oceanview mines

My Wife and I visited the Oceanview mines at Pala today The weather was perfect and found the staff to be wonderful. The cost was $60.00 per person and we thought that it would be a reasonable return if we found any gems. Unfortunately that was not the case.. There were probably about 15 to 20 people there today and very few "keepers" were found in large amount of material that we all had gone through. I understand this is the way the mine takes care of its overhead to buy supplies and pay staff. It seemed to me that the gems found in the material were salted. Giving just a few pieces of tourmaline to the lucky people that found one in their buckets. The wife had made this trip before about 3-4 years ago and did very well. This trip was a wash. If you want to gamble, best to stick with the Pala Casino instead.

I knew up front it was going to be a salted pile of tailings that had been previously sifted for the good stuff. If you speak of salting it's as if you have said there is no Santa Claus. If you are looking to make a great find you're in the wrong place. Buy some Tourmaline from a shop if that's what you're after. None of the digs near Pala are different. You'll find some close to worthless pieces of Tourmaline, Quartz and other specimens. You are paying for the opportunity to have some fun through discovery and identification, The staff tries hard to make it safe and a learning experience. You should prepare for the elements, hunger and thirst or you'll be miserable. I will say it was far better when I first went 6 years ago. Seems like there was much more in the pile.

I took my boys down to the Oceanview Mine the weekend of Labor Day, 2014. We spent the entire day there digging and screening through the tailing pile. This is a great place for rockhounds of all ages as they give you all day and are very family friendly. A couple of things:1. They do not take drop-ins (to my knowledge) you must make a reservation as they only have so many screening tables. 2. To sign up, go to their website (www.digforgems.com) and follow the instructions.3. They'll send you instructions on how to get there and what to expect.My recommendations to supplement theirs (most of this info is in what they'll send you but let me reinforce a few things):1. Take sunscreen, hats, and a beach umbrella. Make sure to bring velcro straps or other tiedowns for the umbrella. The area is out in the open on the top of a hill and you'll get direct sunlight all day. It was well into the 90's the day we were there.2. Bring gardening gloves. You'll be picking through rock rough all day and you'll want the gloves. Trust me.3. Coolers, water, food and ice. Bring lots of water and ice. Again, it was pretty hot when we were there and all my ice melted by 2:00 PM. We also brought about two gallons of water and my boys and I drank it all by the time we left. In this respect, overpack on water and food. It's not a problem to drive back with extra but you'll regret not bringing enough.4. Don't waste your time on shiny rocks. Speed here is the key. Screen quickly and dump out all gravel. Look only for the brightest colors and forget everything else. My boys and I get distracted by non-tourmaline material such as lepidolite, kunzite and such. In retrospect, we wasted a lot of time looking at everything.The staff there is really nice and very helpful. As mentioned, my boys were with me and they took the time to help them out as well. Great, friendly bunch!If you're up to it, the site is only a couple of miles from the Pala Casino and Resort (and Choices Buffet - see my other review on that one) and the place makes a nice food/rest stop. Last item: This site is expensive but it's worth doing, at least once!