Treasure Isle: Strategies for Leveling Up Faster.

I am writing this guide to share the strategies I quickly adapted to GREAT success to help YOU level faster and find more treasure.
Every bit of advice you will find in this guide is proven by me. My record for advancing VERY quickly is testament to their effectiveness.
My boss at work introduced me to this game. He was level 37 when I started.
I am currently level 83...........he is level 50.
The following strategies are in no particular order; however I have grouped relevant ideas into single bars. Combine ALL advice for maximum leveling, or use a few for moderate results.

Metal Detector

Use the Messages "Treasure Really Close" and "Treasure Nearby" like a metal detector. They can help you zero in on a treasure easier than randomly clicking around.
Know that when it says "Treasure Really close", that it means that the treasure is almost always one tile away from you. However this can be up to 8 total tiles surrounding you. This includes all four tiles north, south, east and west of you, as well as NW, NE, SW and SE.
Know that when it says "Treasure Nearby" it means that the treasure is NOT in one of the immediate adjacent spaces, but ONE space just beyond in any direction. If you get this message, click at least TWO tiles away from where you stand in any possible direction at the given moment.

Click on grass first!

Roughly 90% of the treasures on an island are on "Grassy" tiles that cost 5 energy to dig. The obvious exception is "Monuments" and the largest object tile (Such as a tree) on the other side of a Gem Gate.
When starting a new island concentrate at first on the obvious hiding spots like monuments and trees behind gem gates, and then focus on the grassy tiles that cost 5 energy. Click on all these first to cover as much ground as possible with the energy you have remaining. Only after clicking on all grassy tiles (And obvious spots) should you start clicking on other tile types that cost more energy.
Once all obvious and grassy tiles are clicked, only click 7 energy vegetation tiles. After that only click on (If any) the 10 energy "stone path" tiles. After that work on (If any) the 3 click vegetation tiles that take a total of 21 energy to complete. Finally finish off (If any) the 3 click rocks that take a total of 30 energy each. This is the most efficient way to cover the most ground with the energy you have. It also maximizes the possibility of getting additional fruit and even leveling up and re-filling your energy bar before you run out of energy!

Be just a LITTLE greedy.

One of the GREATEST ways I have leveled up faster than others is by not...yes I said NOT gifting. (At least all the time.) Let me explain. And most of you know we wind up finding multiple of the same treasures on any given map area. You may or may not know that once you complete a treasure set and trade it in....you can collect the same set AGAIN and trade it in again! Over and over! If you constantly gift away your extras, you are depriving yourself the chance to re-trade in that set! However, if you have 3, 4, 5 or more of one treasure....go ahead, gift away a few!
Just keep in mind the "rare" one of any set. Hesitate to gift that one away unless you already have multiples of that one.
I have gotten more XP from simply keeping a good portion of my extras and winding up completing the same set many times.
On a related note. This may seem more frustrating -baggy than not gifting extra pieces, but there is a way to compensate for it. NEVER click the "Send fruit/gifts" to friends. EVER. Instead, click the "Ask friends to send fruit" button.
I ask for fruit once every four hours. In order to compensate for the slight greed you can respond to your friend’s fruit requests they send you, ALWAYS share every fruit crate/found gem/lost treasure/found lost animal, etc that pops up during your game. Also, respond immediately when you see your friends ask for your gem type or energy pack request on you feed page. (Your wall) Be a great friend and they won't mind that you don't seem to send random gifts much.

Help your neighbors once a day and REAP THE REWARDS!!

Once per 20 - 24 hours you can visit each of your neighbors and a request to clear away seagulls/debris or crabs appear. Each time you do this you receive 20 coin and 5xp! Try to be uniform in waiting the 20 hours or so to take this island hopping trip each day. While you are there collect gems from ready trees and treasure chests for extra goodies. Be consistent in doing this every day!
A side notes...you only receive 5 xp from the first ten friends or so. After that, it's only one xp each time you help, but the more neighbors you have the more it adds up!
This leads me to my next strategy.

Have at LEAST 40 neighbors.

For the obvious reasons of more neighbors equals more chances to send you stuff, more chances of having many different colored trees, to send you treasures you need on your wish list. The final and best reason for 40 neighbors is that when you ask for fruit you can ask up to 40 friends. If you have less than this you are wasting opportunities for more fruit sent. You can easily find friends from other threads in this forum. I posted ONE time I needed neighbors and got dozens of responses!

So you're a few xp short of the next level, you are out of fruit/energy/energy packs and requests.....WHAT TO DO?!?!?!?!!?
EASY.
Either visit your neighbors to clear away debris/crabs/gulls for that last bit of needed xp to the next level (and that much needed energy bar re-fill) or do one or ALL of the following: Travel to an island you haven't been to before that has one of the following: Bugs that need to be sprayed (5xp each spray), Gem Gates (5xp each opened one) or large rocks that need dynamite to open. (5xp each one blown up). Doing any or all of these could be the difference between leveling up and refilling your energy bar or shutting down for the night and waiting on the xp to v e r y s lo w l y refill itself!

