November beachcombing finds...

Lucky Spike, a local beachcomber was just in with these beauties he has found over the last week or so.  The fossilized crab claw (rarely ever found) is really quite impressive.   The agates are very nice sized  sard (brownish one), blue-black, and the bottom one is a cloud agate.


Considering that the beaches are not gravely yet, this just goes to show you, that you too can find some goodies during our "Discovery season" which is the value season here on the Oregon coast.

Yes the beachcomber's are finding agates!

Congratulations to local beachcomber Barbara, who found a rare 3" Pigeon blood RED agate this morning south of Newport.  This beauty was not a red-orange carnelian. 

Yes our Discovery Season is beginning to produce some agates.  No I can't tell you which beach to find them on but yes they are beginning to be found.   This weekend it is predicted to have some minus tides so the afternoons should produce an extended shoreline for our beachcombers.  Please be careful to hunt with a partner to watch your back and don't jeopardize your life with those sneaker waves.

UPDATED NOTE: Our camera battery just died so she brought it back to us polished in December.

Living Amid Middens—Preserving the Past, Looking to the Future

For those of you that missed this wonderful presentation. It is now online for your enjoyment...

For more than 20 years, Steeves has been involved in research and preservation of significant archaeological sites on the central Oregon coast. A native Oregonian, she grew up at the coast and returned here to work following doctoral studies at the University of Oregon. She has had a life-long interest in Indian cultures and a passion for understanding the coastal environment. During her 36-year archaeological career, she has literally walked across the state documenting sites. With hiking boots on, she continues to enjoy exploring her back (and front) yard, as much as traveling the world.

Find out what archaeologists, working closely with tribal members and scientists, have learned about the central Oregon coast, and why preservation of these non-renewable resources is critical. Cultural sites in and near Yachats will be considered in relation to the Oregon coast archaeological record.

Editors note: Courtesy photo - Newport News Times file

First big blow of the season enroute to the Coast.

Now you can experience the raw beauty of  the Oregon Coast  during our value season  where you can enjoy storm watching from the comfort of one of Newport's warm and cozy beach front resorts.

"Saturday night and into Sunday, the rain will increase considerably, accompanied by Hurricane Force Winds, 60-75 mph. Such winds are fully capable of blowing people off their feet and tossing them down streets, lawns and hillsides. These winds are expected to occur from 8pm Saturday to 8am Sunday. Power outages are also common with such winds.

A heavy surf warning is also in effect for all day Sunday. The Weather Service warns that tidal flooding is possible since a higher than normal tide will co-inside with the storm surf and high winds."  This would not be a good time to be out on the beach!

Editors notes: For the rest of the story

½ pound Agate found today!

Congratulations to Jennifer of Federal Way, WA who dropped in to show us this beauty she just found today weighing ½ a pound. I guess the season is going to start earlier than we thought it would.

Florida Beachcomber finds 8¼ pound Agate!

Sorry I haven't had a moment to keep you updated, I have been so busy here in the showroom, lots of folks in this summer. The photo "Still Rock'n The Coast at Newport" below remained gravely until sometime the last week of September.

Beachcomber, Cliff of Florida found this large sugar agate a couple of weeks ago while vacationing here on the Oregon Coast. weighing in at a healthy 8¼ pounds and is 8½" long.
 Added: November 1, Here is the new photo showing the before it was  polished and now completed.
We are also working on two more pocket guides that I'm sure you are going to enjoy just as much. Be watching for our announcement early next year.

August - Agate Treasures

Beachcombers Melissa & Randee of Eugene found these rather large trophies of 4" while vacationing here on the Oregon Coast: the white agate below weighed in at 1¼ pounds, the carnelian/sard agate with the crystalline center weighed 1 pound.

Nice finds!

What is this fossil?

This fossil was found earlier this year in the area, by Newport resident Danny. It is 5½" long, and the lower image shows the side view nicely but what is it?

Danny also found some nice agates too!

Still Rock'n The Coast at Newport

Breaking News from the Oregon Coast, Richard & I saw this gravel bed Sunday the 8th and it is still producing agates for our guest here on the Oregon Coast! Frank was nice enough to forward this photo from his phone to share with you.

This is definitely a rare treat for beach combers during the summer when it is normally sanded in by the winds from the north. There is no way of knowing if this will look like this tomorrow, many times it is just a fleeting chance of (6 hours) the changing of the tide.

