Garrett Sea Hunter Mark II
Price: $750
Avg. Score: 
4.46
Based on 39 reviews
4.46Based on 39 reviews
Avg. Durability:
4.63
Avg. Ease of use:
4.25
Mark 2, is OK
December 22, 2019
I picked up a Garrett Sea Hunter Mark 2 for my yearly Florida trip. I
looked at a few reviews online and was impressed. I took it out 3 times now
and gave it an air test at minimal discrim and tried all other combinations
of adjustments. The best it managed was barely 8 inches!!! I am an
experienced detectorist and have had numerous machines, and have a pretty
good feel for tuning these things in. I was expecting a bit more for all
the hype on this machine. I will give it credit, it did find some tiny
items down 5 to 7 inches....nails, bobby pins, barrette...
This site claimed the machine can hit a quarter at 13 inches!!! Some of the reviews on here claimed 12 and one guy claims it hits at 18 inches!!!! LIES LIES LIES. Show me on video. Someone show me this thing hitting even at 8 inches. I'm sure someone from Garrett sticks a few write-ups here and there to push sales.
Aside from depth, the machine feels shaky, the rods don't tighten up well. When you swing it the sections wobble and shake. Its a very heavy machine, and for god's sake, why cant anyone make a coil that glides through the water a bit smoother? Anyway....Its an ok machine, just hate when people over hype machine's capabilities.
Max Depth: 8 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Bob D. from
Western NY
20
Pulse induction detectors
January 08, 2018
Generally speaking, PI units are great under the right conditions which are
one of the two: a trash-free beach (easier to find diamonds in your
bathtub) in the ocean, where there is also trash.
Note: even deserted/ never used beaches have trash PI units perform better in the salt water because of NaCl (salt) conductivity. I have personally owned a PI unit and one day I dug a two-foot deep pit looking for my target only to realize it was already in the sifter stuck to my epoxied magnet ....
Wait for it: iron chips a few millimeters across. Better to just never have left the house. Gaaaah! On the other hand, in the water PI units are amazing but ready to wave away/ dredge the sand away at every target announcement. I did and found a ring and an old skeleton key maybe 8 inches down. Cool finds, surely. PI units will detect feet down, not just inches down, and you must be willing to go after the signal source.
Max Depth: 10 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Brittany from
Fort Lauderdale, FL
86
Garrett seahunter mk 2 review
January 05, 2018
First a short video using the shmk2
https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=Db6yVSF5lm4 got this MD oct 9, 2017, I
always hunt on zero discrimination for deepest depth and threshold at 1 and
always on standard. A bit heavy but normal weight for a Pulse induction, I
can detect for 9 hours, only break is to drink water, sit down a lil bit,
no lunch or snacks.
Found AN750 18k white gold, lots of coins, SS rings, silver rings, earings. You need to use this on a crowded beach to recover lots of lost jewelries. You need to have patience as it will detect almost about anything that is made of metal. I don't believe in discrimination that will just mask out gold and other valuables.
My problem now is that I'm too far away from top world class beach in our country. Believe me this is like an ATM machine on a high-end beach resort with lots of highclass tourists and guest.
Battery lasts for about 18-20hours duracell. Or any alkaline battery. Unit, coil, wires, headset built like a tank. The shaft is a bit flimsy or it wiggles, you can resolve that with tape or teflon.
I like the battery type double AAs as you can buy them almost anywhere, unlike specialized battery packs. I'm only using the 8" inch coil, made a diy rubber coil cover or protector. Can't wait to try this unit on scuba, so far I only used it on knee to chest deep salt water. This machine goes deep by the way, if you don't have patience, better look for other type of machine a very short video found my first silver using shmk2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?V=Db6yVSF5lm4
Max Depth: 18 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Joms from
Manila Philippines
60
Sea hunter ii
November 14, 2017
I've had the detector for a couple years. It can definitely find deep
objects. No discrimination at all (well, there is a way to set it but at
the risk of missing a target). You need to listen carefully for those
little peaks in volume for something deep, but it will find them. Only
downside is the weight. You won't want to swing it all day.
Max Depth: 12 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Andy C from
Budd Lake, NJ
60
Garrett sh 2
December 17, 2016
Had my SeaHunter2 about three weeks, which I realise is not enough time to
get used to a machine, however, I feel that I'm going to be hanging on to
this little ripper for several reasons, one of the best for me is the
ability to wear the control box around my waist (taking the weight off my
arm shoulder and back) and a close second is that the coils are
interchangeable, I can't do that with the Minelab Excalibur ii which has a
10" fixed coil.
