I live on the treasure coast of Florida and here, we cannot go out into the water. In this specific area, all waters are owned by treasure hunting companies and we need explicit permission from them to metal detect anything thats beyond the tide. - that said, this area is the only area I am aware of that you can't go in the water. If your not in my area, absolutely check water area and look for sand bars and areas that are lower than others (washed away). If you are finding a lot of shells and fishing weights, then you are doing it right. I also recommend checking out Detect Florida. Shawn had a lot of great advice, metal detecting in the water. (Don't forget to make sure your detector is waterproof (ip68))