Beautiful Black Agate Ring

Spike of Seal Rock found this beautiful black agate earlier this year while agate hunting here on the Oregon Coast. The ring was created for him by FACETS Gem & Mineral Gallery of Newport. The ring was fabricated of Sterling Silver for him to give his lady Monica. We wish Monica many years of enjoyment from her new ring.

Spike was very pleased as the design allows the wearer to appreciate stone from the top or by the bottom through the open wire work design beneath the stone.

Summer Beachcombing Treasures

Local 8 year old Savannah of Sam Case Elementary found these marine fossils while beach combing with her family yesterday. The fossils shown here were found just north of Newport and are approximately 15-20 million years old. Nice finds Savannah.

Notes: The white shell is filled with calcite crystals which appears to have been an enhydro (water filled) agate clam belly. The reddish clam is totally fossilized.

Agates to Zeolites on the Oregon Coast

Tamie of Bend was just in with this very large zeolite she found while agate hunting on the Oregon Coast over the years. This is the largest one we have ever seen of these. Thank you for sharing this specimen with us.

Sorry my photography leaves something to be desired as I blurred this photo. Tamie if you are still in the area maybe I can re shoot this.

Another Fossilized Nautilus Found!

Nice discovery made last week by local beachcomber Michele of Newport. Sorry I haven't been able to put up more photos lately on this blog but it has been a busy summer here in Newport. Just wish we had time to get out and find some of these nice pieces too, but one must work while there is work available.

Trophy agate

Congratulations to agate collector James of South Beach who just recently found this beautiful agate weighing in at ¼ of a pound and 2¾" long. The stone appears black with white frosting, however when illuminated with a strong light source from the bottom you can see it is a lavender cloud agate. We were so worried that the frosting would disappear on this beauty but it came out well. This will make a nice addition to ones agate collection.

Your never too old!

These two beach-combing seniors, Kay (in white shirt) of Newport and her guest Judy of Deming New Mexico were caught playing in the sand box just months before it became the blacktopped boat ramp parking lot for the marina at South Beach. NOAA the agatized clam belly on the lower right foreground was just found June 7, 2010 during Newport's NOAA party.

Agates still being found...

Here are Scott's trophies from a week or so ago, with great color and patterns. The Oregon vacations have started! Lots of traffic her in Newport today with the Clam Bake, Saturday Market, and such a wonderful sunny and warm day for beachcombing at the Oregon Coast! A lady had two nice fist size agates to share with us today but I did not have the camera ready.

NOTES: Photo was taken with the specimens wet to better see their personality.

Present Day Great White Sharks Tooth

Congratulations to Ken of Neotsu Oregon, who just discovered this rare find of a present day 1¾" Great White Sharks Tooth, here on the Central Oregon Coast.

The serrations have been worn down indicating that it has been in the sand for quite some time, but still a spectacular find.

Fancy Jaspers and Agate

It is getting rather late in the season but these beauties were just found in the last week or so. All of these are nice and sizable, the amber colored one on the lower left is a sard agate (that has been back lit to see the translucency of the stone) the others are all fancy jaspers. Congratulations to our Toledo resident beachcomber Scott on these beautiful finds.

Agatized Marine Gastropods

Would you have recognized the white specimen as being an agatized snail? Many folks do not look before tossing their finds into the rock polisher.

The top specimen was found by Frank and the white one was found by Scott both are beachcomber residents of Agate Beach.

Fossil...

This fossil was found on Oregon's central coast. A. shows the side view to be about 5" long. The rear is 3" wide, with some really usual suture like or worm tracks. The rear view shows rarely seen turbinate bones that were preserved within the  fossilized in the skull of a small porpoise or dolphin. Identified by Dr. William Orr 2-12-11.

Ted's 4" Oregon Agate Crafted into a Night Light

47th Gem & Mineral Show in Newport

Yesterday we went out for the minus tides and found the gravel beds are still presenting a treasure trove of agates, jasper and more for us beachcombers. Came home and wrapped the 3 agate pendants in this photo that just came out of our tumbler collected just a few weeks ago.

Father’s Day weekend rock hunters, agate lovers and fossil collectors are coming together for the annual Oregon Coast Agate Club’s 47th Gem & Mineral Show here in Newport at the Yaquina View Elementary School -Multipurpose Room - 351 SE Harney Street. The show will be open Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is only $2 for adults, $1 for youth, with children under 6 years of age free.

Minus Tides Reward Beachcombers

Weather was great for a trip to the beach or fishing today. It was sprinkling as we left but once we got down to the beach it was dry and warm. There were so many fishing boats out today and people on the beach with their families and their dogs great fun for everyone.

