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Big Island The Island of Hawaii
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Old 03-18-2011, 07:19 PM
 
Location: eastern Washington
9 posts, read 32,110 times
Reputation: 13

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I will be visiting a friend in Kailua-Kona next month and I'm wanting to do a little rockhounding while I'm there. Does anyone know of a rock club or anyone I could contact to find out where to go and what to look for? I would love to join someone on a field trip while I'm there, if possible.

I have heard that there is a beautiful green sand beach on the south end that is composed of serpentine and olivine. I have also heard that you cannot take any sand samples from the beach to take home. True?

Does anyone have any experience with rock hunting on the island?
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Old 03-18-2011, 11:08 PM
 
Location: Na'alehu Hawaii/Buena Vista Colorado
5,529 posts, read 12,666,240 times
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Don't know of any rock clubs on the Big Island. Basically, all the rocks are lava, so not much in the way of variety. Some of the formations of the different layers are interesting.

There is a beautiful green sand beach (olivine) on the south end of the island. It's either a two mile walk or a hairy drive in a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle. No, you should not remove sand from any of the beaches in Hawaii. There's not much new sand being made, so we need to leave it all here.
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Old 03-19-2011, 04:39 AM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,432,349 times
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You should also know that the goddess Pele puts a curse on anyone removing lava rock from Kilauea.

Every year the rangers at Volcano National Park receive 100s of packages from all over the world, returning rocks picked up by tourists who disregarded the curse, until they experienced it for themselves.
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Old 03-19-2011, 07:51 PM
 
Location: Hawaii-Puna District
3,752 posts, read 11,509,944 times
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But it is apparently OK to have had a quarry, in Kalapana, operated by the County of Hawaii...
That quarry was recently refilled, courtesy of Pele.
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Old 03-19-2011, 08:00 PM
 
Location: eastern Washington
9 posts, read 32,110 times
Reputation: 13
Default Leave the lava

OK. Thanks, guys. I guess I'll just stick to snorkeling and seeing the sights.
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Old 03-19-2011, 09:00 PM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,432,349 times
Reputation: 10759
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdand3boys View Post
That quarry was recently refilled, courtesy of Pele.
Yes, lava rock is definitely a renewable resource here. And I guess Pele is OK with using it as long as stays local. But those tourists from Montana need to watch their okoles.
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Old 03-19-2011, 09:03 PM
 
Location: Hawaii-Puna District
3,752 posts, read 11,509,944 times
Reputation: 2488
Quote:
Originally Posted by OpenD View Post
Yes, lava rock is definitely a renewable resource here. And I guess Pele is OK with using it as long as stays local. But those tourists from Montana need to watch their okoles.
Being a newbie, I guess you don't realize that lava rock is (has been) routinely shipped to the mainland, for construction purposes? Numerous quarries do this, all day long.
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Old 03-19-2011, 09:13 PM
 
Location: Volcano
12,969 posts, read 28,432,349 times
Reputation: 10759
Quote:
Originally Posted by mdand3boys View Post
Being a newbie, I guess you don't realize that lava rock is (has been) routinely shipped to the mainland, for construction purposes? Numerous quarries do this, all day long.
I guess it was 1967 when I learned that, when my friend Murphy Dunne built a bathroom in Chicago with lava walls and sink pedestal. I think that was the same year I learned that when you are too literal with a joke it kills the humor.

Nevertheless, a lot of people DO return their lava rocks to the park. Here are a couple of articles about this:

snopes.com: Pele and Lava Rocks

Lava Rock Return to Hawaii
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