Well, i find this subject kind of amusing...ya'll have to be a little careful, because depending on where you are...you might find you are taking home sand that is NOT from your location.

For example, the Miami Beach beaches are continually rebuilt from sand imported from different Islands in the Carribean...so who knows where the sand you took is from!

Sorry to break the news to you sand hunters!

WHERE IS KAL WHEN WE NEED HIM?????????

I went to Hawaii with my sixth grade class many a year ago. I will never forget the story my teacher, a native Hawaiian, told us about a student on a previous trip who took some sand from the famous Black Sand Beach. Apparently Pele got extremely angry and their bus broke down. When the student finally fessed up and returned the sand, the bus started running again. While the story isn't all that alarming, what you can't imagine is what it felt like to have our quite imposing, shall we say "big-boned" Hawaiian teacher literally looking like she could bring down the wrath of Pele on us if she wanted to. Needless to say I have never taken any sand home from Hawaii.

Jolie: expect to be detained upon your next arrival at HNL and taken in for questioning. And, now that we know you're a previous offender, my guess is that TSA will be doing a body cavity search when you leave, to ensure you are not a repeat offender.
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Hey, if the Feds can tap your phone, surely the city & County of Honolulu can trace your posts....?

Oh no. #39;(
A cavity search will be most unpleasant . . . especially for the TSA agent involved. On the other hand, if they will fly me out there for my court appearance, it just might be worth it!

Seriously, I've learned my lesson: no more sand pinching (and it may be imposter sand anyway). I'll stick with dirt!

I used to collect dirt. There, I admit it. Little specimen vials, lined up on a shelf, from all over the world. At one point, I worked for a company who sent engineers and project managers all over the world, and they would always bring me a sample of somewhere they'd been -- along with a story of how they obtained it. I had dirt from Pakistan (near the runway, and he was nearly arrested), India, New Jersey, Kansas, Brazil -- it was all collectible to me.

When we moved, the box my precious little vials were in met with a horrible accident, and the dirt all co-mingled. Sort of a grass-roots U.N....

There are ordinances at many beaches throughout Hawai'i that forbid taking of ANY amount of sand from those particular beaches - most specifically from the Green Sand Beach - Papakolea Beach, and the Black Sand Beach at Punalu'u. I am a collector of beach sand, but I am always respectful of the laws from which I gather them and never gather more than 1/3 ounce (I have small bottles that I use). There are reasons some areas have laws/ordinances forbidding taking of sand (like the green sand beach) because there is a finite amount of a particular substance that makes up that sand. In other areas, the sand will even change its appearance and composition over time due to tides, erosion, and nature, even be cyclical from summer to winter.

My DH's grandmother is Hawaaian and she fled Hawaii with her 4 young children when Japan bombed us. When she passed away in 2000, we threw sand from Hawaii in her grave.

Sludick- love your story about your own personal UN. Sorry you lost collection but funny story.

I have a vial of black sand that I took at least 40 years ago. Madame Pele has not been too vindictive - maybe she knows how much I luv Hawii and gave me a pass.

Thanks, suunbum1944. The stories they brought back were priceless, for sure.

Post is 9 years old!