Kathie

We go to Kauai annually. Frankly, I never write trip reports on these as we do our usual things, relaxing, enjoying a day trip to Hanalei, or Waimea canyon for instance. But this year we stumbled across something new that I thought other Fodorites might enjoy.

It is a chocolate farm tour at Garden Island Chocolate. We learned about this from a woman we met at the pool where we stay. We tried to find it on the web, but it is new enough that it was difficult to find. We did eventually find a phone number and called for reservations (808-634-6812). Our concierge had a brochure which helped with finding it - inland near Kapaa.

The tour is 3 hours and is so much more than a chocolate farm tour. We saw and tasted - right off the tree - many tropical fruits, including many that are less frequently grown, like pomelo. A number of the fruits we'd had in SE Asia but not in the US. The "farm" is lovely, really more of a botanical garden. They do grow cacao and they are making chocolate. At the end of the tour we tasted the chocolate they make. It's very good and is really only available on Kauai.

The tour is $55 per person, children are free. The tours are given twice a week. They just started tours in November.

We very much enjoyed the tour and enjoyed interacting with Jesse and Koa. They have a wealth of knowledge.

website: www.gardenislandchocolate.com

So for those of you who visit Kauai, try to pry yourself away from the beach for a little while and enjoy a botanical tasting tour.

simpsonc510

Sounds delicious!!! Thanks, Kathie.

Kathie

It was, Carol!

aemdfodor

Can you recommend a place to stay in Kauai that doesn't break the bank?

Kailani

Aemdfodor, you might want to ask that question under a new topic, but I had good luck a while back using Priceline, and stayed at some condo near Princeville, and then at the Poipu Sheraton for about $100 a night. If you haven't used Priceline before, there are two websites that give you info: Better Bidding, and Bidding for travel.

travelinandgolfin

55.00 bucks per person?? Wow. At that price, they won't have to make much on their chocolate to stay profitable.

Any idea why it was so expensive?

Kathie

It's a full three hour tour. You have as guides both of the principals in the business. You sample lots of tropical fruits off the trees. And you sample their chocolate bars which are $9 each. (There is another "chocolate tour" on the island that shows you growing cacao plants and lets you taste chocolates, but the chocolates aren't local. Price? $60 pp).

My experience is that most things on Kauai are expensive. I thought this was well worth it.

hawaiiantraveler

Well you never know what you will learn on Fodors,lol. Just doing a little research for a weekend on Kauai and it looks like we might be doing a chocolate tour, mahalo Kathie.

Aloha!

Kathie

Hi HT, I rarely get over to the US board so didn't notice your post. Enjoy!