Beachcombing on the Oregon Coast with Grant McOmie

Trip Ideas > Grant’s Getaways Agate Hunting on the Oregon Coast > by Grant McOmie, February 8th, 2013.

Editors notes: Remember agates are still readily found along the Pacific Coast, primarily on the Central Oregon Coast from Florence to Otis. For those of you wanting a great place to stay for beach combing the Moolack Shores Resort over looks a great area known for fossils. For more on this story check out the photos.  For ease of beach access if you are not staying at the resort, I would advise you to use the unpaved turnout (with a green sign stating road adopted by Hang-glider pilots and...) that is just ½ a mile south of the Beverly beach state park  (not the asphalt parking lots). Approaching from the south it would be 1½ miles north of milepost 136 which is north of NE 100th St.

2nd Annual Yachats Agate Festival This Weekend

Sheri of Waldport found these nice fossils

Join us this Saturday and Sunday, January 19^th and 20^th from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for the 2nd annual Yachats Agate Festival at the Yachats Commons. This free event will feature spectacular displays as well as family friendly learning opportunities for all ages. 

FACETS Gem & Mineral Gallery will have K.T. Myers the author of the Pocket Guide Agates of the Oregon Coast there with the books, plus locally made agate jewelry and more. 

< - - Beachcomber Sheri of Waldport, will be speaking and sharing some of her tips to successful beachcombing on the Central Oregon Coast. 

Clarice's black agate

Fortification Agate

Clarice found this unique Alaskan totem art face design in a black fortification agate the size of a quarter, while agate hunting here at the Oregon Coast.  Nice find Clarice!

Is it a fulgurite?

Doreen of Roseburg, Oregon  found these interesting pieces June 18, while agate hunting on the Oregon coast.  The long sandy piece looks like either a fulgurite, meaning thunderbolt formed in sand.  If not maybe it could possibly be an Indian artifact as it has a hollow area on the small end for an arrow? The two specimens above are a couple of very interesting agates. The smallest one is an agatized snail.

Treasures found at Newport during a family reunion

Beachcombing treasures found by Kaiya & Anna

Congratulations to Kaiya of Utah of whom found the large agate weighing over ¼ of a pound and her cousin Anna of Ohio that found the fancy agate and the red jasper today on the beach at Newport.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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!

Video of Agate Hunting in Newport