shores sit side by side. Each landowner sets its own terms, so the rule depends on whose land a given stretch of Sebastian beach belongs to.

State parks are the clearest case. Florida State Parks says metal detecting is prohibited on all state park lands except coastal parks, and that in those parks it may occur in certain beach areas between the toe of the dune and the high-water line, as designated by the park manager. Sebastian Inlet State Park is a coastal park, so its beach falls under that exception, and the agency advises calling the park before a visit to ask which section is open and whether digging is allowed. The park is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and its hours and fees page lists 772-589-9659 as the park number.

At Sebastian Inlet State Park, detecting is limited to the dry beach between the dune toe and the high-water line, is banned in the water, and any object over 50 years old must be left behind.

Florida State Parks states that metal detecting in submerged locations is not permitted, which rules out the surf zone and the inlet itself at Sebastian. It also states that objects with historic association, meaning anything over 50 years old, may not be kept by park visitors even when found inside an approved detecting area. Those objects are treated as archaeological artifacts, with title vested in the Florida Department of State's Division of Historical Resources. On a beach where the 1715 Fleet came ashore, that rule decides most of what a detectorist at Sebastian Inlet may take home: modern coins, jewelry and lost items, not colonial silver.

Lost property has its own process. The FAQ says owners may use a detector to recover a personal item they identify as lost in a specific area of the park, by contacting the park manager, who arranges a search with a staff member present; only the item sought may be kept. Entry to Sebastian Inlet State Park costs $8 per vehicle for two to eight people, $4 for a single-occupant vehicle and $2 for pedestrians and bicyclists.

The park's history explains the caution. Florida State Parks says the McLarty Treasure Museum at the park's south boundary sits on a survivors camp of the wrecked 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet, and that salvagers still work to recover gold, silver and jewels lost to the sea and the sandy shores. The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with a $2 entry fee. Last verified: October 10, 2026, on the Florida State Parks website.

On land owned by the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge near Sebastian, federal rules bar searching for or removing objects of antiquity and removing natural objects, so treasure hunting there is effectively off limits.

Two federal regulations apply on every national wildlife refuge. 50 CFR 27.62 states that no person shall search for or remove objects of antiquity from national wildlife refuges except as authorized under 43 CFR part 3. 50 CFR 27.61 prohibits the destruction, disturbance or unauthorized removal of any public property, including natural objects, on or from any refuge. No refuge-specific detector rule for Archie Carr was found, so these general rules govern refuge-owned parcels on the barrier island north and south of Sebastian Inlet.

Ownership along that shore is mixed. The refuge corridor runs along the barrier island north and south of Sebastian Inlet, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists public beach access through county parks such as Golden Sands and Treasure Shores near Wabasso. Much of the beach inside the refuge boundary is county, state or private land under other rules. The Indian River County beach park listings reviewed for this page do not address metal detecting, so no county rule is stated here; the county parks division is the authority for its parks.

Historic treasure and artifacts found on state-owned land or sovereignty submerged land near Sebastian belong to the State of Florida, not the finder.

Section 267.061, Florida Statutes declares it the public policy of the state that all treasure trove, artifacts and objects of historical or archaeological value abandoned on state-owned lands or state-owned sovereignty submerged lands belong to the state, with title vested in the Division of Historical Resources. Because the 1715 Fleet wrecked along this coast, that policy reaches directly to the beaches and nearshore waters east of Sebastian.

Enforcement is spelled out in section 267.13, which lets the division impose an administrative fine of not more than $500 a day on any person or business that, without written permission, explores for, salvages or excavates treasure trove, artifacts or other objects of historical value on land the state owns or controls. Ownership and salvage law are covered in depth on a separate page; for a beachcomber at Sebastian Inlet, the practical point is that modern finds may be kept where detecting is allowed, while anything historic is reported, not pocketed.

Beachcombers east of Sebastian may collect empty seashells, sea glass and shark teeth from the beach at Sebastian Inlet State Park, but shells with living animals and live sand dollars stay on the sand.

Florida State Parks says park rules generally bar removing anything from a park, with an exception for empty seashells, sea glass or shark teeth found between the water line and the toe of the sand dunes in coastal parks with beaches. Seashells with living creatures in them and live sand dollars should be left where they are. That rule covers the whole beach at Sebastian Inlet State Park, on both sides of the inlet.

Outside state parks, FWC marine life rules set limits on live animals. The FWC marine life regulations allow no more than 100 pounds or 2 individuals of each sand dollar species per person per day, whichever is greater, and no more than 5 starfish of each species, and the extra live-shell restrictions apply in Lee and Manatee counties on the Gulf coast rather than in Indian River County. Sale of recreationally caught marine life organisms is prohibited.

The McLarty Treasure Museum and the Sebastian Fishing Museum in the park display artifacts and local history that put Sebastian beach finds in context. Reference coins and display cases for beach finds are listed in the coins collection on Digital Towns Market, and fossil and specimen supplies, such as for shark teeth, in the collectibles and science collection. Digital Towns Market is our marketplace.