In ancient Hawaii, salt was used in ceremonial blessings, to bless voyaging canoes, and to preserve and purify. Kona Sea Salt’s farm, located at Keāhole Point next to the Kona airport, aims to honor the importance of sea salt in Hawaiian culture. Using a contemporary take on the traditional Hawaiian salt-making technology—solar evaporation—Kona Sea Salt harvests sea salt to make a variety of products.

But this is not just any sea salt. Kona Sea Salt is the only salt in the world made using deep ocean water (rather than surface seawater, which is often contaminated with microplastics), courtesy of its unique location. Along with the other companies and organizations within the NELHA research complex at Keāhole Point, seawater is pumped via a pipe from a mile offshore and 2,200 feet deep. This deep ocean water is the product of ice formation in Greenland, which leaves behind excess salt that eventually sinks to the bottom of the ocean. 900 years later, via the global ocean conveyor belt of currents, it is brought to this exact location. Once in the farm’s solar evaporation beds, the salt is hand-cured and harvested in an 8- to 10-week process.

The salt made from deep ocean water is very pure and rich in flavor and contains natural minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, iron, manganese, zinc and iodine. Along with the original Pure Kona Deep Sea Salt, the brand also produces flavored salts in local varieties such as ‘Alaea Hawaiian red clay salt, Molokai kiawe-smoked salt, Maui onion and spicy Hawaiian seaweed. As one of the best finishing salts, Kona Sea Salt has attracted the attention of gourmet chefs, and the farm has played host to various unique culinary events and has been featured in Guy Fieri’s newest series, “Guy: Hawaiian Style.”

Kona Sea Salt’s farm is also available for private events. The charming, rustic venue can be customized as guests see fit. The farm has on-site wedding suites, a kiawe wood-burning fire pit, a foot-soak cabana with 47-degree ocean water, and, of course, the rugged and wild coastline with an up-close view of the Pacific Ocean.

For visitors and locals looking to learn more about this Hawaiian tradition, Kona Sea Salt hosts tours that teach about the process of harvesting salt and the history of the area called Ho‘ona. Chief Salt Maker Melanie Kelekolio, who has long worked at the farm, leads guests on visits to the property, followed by a salt tasting.

“We are merely stewarding the land at this point and time,” says owner Sandra Gibson. “… Caretakers able to share it with locals and visitors alike.”

The shoreline was historically home to brackish ponds where fresh water from lava tubes met the sea, and the deep ocean upwelling created fertile fishing grounds. A three-mile-long fishpond once owned by Kamehameha the Great was later covered by a volcanic eruption of Mount Hualālai. The landscape may now be different, but the spirit—and the spectacular sunsets at this westernmost point of the island—remain the same.

Kona Sea Salt; 73-907 Makako Bay Drive, Kailua Kona; (808) 326-9301; konaseasalt.com