We just got home from Seal Rock with this beautiful collection of stones for the kids. They are anxiously awaiting their new collection to get their rock polishers started again. The beaches were so busy with cars all over the place at all of the better known collecting spots. We spent about 4 hours actually laying in the gravel talking and just picking up sea (rarely seen intact on our rocky coastline) shells, sea glass plus many colorful jaspers and agates one after another as we visited together with our friend Scott. There must have been about 12 other folks getting down in the gravel too just sitting there with pebbles all around them. We found the biggest one in the photo as we were heading home in South Beach, it weighs in at over 1¼ pounds and 4 inches across - - >

Hope you and yours are having a safe and happy holiday this weekend!

Minus Tides On the Central Oregon Coast

Wonderful morning minus tides are predicted for the Central Oregon coast to make for great fun family activities of tide pooling and beach combing for fossils and agates now through June 1st. Just remember to keep a watchful eye on the children and never turn your back on the ocean!

Editors notes: This is a live view looking south to the Yaquina, Head Lighthouse from the Moolack Beach area (Newport, Oregon). This location is well known as a scenic place to see that provides terrific shell fossils found among the cobbles exposed by the ocean. The image refreshs approximately every seven minutes. Click your refresh/reload button to be sure you are viewing the most recent images.

Complete Wolly Mammoth Tooth Found

This is a very rare find for here on the Oregon Coast. This fossil tooth was actually found here on the central Oregon coast a couple of years ago and I finally had a chance to get a photo of Craig's wonderful beach combing find. It weighs close to 5 pounds, and appears to be that of an adult complete sixth tooth (due to the size of it). Congratulations to Craig on this magnificent find.

Through research it has been stated that elephants were plentiful in North America, and their fossils have been found in many states. However complete teeth are rarely found, more frequently would be individual plates or partial teeth.

Editors note: The top photo is the actual tooth showing the washboard effect. The lower image shows the bottom of the tooth that would have been below the gum.

Wonderful Agatized Fossils

Here is a summary of some of the most recent agatized fossils found here on the Oregon Coast by local beachcombers. These are really beautiful specimens and hope these will help you improve your collecting ability to collect fewer but better specimens and leave those common "leaverites" (leave it right there) on the beach for some one else. We would also like to take this time to thank the many folks that have shared their trophies with us that many others will learn more about responsible collecting.

Editors Notes: Photos to the left showing 2 black limb cast with fortification banding, were found by Scott of Newport. Upper right an enhydro (water agate) "Clam-Belly" Agate, found by Mary Lou of Newport. Lower right photo taken wet of a complete agatized gastropod (snail-like), found by Frank of Agate Beach.

Most striking Lavender Blue Agate

Over the years we have seen some agates from here on the coast resembling lavender-blue to a point but this one has them all beat. This just happens to be of the finest color wise comparable only to some of the best Holley Blue agate also found here in Oregon. Ken is one lucky dude that gets to spend his lunch hour beachcombing for agates on the Oregon Coast anywhere from Astoria to Brookings.

Fossil Field trips in the Newport Area

Garrett's World of Geology 5 featuring: Fossils of the Central Oregon Coast at Newport. Astoria formation at Beverly Beach, Moolack, Jump Off Joe, Otter Rock... Fossils, Geology, Rock Hounding for agates, jasper, etc...

Another bag full of goodies

We are now enjoying the rewards of the minus tides of spring here at the coast. Here is a photo of just a few of the treasures David of Salem found here in the Newport area beach combing with his family.

Editors Note: Upper left photo- possibly a blue agate, upper right possibly a lavender agate but all are beautiful pieces.

John's Beachcombing Trophies Found at Newport

John one of our agate collectors from Stayton comes out a couple of times a year for beach combing here at coast and as you can see he had a great visit. These are just a few of his recent trophies he found this week here at Newport.

Editors Notes: Image lower right appears to possibly be a "Clam Belly Agate" (agatized fossil) the one above it is an extra fancy carnelian with a beautiful lacy coating. Sorry about the glare of the light, we wanted to share with you the beautiful red-orange hue.

More Treasures Of The Sea being found daily!

Every day we are getting reports of more and more Japanese glass floats being found here on Oregon's central coast. All sizes, colors and shapes are found from the tide line to the cliffs. This has been like an Easter Egg hunt for our beach combers and yes they are also getting agates too!

Complete Agatized Clam

The translucent clam (clam belly) to the left has to be one of the largest completely agatized specimens we have seen in quite awhile. It just had a small area of the outer shell remaining plus the agate was amazingly clear and pretty well defined. This just goes to show you how the agates were formed here on the Oregon Coast some 15 - 20 million years ago. Agate filled anything hollow and took on the shape of that mold.

