Metal Detecting on North Carolina's Brunswick Islands

6 locations · 6 allowed

Rules last verified: 2026-09-28 · North Carolina statewide rules

All six Brunswick Islands beaches allow detecting — none of the town codes mentions detectors — but each sets its own hole rules. Oak Island: 12 inches max, toy shovels only, filled by 6 p.m. Ocean Isle Beach: 16 inches, toy shovels only, filled by 7 p.m. Sunset Beach: 18 inches, filled by 7 p.m. Holden Beach: attend anything over 12 inches and fill it before you leave. Caswell Beach and Bald Head Island focus on the dunes and sea turtles. Everywhere here, stay off the dunes and keep clear of marked turtle nests.

Beaches and parks on the Brunswick Islands

✅ Oak Island Allowed · Brunswick County
No town ban or permit for metal detecting. Digging: holes no deeper than 12 inches; shovels other than toy shovels prohibited on the beach s…
✅ Holden Beach Allowed · Brunswick County
No town ban or permit for metal detecting. Digging: unlawful to dig more than 12 inches deep without a responsible person attending; any hol…
✅ Ocean Isle Beach Allowed · Brunswick County
No town ban or permit for metal detecting. Digging: no holes over 16 in. deep or 5 ft wide; shovels other than children's toy shovels prohib…
✅ Sunset Beach Allowed · Brunswick County
No town ban or permit for metal detecting. Digging: holes attended at all times and filled before leaving, no later than 7:00 p.m.; no hole,…
✅ Bald Head Island Allowed · Brunswick County
No village ban or permit for metal detecting (not in the Village Code or the official Beach Regulations). Dunes: no walking on dunes except …
✅ Caswell Beach Allowed · Brunswick County
No town ban or permit for metal detecting. No removing beach sand from its natural state (Sec. 92.03). No walking on or damaging the primary…

Beach detecting here? Wet salt sand needs a multi-frequency machine and a long-handled scoop. The waterproof Minelab X-Terra Elite is the best value that handles it. See the Minelab X-Terra Elite → All picks by budget →

Other North Carolina regions

Outer Banks · Crystal Coast · Cape Fear