This place underpromises and overdelivers. This is a great place to visit as you can enjoy it rain or shine. I was concerned that my 12 year old would be bored by doing this activity as he thought it was for “little kids.” Once we got started, all four of us in the group were having a blast (including my parents, myself, and my son). We purchased the 5 gallon bucket of rocks and it took us about 45 minutes to mine all of our gems. (we had 2-3 of us working at any given time). Once all of our gems were collected we met with a sorter and he helped us identify what we had found and showed us what each of them was used for.
The staff were incredibly friendly and so knowledgeable. You have the option to have your gems cut and polished for a cost which we did for a couple of them. With the purchase of the 5 gallon pail we got one gem of a certain type cut and polished for free.
There is a great gift shop here as well which we found several items in to take home with us.
I cannot recommend this place enough. Do not pass it by!