This beauty was found yesterday here in Newport by Bruce a rockhound from Reedsport, OR sharing a couple of days at the beach with his lovely and talented wife Kathy. Nice find Bruce, another great beachcombing find on the Oregon Coast!

Editors Note: Sorry the photo came out so fuzzy, the clam to the right is a fossil used for comparison.

Spring Storms Bring Treasures to the Oregon Coast

Beachcombers Rusty & Lesia, of Bozeman, Montana were fast on their feet to find this beautiful bright green 12 inch Japanese glass fishing float. They were one of two couples that discovered this rare treasure at the same time.

This float is still complete with the fisherman's net or rope still attached and covered with barnacles to boot. We tried to move the barnacles aside to see if the fisherman's stamped logo was visible but no luck, the barnacles were too tightly entwined.

More and more beach combers are finding these rare beauties daily now with the spring storms we have been experiencing here on the Oregon Coast, but you have to be out there early and be fast on your feet.

Editors Note: The small float image at the lower right just shows another angle of the glass float.

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False Brain Coral

Thank you to beachcomber Sue of Lincoln County for submitting these nice sizable specimens for this entry. Sometimes known as False Brain Coral, this is home to a colony of worms known as Dedecaceria fewkesi, or a.k.a. Pacific Fission Worm Rock.

The close up shows the grains of sand wedged into the holes, kinda looks like tiny agates in there.

Spring break on the Oregon Coast

The low tides of spring have blessed the beachcombers with many treasures this spring. We are in the midst of 6 weeks of spring break here on the Oregon Coast.

Local beachcomber Lisa, just found these beautiful trophies and a whole lot more than the camera could hold today. Upper left shows some of her fossils, the largest fossil is about 1/3 of a Musashia indurata shell, and various other shell fossils (I threw a quarter in the photo just for scale). The lower left shows some nice petrified wood scattered in among the agates.

Weather has been wild and wonderful for storm watching too!

Trophies abound at Newport!

It has come to our attention that there is rock showing for good beach combing on many of the Lincoln county beaches. This is just a sample of a 43 pound multicolor jasper recently found by Brent, one of our local beachcombers. Boy that's a back breaker for you!

Please do not use private property to access the beach. We have just been notified that the land owners south of Newport known as the 'airport beach' are no longer tolerating trespassing and are starting to site folks. Previously these owners allowed/ignored access through their 'for sale' property, and now police are watching and siting. We don't want to loose our rights as rockhounds to hunt on the beach so please use common sense and respect others peoples property. It just takes a few to mess it up for the rest of us.

Japanese Glass Fishing Floats are Found

Congratulations to all three groups of guest this weekend reporting finding old Japanese glass floats from 3"-10" in the Newport area! Here is a picture of Lauri and her glass float that she found on Moolack Beach during the Oregon coast discovery season. The float is 3" in diameter and blue with a hint of green. Craig and Lauri of Albany decided to look in the rocks at the top of the beach like they were told to do by FACETS Gem & Mineral Gallery. Just as they were ready to head to the car from their fun activity, BAM, Lauri finds the glass float sitting right up on top of the rocks. Nice find there girlfriend!!!

Nature Abounds on the Central Oregon Coast

Agate found on the central Oregon coast, this 3½ pound agate was just found by Newport residents Greg & Cheryl, it has yet to be cleaned more but upon close inspection it appears to be ice blue in color.

This is a rare treasure that was also found on the beach at Newport. This is a 3 pound piece of green basalt that has been worked with a drill appears to be Indian artifact, possibly a sinker for a fishing net?

Rock Candy? Butterscotch? Here is just a few of the Beach combing treats found last week by Tim, while he was collecting from Yachats to Lincoln City. They look good enough to eat.

< - - Editors Note: There is a quarter at the center bottom for scale.

Bloodstone still found on the Oregon Coast

< - - Green stones shown are two nice specimens of bloodstone a.k.a. heliotrope, jasper found lately in the Newport area by the father & son team of Frank & Jeremiah. Good timing fellows bloodstone is also one of the March birthstones.

Photo: Great collecting done as a family activity shows their collection of two red Carnelian Sagenite Agates, two blue agates and a large blue-black agate.

Editors note: Photos were taken of the specimens wet to better show the exquisite colors.

Pleasures await you by the seashore!

