Gemstones

Gemstones In Lanzarote

I love walking along a beach and finding what treasures the sea has washed up, I’m forever coming back home with lengths of rope, driftwood, shells and a pebble or two. Did you know you can find the green gemstone olivine otherwise known as peridot in Lanzarote?

When visiting the Charco de Los Clicos at El Golfo, Lanzarote have a look at the black sand, there are tiny particles of green gems all polished smooth by the sea and glistening in the sunshine, a handful of sand in a glass jar looks like stars twinkling in a night sky. Then look at the small pebbles along the shoreline, they have splodges of green dotted in them.

This gem is hidden inside the black lava rocks, what looks from the outside just to be an ordinary black rock can have a beautiful green middle just waiting to be discovered. The black beach at Playa de Janubio in Yaiza is a great place to spend time searching in the rocks for your own treasure. If you want a gemstone, you’ll find them in the reputable jewellers on the island.

Taking rocks or gems from Lanzarote is not allowed, but that doesn’t stop the fun of looking for them.

Peridot / Olivine is also the birthstone for August and known as the poor man’s emerald.

More reading? Lanzarote newbies – the top ten things to do.