2024 Oregon Coast Glass Bottle, Glass Float Drops for Lincoln City, Bandon, Gold Beach

Published 11/30/23 a 6:15 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Oregon Coast) – Lincoln City recently shot out its schedule of special glass float drops for 2024, and it means over 3,000 of these coveted little globs and globes will be placed along the town's seven miles. There's also a unique feature for those with disabilities that can't go beachcombing – a way to possibly snag one of their own.

Yet did you know there are other special artisan-made glass drops along the Oregon coast? On the south coast, Bandon has their Message In A Bottle all year-round, and Gold Beach has some glass floats coming up in a few months.

For the undisputed king of glass floats, Lincoln City leaves one on the beach every day, and that continues all year-long. There is one special glass drop coming up in 2023 on December 16-17: in honor of Oregon's basketball rivalries there are 50 red and black floats let loose on the sands.

For 2024, Lincoln City's special glass float drops are:

December 30 – January 1: New Year's Eve and New Year's Day's opening of 100 floats.
February 17 – 24: Antique Week boasts 100 actual Japanese antique floats. These are of the original stock that were once found in abundance along the Oregon coast, which inspired these artisan-made balls.
February 14-16, 2024: Valentine’s Day: 50 Red/pink/white floats
March 16-April 14, 2024: Spring break: 200 floats
April 20-22, 2024: Earth Day: 50 Earth Day floats
May 10-12 2024: Mother’s Day: 50 floats
May 25-27, 2024: Memorial Day: 50 Red/white/blue floats
June 14-16, 2024: Father’s Day: 50 floats
June TBD: Casino Anniversary: 29 floats
June 22-23, 2024: Summer Kite: 10 floats
Aug 31-Sept 2, 2024: College Ball: 20 Green/yellow and 20 Orange/black floats
September 7-8, 2024: Fall Kite: 10 floats
September TBD: Celebration of Honor: 50 Red/white/blue floats
Oct 31-Nov 2, 2024: Halloween: 50 floats
Nov 28-Dec 1, 2024: Harvest Drop: 50 floats
December 14-15, 2024: Holiday: 50 floats

All of it is part of what's called Finders Keepers, which was created in 1999 almost on a whim. It proved so successful in getting the public out to the coast in winter that they eagerly continued it the next 20 winters. In 2019, Finders Keepers went eternal: it became a year-round thing. See the full registration and contest info at Finders Keepers.

There are some other ways Lincoln City has established for the public to snag one of these beauties. Special drawings are held, which you can enter by collecting a bag full of beach trash anywhere along Lincoln City's beaches, part of the town's Trash for Treasures.

“Take a picture of the full bag and upload the photo of your good deed, including your name, email, and mailing address, or bring the photo to the Lincoln City Welcome Center,” said the Lincoln City Visitors Center.

Those with disabilities who cannot make it onto the beach are eligible to enter a monthly drawing for glass floats. Simply visit the Welcome Center. Hotels in Lincoln City - Where to eat - Lincoln City Maps and Virtual Tours

Meanwhile, on the south Oregon coast, Bandon's Message In A Bottle run has continued, even though original announcements said it would end on March 15.

Courtesy Bandon Chamber Visitors Center

It turns out, according to Bandon Chamber Visitors Center's Margaret Pounder, the Message In A Bottle drops that began in January of 2022 are still going. See full Message In A Bottle Bandon info.

In fact, it's just about every day.

“Yes, there are numerous drops weekly, depending on weather and tides of course,” Pounder told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. “The bottle faeries are busy year round. In the winter they are more upland, than on the beach.”

These are intricately-designed bottles made by renowned craftsmen, which – yes, just like the old song – contain a message in the bottle. Even better: these arty little babies can win you prizes and get you some interesting swag that will make these light up.

Message In A Bottle works like many of the glass float promotions on the Oregon coast: “bottle faeries” leave these on the sands of Bandon. Once you find one, you'll want to take it into the Creations by the Sea shop or other participating businesses in town and collect the special lights that go inside, allowing you to make something literally luminous out of these glassy lovelies.

Gold Beach Glass Floats in April

Courtesy Gold Beach Visitors

Also on the south coast, Gold Beach Visitor Center takes to the town in April with its “beach treasures” drops, known by “One Month – One Mile – 1,000 Floats.”

In this case, glass floats are placed in various businesses around town. First, you pick up the Treasure Map to find out where the glass floats can be found. At each participating shop, spend more than $25 and you get a glass float. See the Gold Beach Visitor Center site for more.

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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Keywords: glass floats, Oregon coast, Gold Beach, Bandon, Lincoln City events