Well to summarize a few questions
- I haven't talked about a reward - that's not what it's about for me
- Yes, you can find gold with a metal detector - either on land or in water
- Is the contracted guy going to get paid? Probably yes, but then again they wouldn't be getting the ring back with out him - so he did find it for them. sort of....
- Here's a link to the initial guy I contacted - I suspect he has an informal association with a small group of others that do the same thing:
http://www.lostringmaui.com/index2.html
Not a bad way to earn a living - walking the beaches of Maui and going for the odd swim
Regards,
Andrew M