Just A Bit Of Float History!

Beginning in Norway in 1842 or earlier, fishermen would attach glass floats to provide buoyancy to their nets. Japan began using glass floats for the same purpose in 1910. Other countries, including England, France, Russia, and the United States by 1940.

Glass floats of varying sizes and shapes were once used by fishermen in many parts of the

world to keep their fishing nets, as well as longlines or droplines, afloat. Go online for more history. One of the best sites is located here. Beach-goers would often find the floats, which had broken loose in the ocean, washed up on beaches.

The Gold Beach Visitor Center started hiding glass floats on the beach in approximately 2008. Volunteers (dubbed float fairies in honor of Lincoln City Glass Float Volunteers) hid floats February, March and April along the high-tide line from Kissing Rock north to the mouth of the Rogue. Inviting visitors to hunt for glass floats during one of the slower times of year brought more business to our little community and also showcased the beauty of the southern Oregon coast during the spring. 

After the pandemic, for various reasons, float season was reduced to one month. April was chosen due to weather and beach safety considerations. At that time, the float hiding area was shortened to an approximately 1 mile stretch of beach for safety reasons. Floats are hidden a short distance (5 feet or so) on either side of the vegetation line, tucked under beach grass, washed up driftwood and even buried a little bit in the sand. Floats are NOT hidden down close to the waves or further up into the beach grass.

Glass floats of varying sizes and shapes were once used by fishermen in many parts of the world to keep their fishing nets, as well as longlines or droplines, afloat. Much more information about the history of glass floats is online.

Currently, just over 320 floats are hidden a week April 1-30 totalling 1,500 floats for the month. Floats of varying colors, 3” in size, are hidden at different times of the day, 7 days a week, so there is always a chance of finding one. Our volunteers do an awesome job at being secretive about their schedule and the team at the Gold Beach Visitor Center appreciates each and every one of them. We do ask that float hunters take only one float so that more people get the opportunity to find a hidden treasure.

Watch our social media pages to find out when special Holiday Float Drops will be happening. This will increase the opportunity of finding a hidden float throughout the year and spotlight the beauty of our area throughout the seasons.

The staff and volunteers at the Gold Beach Visitor Center look forward to Glass Float Month every year. Seeing the excitement and enthusiasm of everyone who comes in to pick up a “float map” is contagious. Most visitors tell us it’s the joy of the hunt, not the find, that keeps them coming back. We are excited to be spreading the joy of treasure hunting one glass float at a time.

Questions? Give us a call at 541-247-7526 or send an email to gbvc@visitgoldbeach.com