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Kona Historical Society

On the Kona coast, resort guests hit the beach to harvest sea salt from the shore

In LA Times September 27, 2018 by Jay Jones

Sea salt comes in several varieties. It is flaky compared to the typical crystals found in table salt. (Andrew Richard Hara)

Surrounded by salt water, visitors to the Island of Hawaii can now harvest some of that salt in the same way natives of centuries past did.

The “Salt Harvesting Experience” at Four Seasons Resort Hualalai is the newest of the hotel’s Only at Hualalai activities.

The resort is located along the Island of Hawaii’s Kona coast.

Guests take a short hike along the beach to a flat where the salt gathers in “pens” carved in lava rock. There, they use spoons to collect salt in fabric bags.

With culinary uses in mind, participants return to the hotel for a cooking class during which a member of the restaurant team demonstrates how flaky sea salt is dried and then used in the preparation of various dishes.

The “Salt Harvesting Experience” costs $450 per person.

“Our Hawaiian ancestors lived off of Hawaii’s bountiful resources and in turn respected and honored our land and ocean,” said Earl Regidor, the resort’s cultural center manager. “The natural salt the ocean provided was a cornerstone of Hawaiian living — used for food preservation, cooking, medicine and more.”

Mahalo  to Jack Lutsky

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