I have both machines and if there was any downside to the SH2 it would be the "singing" I get swinging left. I can't work out why it happens because, if I put the coil in on my left hand side the noise doesn't happen? (I'm right handed) The other way I can almost lose the noise, is, by dropping the threshold to zero, this obviously gives a silent hunt but other than that doesn't affect finding targets at all. I'm impressed with this bit of kit especially with our very mineralised oceans.
I hunt with zero discrimination and dig everything. It's a great addition to my arsenal. Cheers and HHand GL. Chris from Oz.
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Chris from Oz from
Perth Australia
101
Professional performance.
November 23, 2015
This is a detector that encourages you to put that bit of extra effort into
your searches. You need to work methodically and listen for those whisper
quiet signals which can often lead to great finds. It is simple to use,
very sensitive and deep. It's a pi so you need to put some effort in if you
want the most from this detector, this means digging everything including
iron bits and bobs, using any discrim will loose you depth which defeats
the object of a pi machine.
Don't listen to the false claims that the SH is not sensitive to gold or doesn't go deep, it is both highly sensitive and very deep, claims such as these are made by people who do not understand the machine or people who just don't want to dig any iron......They prefer the ease of vlf machines. Learn this machine and you will be digging targets that those with vlf machines will be leaving behind, it just takes patience and hard work but it will definitely be rewarded, fantastic detector.
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Neil from
Devon, England
260
Useful, solid piece of equipment.
July 02, 2015
Let me start with one remark: if you buy this unit in the hope of
discriminating iron and pulltabs and still finding gold, well forget it,
unless you're after class rings. You can, using discrete elimination, disc
out some iron flakes and pull tabs, but at the cost of an unacceptable loss
of depth. BTW, any VLF detector will do the same too, and not lose so much
depth at all. But, if you hunt clean beaches, this unit will trap just
about anything you care to find. I use discrete elimination on dry sand, as
it's kind of a motion system, and it has a pleasant and informative
response on coins and rings.
I use the normal mode on the wet sands. The audio can give the right shades of tonalities that will allow you to recognize most (elongated) iron objects. The depth is more than decent, and with the 8" mono coil, rather impressive on wet sand salt. If you reasonably take care of your gear, this one will last you for years. It's sealed, so the electronics can't be flooded. Canadian beach hunters should consider PI detectors, as they find loonies and tunies without any stress, just like it would signal a copper alloy coin. No more misses and/or jumpy ID : Loud and clear. The SH MKII in the discrete mode is pretty good at that. Not for everybody, not for every hunting styles, but, wisely used at the right times and places, it will perform better than many VLF/MF units, especially in rough environments ant though (salt) mineralization.
Max Depth: 15 inches on US quarter
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
No, not really.
Paperone from
Europe
164
Sea hunter ii
March 29, 2014
Well this detector works well, I learned it is for wet salt or wet sand
beaches. The salt water is where it gets great depth. I leave disc at 0 and
never use discreet elim. I dug a deep whisper and found a dime at 2 to 3
scoops! I was using the 8 inch coil, its a bit easier to retrieve targets
than my 14 inch coil. By the way I dug near rocks at the waters edge so
most of the light sand was gone! I gave it 4 out of 5 stars because I don't
like the wavering threshold when I swing left.
Overall Rating
Durability
Ease of Use
Would you recommend this to a new user?
Yes, absolutely!
Paul from
North California
186
4 years and working great
February 24, 2013
In spite of the weather and us old fogs being retired, we continue using
our seahunters. Yes we have others yet there is no easier P.I. to use far
as we are concerned. Those boys in Maine KNOW what they are dong so ten to
one once all is warm etc their way they will be posting a lot of finds we
wish them all the best. California beaches are a mini gold/silver mine so
to speak.A. k. a. mini jewelery store as well.. however do NOT forget the good old high desert areas as well, one may be surprised at what lies beneath her/his own feet. ONE important item, take gentle care of your seahunter, clean it, cover pad it and it will last 4ever!
Well we have a lot to get ready for the upcoming season, so all find the best and never say no, remember it is NOT the machine but the one holding it that MUST stay in practice.
God bless
Gary,bill,greg,and the gang.
Overall Rating
Partners Slipnslide. from
San Diego
198
Sea Hunter
January 28, 2013
Both a friend and I purchased this machine for the beaches of Maine. when
it comes to being at the beach they crush vlf machines. I've hit the
smallest pieces iron at extreme depths. "warning" if you don't like
digging everything than keep on land with your vlf. Some have said it wont find a coin 8 inches deep, I'm shocked by statements like that, either your machine is broke or your not using it right. I've dug trenches for bits of metal lol. Thing is a beast. you can not discriminate if you want to find gold. So if your in a trashy area you got a lot of work to do. I'd rather dig deep trash and know I'm not missing anything.
Overall Rating
cuzzinpauly from
maine
420