Crystal Castle at Byron Bay: Owner Naren King talks about the Cocoon crystal

A three tonne crystal, shipped in from southern Brazil, is the latest addition to Byron’s Crystal Castle, but the owner of this tourist hotspot is also ready to turn a new chapter. Find out why.

Crystal Castle at Montecollum

First it was the big banana, the big prawn and the big pineapple — now it’s the big crystal.

Nestled in the Byron Bay hinterlands, Crystal Castle has been welcoming tourists and crystal lovers for almost four decades and this tourist hotspot has just unveiled its newest treasure — a three tonne crystal coined ‘the Cocoon’.

Naren King, who first established what he called “a crazy project with big crystals out on the hills” back in the 1980s, fell in love with the Cocoon after a friend sent him a photograph of it.

Naren King and his wife Sono unveil the Cocoon.

“It seemed like the perfect fit for the Crystal Castle,” Mr King said.

“It’s a giant three tonne amethyst crystal which was discovered in a southern area of Brazil a bit over a year ago.”

‘The Enchanted Cave’ at Crystal Castle.

Even though the Cocoon is not the largest crystal in Mr King’s collection — the Crystal Castle boasts more than twenty gigantic crystals, including the ‘Enchanted Cave’ which weighs in at twenty tonnes — it still holds a special meaning.

“We call it the Cocoon because it has this gorgeous shape,” he said.

“For us the deeper symbolism is in a world now that is sometimes really hard and dark, the Cocoon represents new beginnings and hopes for the world.”

The Cocoon.

It took over a year for the Cocoon to be transported to northern NSW.

“(But now) people love it,” Mr King said.

“People are coming in and going straight to the Cocoon crystal.”

The Cocoon is at home among the tallest crystal geodes in the world, a Buddha Walk and a 12-acre botanical garden boasting the World Peace Stupa – a sacred monument blessed by the Dalai Lama.

Crystal Castle at Montecollum, in the Byron hinterlands.

However, Mr King said he is ready to move onto another chapter and is looking to sell his beloved business.

Crystal Castle hit the market late last year — but future owners will need millions as well as the right intentions to be in the hunt to buy it.

“It’s my life’s work,” Mr King said.

“It is more than an attraction or a beautiful place of nature, gardens or crystals, it’s also become a sacred site.

“We’re looking for the right fit … we’re looking for new custodians to preserve it, preserve the legacy and keep it going into the future.”