Sorry I had a shipment going out at the time a lady came in with a complete fossilized Nautilus that she had just found here in the Newport area. The nautilus was a little larger than a quarter and in very good condition, still had some matrix rock attached to it, but the iridescent shell was complete and spectacular in color and condition. Unfortunately I had to run and help with the freight, so no photo. Well that's another reason to go beach combing for those unexpected treasures from nature here on the Oregon Coast.

Spring Break things to do list: Spring Whale Watching week on the Oregon Coast starts soon March 20-27, 2010. Spring break will offer an active calendar of events for family fun activities, live entertainment, art festivals concerts, Oregon Coast Fishing and more...

Beachcombing On The Oregon Coast

The agate beds have been shifting here in Lincoln County so much this year. We have been trying to explain this phenomena to our guest but they can't seem to understand it. We had a gentleman in earlier this month and he said "The first day I was here the beach outside my window was littered with gravel and I had a great time finding agates, jasper, fossils, etc. The next morning I looked out my window and it was all gone, nothing but sand!" This is what we mean by the change of the tide (every six hours) and the agate bed may disappear.

Obviously all of those cars parked at the beach during the winter can't be wrong. It does not mean the people are out there sun bathing, it just means the folks are having a great time finding treasures out there on the beach. You too will have to actually get out of the car, stand out there on the beach and look north and south maybe a 100 yards and possibly you will find a new gravel bed littered with agates, jaspers, and fossils.

Remember to - Seek, and Ye Shall Find.

Video of Agate Hunting in Newport

Two warm dry weekends at Newport!

Wow not just one beautiful day but we had another full weekend of spectacular days here at Newport. We took in a great brunch at Izzy's yesterday, and enjoyed the breathtaking view over looking agate beach. The ocean was smooth rather than to be such a rolling sea for the boaters, the surfers were having a great day, many folks were strolling the beach and beachcombing. What more could you wish for? Oh yes, I would have loved to had time to go beachcombing too! But of course we had to get home for some repairs on the house but we so enjoyed savoring the wonderful brunch and the priceless view at Izzy's.

Last week, beachcomber and photographer Scott B. of Toledo brought in an impressive 2½" black agate, unfortunately my camera was not available. Maybe he will forward a photo for you to see.

Agatized Shell Found by Beachcombers

Today this beauty was found just south of Newport by lucky guest Ross and his sons of Portland sharing a fun day together on the beach. This has to be one of the most complete agatized specimens we have ever seen of this variety, and showing such great detail as well. This was just one of their finds. They also had a more agates and an agatized limb cast and an other nice agatized marine gastropod (snail-like) shell. Nice finds guys!

Photo is of possibly a Bruclarkia oregonensis. Identification from (Fossil Shells From Western Oregon, page 77)

Editors Note: The photo was illuminated from below to better show the agate.

February Beachcombing at Newport

Another day of trophies found by the father and son team Frank and Jeremiah sharing quality time on the beach together at Newport. The first two specimens to the left are agates, the pink/orange one is very unusual with a pattern we haven't seen before. The one next to it appears to be a blue-black fortification (band can be seen within in the sky-blue sunk in area) agate.

The two Sagenite agates are just beautiful specimens, the yellow sard is very compact and will make a beautiful piece of jewelry. The black one is rather coarse with the needles of sagenite right up at the surface (kinda looks like a face with the hair going straight up). It definitely has personality.

The enhydro agate is actually a cloud agate that also happens to have a water bubble trapped in it. The black cloud is a dark cloud like inclusion that just happens to look like a claw (no it is NOT a CLAW) just happens to be shaped like one.

Beautiful fortification agate found at Newport

Roger and his wife were the lucky beachcombers from Dallas, OR that found this beeeauty Thursday while beachcombing on the Oregon coast just south of Newport. This is a very nice fancy agate: the top view shows the side cavity of fortification pattern (continuous locked banding like in a fort).

Oregon Carnelian Agate at it's very Best!

Frank just found this beauty yesterday here on Oregon's Central Coast. It does not get any better than this. This beauty Pigeon blood RED agate measured 3'' long and weighed in at over 1/4 pound of the purest red you have ever seen.

He also had these other trophy pieces as well but this carnelian is beeeautiful!

I was invited out for a tour with a small group of folks yesterday morning for their TV film shoot of agate hunting at Newport. We were treated to an hour and 1/2 on the beach before the rain started. A good time was had by all finding a multitude of fossils, jasper, a piece of bloodstone, sea glass and agate. This 2 minute shot will appear the first week of February on FOX 12 Oregon Beach Vacations, February segment.