We are quite sure this information is not what you have been hoping for:
We get quite a few request lately via this website about collecting rocks or minerals in Hawai’i while vacationing here. Or you might have googled and found some ʻrock-houndingʻ site for Hawaiʻi. For us it looks like these website might have been written by somebody who actually never visited Hawaiʻi.
As the Mineral Society we recommend you enjoy the beaches, nature and our wonderful people, food and our enchanting environment. There is not really that much to look for when it comes to minerals here, since our islands are geologically very young and mostly made up of different kinds of lava. If you are interested in lava, in all it shapes and colors, you came to the right place, since every island’s lava is unique. Most ‘minerals’ found here are a few millimeters in size anyway – not what you might have been hoping for by clicking on this link. (See Hawaii Minerals on display for the first time)
If you feel the urge to collect something (besides great memories and photos,) take a stroll along the beaches and look for shells. If you are exceptionally lucky you might find a prized sunrise shell.
Most of us from Hui Pohaku leave the islands if we want to go rock collecting. We know that there are quite a few minerals listed on mindat.org. But: e.g. the Mo‘ili‘ili Quarry listed there (reference from 1933!) has long become part of the University of Hawaii-Mānoa parking garage and Special Events Arena and Diamond Head is a State Monument. It is also a sad fact that many collection sites that might have existed in the past and are listed in books or publications are now covered by houses, hotels or are located on private property (with no trespassing posted).
As a word of caution: The internet is full of warnings that Madame Pele, the Goddess of the Hawaiian Volcanoes does not look kindly on removing lava or sand from the Big Island. Please google it, and decide what you make of it. The rest is up to you.
In an effort of scientific fairness many of us living here are quite convinced that the so called “Pele’s Curse” is a modern myth with various origins. Cleverly created decades ago, this myth is perpetuated (by blindly copying and pasting, the favorite sport on the web) by the Internet. Here are just two links (link1 link2) how it might have started in so called ‘modern times’…
PS: Despite what you might be reading or been told by a sales person trying to get into your wallet, there is not really gemmy olivine, also called peridot, found in Hawaiʻi. There is lots of olivine all over in the lava, but most commonly in the size of a grain of sand. The San Carlos Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona is the best source for outstanding peridot.