Anyone who has lost something in the ocean knows that the chances of ever seeing it again are pretty slim. That's why a Calgary man figured the wedding band he lost in the waters off Hawaii was gone for good. Little did he know, that ring would come full circle.

Aaron Thibeault lost the ring in May, 2015, while trying out boogie boarding on a family trip to Maui.

“I got hit with a wave and it knocked me down. I got hit with another wave and it knocked the ring off my finger and then a third wave actually hit me,” he recalls.

Thibeault was pretty upset about the loss and told his tale to a local resident, who suggested he call “Dave.” He would find it, the man told Thibeault.

“Who’s this ‘Dave’ guy?” Thibeault thought to himself. “He didn’t have a last name or anything like that.”

After Googling “Dave, Maui and lost jewelry,” Thibeault found the website for Dave Sheldon, a professional metal detective.

Sheldon owns Dave’s Metal Detecting and spends his days combing Maui’s beaches and reuniting people with their lost items.

“I’m looking for everything from underwater cameras to prescription sunglasses to any kind of jewelry and lost keys,” he told CTV Calgary by phone from Maui.

Two weeks ago ---almost a year after the trip to Maui --- a lifeguard out snorkelling found a ring with Thibeault’s and his wife’s names and wedding date engraved on the inside.

The lifeguard passed it on to Sheldon, who sent it back to Thibeault in exchange for a $60 finders’ fee. But Thibeault was so delighted, he bumped up the fee by sending Sheldon an additional $150 reward.

Never expecting to get his ring back, Thibault had already had a “ring” tattooed on his wedding finger, marked by three waves to represent the three waves that hit him in Maui.

Not wanting to cover up that tattoo, Thibeault has decided he’s going to start wearing his recovered ring on the other hand.

Meanwhile, he’s also planning to return to Hawaii so he can meet Dave Sheldon face-to-face.

“My next trip to Maui I will definitely meet him and take him out for a beer to thank him personally,” Thibeault said.

With a report from CTV Calgary’s Jamie Mauracher