Stop playing and go back to your wall/feed often!

Don't get too involved in the game to forget to STOP...go back to your Facebook wall and check for friends posting achievements/gem finds/map completions/fruit crates and treasure set completions!
Occasionally stop what you are doing and check your wall!
Why is money and gems important? If you are a higher level you already know that you need MANY gems to open areas of maps to dig, and you need lots of money for dynamite and bug spray on certain islands. Try to get as many gems as possible posted on your wall and celebrations for $100 coin as possible. In turn....DON"T WASTE A LOT OF COIN ON USELESS DECORATIONS FOR YOUR ISLAND!!!! SAVE the coin for buying future coin only maps!

A note about Island Cash (IC).
I have never spent ONE dime of my own money to buy these. DON'T DO IT! Don't waste your hard earned REAL money for useless (CPU ROBBING) decorations. You occasionally find Island Cash in your travels. SAVE THESE UP for islands that require Island Cash to open. Even if you have to leave a IC only island behind, you will eventually find enough IC to go back and play that island.

Plant your garden according to your schedule.

Always have fruit that you have grown at the ready every time you log on! If you know you will be playing or available for the next 4 hours, plant strawberries and collect and replant them again. When you know you are going to bed or to work and won't be back for at least 8 hours, plant watermelons instead. Unless you truly can only log on ONCE a day, every 24 hours....NEVER plant pineapples! Keep the fruit flowing in as often as possible! Keep in mind your garden will wither in twice the time it takes to grow (Like other farm games like Farmville) Strawberries wilt in 8 hours, watermelons in 16. (I believe. That's my disclaimer.

Last but not least!

Be mindful of your energy bar and xp level! NEVER waste xp by eating a bunch of fruit or using energy pack when YOU ARE CLOSE TO LEVELING UP! If you see that you are within 100 xp of leveling up, try to use all your remaining energy, and then only use 1 or 2 fruits at a time to get just enough xp to level up. Remember that if you follow my above strategies you could easily get enough xp to level up by finding one or two treasures that completes a set. Or even just by finding treasure alone...some treasures give you 50xp at once just for finding it!
In other words...if you are close to leveling, use only a couple fruits at a time. Search and try to get the needed xp. If you run out of energy, use only one or two fruits to search some more. Eventually you will get the xp to level.

Excellent Guide,
I would only add that to use the fruits that rot sooner rather than those that take 2-3 days. Also, I found that when I was less than 50 away from leveling up...that's when I visited neighbors.
Having said that, I leveled up quickly too (I'm at level 93). The problem is that you run out of maps (as I have) and have 30+ of all the gems and fruit galore and nowhere to play unless you are willing to constantly beg for map pieces.
I'm basically stalled until the new maps come out.

I discovered all the same strategies, by trial and error... Kudos for taking the time to write it all down! I May send this to struggling friends.
Funny though I discovered the opposite approach for using energy generated by the game time elapsing... (Non fruit energy). I realized it worked best for me to click on the most expensive first, except multi digs, and then use my own fruit for smaller tiles. That way I can control accidentally opening a huge treasure or collection and not lose remaining energy by leveling. Since a 10 tile usually only gives you 1-3 Xp. Does that make sense? Each player will discover what makes the most sense in their head, though.
The "metal detector" - great name by the way - is really different in the higher up Mayan Isles. I realized to no longer rely on it and re-strategize how to cover the island. I started making patterns and if I do get a treasure, great. When you are higher up, it's not so important to get a treasure on every dig because leveling up takes much longer. When the Mayan Gold Rush opened up, I had to go back to paying attention to the detector but even then I knew its clues weren't as helpful as the earlier isles.
When going back to the old islands, it sure is fun to have all that energy from being a higher level to cover more ground, plus the old thrill of discovering a treasure everywhere you turn. It made me remember why I got hooked. I'm at the same place as you - needing maps or new islands to open up.
Regarding cash, I used mine all up on islands, picked them depending on what collections were to be found. I got a few collections completed by going to these cash islands. I wouldn't ever spend my own money on this game, but using the cash the game gives you... why not? What else is it worth? Decorating your own island is merely for boredom purposes. Nobody cares what it looks like.... Just don't hide your gem tree or treasure chest from your friends. That is annoying!

Thanks for the reply and additional insight MacIntel! I'm sure you're right that people can adopt their own strategy on whether to start with higher energy costing tiles or lower ones.
I noticed that as well. I'm sure some math whiz could run the numbers and find the precise strategy.
Clicking a three dig rock that costs 30 energy produces at a minimum 9 Xp and a fruit/treasure or 10 Xp. (3 Xp per swing, and 1 Xp as the reward) vs. a 5 energy tile that at best produces 1xp, 2xp fruit, 3xp gold, 4xp gem or treasure.
Anyway, thanks for providing feedback and your own thoughts!