It is not uncommon to see people hunting for lost gold and diamond jewelry that beach-goers have dropped in Vung Tau, a popular tourist city in southern Vietnam.

The jewelry hunters use a metal detector to search for lost items buried under wet beach sand stretching dozens of kilometers at Bai Sau (Back Beach) in the city where many tourists come to bathe.

Tran Van Dung, 37, who has been in the business for ten years, said his job depends on luck. Dung said sometimes he can pocket VND7-8 million ((US$329-375) per month but there were times when he earned a mere hundreds of dong. (VND100,000 = $4.7)

The man added he found up to 0.5 tael of gold jewelry about seven years ago and it is also the largest amount of gold he has scavenged so far. (A tael = 37.5 gram)

Besides Bai Sau, Dung and other hunters go to other beaches in Vung Tau such as Ho Tram and Ho Coc in Xuyen Moc District and Long Hai in Long Dien District to make their living.   

Former fisherman Vo Quoc Trung, 39, said the majority of lost items and stuff they have detected are silver and stainless steel jewelry since “beach-goers often take off gold necklaces and rings before bathing in the sea”.

 The Bai Sau (Back Beach) area where many people hunt for lost jewelry dropped by beach-goers

 A gold ring detected by a hunter at Bai Sau

 Jewelry hunters rake sand for gold in the early morning.

 Tourists to the beachside city of Vung Tau often hear the “beep, beep” sound produced by metal detectors.

 A man looks for lost jewelry from tourists in the evening with the help of a flashlight and a metal detector.

 A jewelry hunter waits for the sea water to subside before starting his working day.

 After finishing detecting a section of beach sand at Bai Sau, the hunters seen in this photo go to a new place.

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