With the Sea Hunter Mark II I just purchased, I am now able to search the entire beach from the white sand dunes past the blue ocean waves without any worries of water damage, floating coils, or finding lots of pull-tabs.

That is correct. The Sea Hunter Mark II can discriminate against those pesky pull-tabs, which is just what I was looking for in an underwater metal detector. Setup is quick and simple using the pocket instruction manual that you can carry with you too your next treasure hunting beach.

Configure the Sea Hunter Mark II for beach hunting by using the long stem version or choose the short stem version for underwater detecting. Operating the Sea Hunter Mark II for a quick search or a through search of the beach area is as simple as turning the knob from standard mode to discrete mode. In the standard mode, the detector is operating at its maximum depth and picks up the smallest types of metal, anything from a hairpin to a tie-tie.

In the discrete mode, the detector eliminates all junk metals like pull-tabs and signals when you are over something good like a gold ring or loose change. The Sea Hunter Mark II with pulse induction technology sifts through harsh beach and underwater ocean conditions unlike any detector currently available. In fact, with the latest technology in my hands I sometimes picture myself as the only detector on the beach.

This metal detector has earned my rating of five stars!

Most of my detecting experience has been on land, but after I found my first gold ring, I had to find some more. Fortunately, I live near a popular beach where gold can be find regularly. While my other detector would do fine in the sand, I wanted to get in the water, and to do that I needed a water machine. The Garrett Sea Hunter Mark 2 came highly recommended by a friend of mine so I was able to find a good price on a used one.

I also own a White's DFX and a Minelab SE which are both very complex, programmable machines. When I took the Sea Hunter to the beach for the first time, I was pleasantly surprised by how simple it was in contrast to my other units. There are only three adjustment knobs for threshold volume, discrimination, and search mode. It would be nice to have an adjustment for volume as it is very loud on shallow targets.

The discrimination of this unit is it's weakest point. You choose a setting between 0 and 10, 0 being iron and 10 being a silver coin. However, it doesn't work like a digital notch discriminator. Instead of simply not sounding off on discriminated targets, it seems to lower it's sensitivity to these targets. Furthermore, the search mode that you are using determines how strictly the discriminator adheres to the number you have selected. In the end, I run with just enough discrimination to quiet the sound of the waves which somehow this machine picks up in the more sensitive hunting mode. Fortunately at my beach, no discrimination is needed. If it beeps, I dig it. If I were hunting a beach with lots of trash or iron, the Mark 2 may run into some problems.

The control housing can be mounted in one of four ways: one top of the shaft, underneath the shaft, underneath the arm cuff, or in a sheath that can be worn on the waist. I prefer it mounted on top of the shaft as I have ready access to all the controls and it seems well balanced in that configuration. The other two shaft-mounted configurations may be more suitable for scuba diving although I have not taken the detector diving yet.

The Mark 2 is fairly heavy for a detector but it is weighted to be neutrally buoyant in the water for scuba diving. The coil seems to be close to neutral which is good because as you sweep under water, the coil doesn't have the tendency to rise or sink.

It's also a rugged little unit. It's manufactured from all-rustproof material so nothing will corrode from the salt water. The shaft is very sturdy and can withstand heavy surf and swinging against the current without any strain. I've even dropped it a few times with no resulting damage.

If you are looking for a detector that can go under water and you plan on hunting relatively clean beaches, I'd highly recommend the Sea Hunter Mk 2. However, if your beach has iron infestation, I'd go with a unit that has a little better discrimination.

I did a little research on underwater / water proof metal detector. I ended up purchasing a sea hunter MK II it was one of the best investments i have ever made. In Australia we have a 1 and 2 dollar coins , our dollar buys about 92 US cents, so when beach hunting the rewards are greater in the coin department.

I average about $2500 in coins per year detecting less in winter and 3-4 day a week in summer for 3 hour each.

Very little hype on the Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II because people who own them are quite achievers. It took me about 3 months of digging every target to get the sounds right, i still dig trash but i get a lot of nice jewelry as well. one thing about the sea hunter MK II is it has now volume control so if you have bad hearing its a sweet thing.

The sea hunter goes deeeeeeppppp, on 17-3-08 i went to my favorite beach , it gets done to death. I was digging 10 cent and 20 cent coins from 6-12 inches with a 8 inch coil, I have just ordered my 14X10 coil from kellyco . look out deep coins and rings

In seven years i have had this detector it has never leaked and never let me down. It is rock solid and i take my hat off to you yanks for building a great durable and treasure finding machine.

My wife is also great full (and her sisters) for the many choices of rings i have found.

I have been at the beach after other Metal detector and yes there are no coins in the first 4 inches but beyond that i was digging coins and jewelery.

There is a learning curve but you will end up richer for it

Andrew Maben
Australia

I like too search in the water for rings with my Sea Hunter Mark II. I have over 20 different detectors. I started around1973 and will do it until i cant any more. It is one of the best hobbies there is. As far as the use of the Sea Hunter I like it very much. It is very easy too set up. You dont waist a lot of time retuning. it runs very steady. It paid for itself the first time I used it. With the price of gold skyrocketing I plan on doing a lot of searching this summer. On a typical day I can find 100 to as many 500 coins 1 to 20 rings and who knows what else. I have found over 300 diamond rings in the past 35 years and hope too find a few more.

The Sea Hunter Mark 2 seems to pick up coins pretty good. I'm digging way too much trash though. I bought this detector for the jersey beaches. I still can’t seem to use the discrimination and hit on gold. There is no volume adjustment and it is just a bit heavy after an hour or so. It does pick up coins and iron trash good. I'm sorry I didn't buy a Minelab Excalibur to be honest with you all.

The Garrett Sea Hunter Mk II is the best underwater detector for the money in my opinion. I have used it exclusively for almost 5 years underwater and on the beach and would put it up against the best for ease of use and depth of detection. It is also very sensitive in the gold range and has even been known to pick up targets that other detectors have completely missed.

I will start off by saying I'm new to this machine but I like what I see so far. When I started metal detecting I wanted a water machine so I purchased the Fisher 1280X and quickly discovered it was not that great for salt water hunting. I love it in fresh water and dry sand but in salt water it gave off too many false signals. So I traded the Fisher in for a Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II.

I've only had this machine for a few month and it has been pretty cold here in New Jersey so I only got it out once. The control box is pretty easy to use. This is my first Pulse Induction machine so there is definately going to be a learning curve. Although I did not find any gold or silver the first time out I was able to find some clad so I know it works.

I did play around with the trash elimination knob but I did not see a big difference. I've heard that it is really hard to get any discrimination with a pulse machine so I was not really suprised by this. Although it could be more from beiung a new user of the unit then because of the unit it self.

I like the fact that you can use three different set up being the control box attached to the shaft, a hip mount option or the scuba diving set up with a short shaft. I really look forward to getting out there a few more times and seeing what this machine can really do.

Since I'm still learning this machine I would not recommend it at this point but it does seem like a pretty flexible machine depending on what your water hunting needs are.

Nice working machine! Easy to setup and run. Easy to understand what its telling you.