One of the things that Shae was particularly keen on doing while in Hawaii was going on a tour of a chocolate farm. We were staying on four Hawaiian islands – Kauai, Maui, Big Island and Oahu – and so I did a little research into our options.
There are quite a few chocolate tours you can do in Hawaii across a wide range of price points. There were some that were incredibly expensive, but I came across one – Lavaloha Chocolate Farm Tours – on the Big Island that was much more reasonably priced.
Despite not being anywhere near as expensive as some of the other tours in Hawaii, we had a superb experience. The staff were wonderful, the tour itself was extremely interesting and informative and the chocolate was delicious.
Here’s more about the tour.
Lavaloha Chocolate Farm Tours is on the eastern side of the island, just a 15 minute drive from downtown Hilo, or a 25 minute drive from the airport. We were staying over on the western side of the island in Kailua-Kona, so it was a 1 hour, 45 minute drive for us. We’d already been planning to visit the Hilo area anyway, so we just fit everything in that day.
The chocolate farm is up on a hill with nice views of the surrounding area. We’d booked our tickets online, so when we arrived we checked in at the gift shop with Maddie who was exceptionally friendly.
It wasn’t long after we arrived that the tour started. You get driven around the farm on a buggy that holds up to a dozen people.
Our tour guide was Jess and she was excellent. She shared all kinds of information and was clearly passionate about her job and the work they do on the farm. We’ve been on all kinds of different types of guided tours on our 7 year, 50 state road trip and Jess was easily one of the best guides in all that time.
Lavaloha covers about 1,000 acres and contains almost 10,000 cacao trees.
We got to see cacao pods at various stages of ripeness…
…then Jess cut open a ripe cacao pod to show us the cacao seeds (also commonly known as cocoa beans) inside.
It’s crazy to think that what’s shown in the photo above is what gets turned into chocolate. One of the particularly fun parts of the tour was that we got to try the cacao seeds fresh from the pod that she’d just picked.
Jess gave us a heads up that the white, slightly-slimy exterior of the seed was somewhat sweet, while the interior part of the seed was more nutty and not as pleasant tasting. She therefore recommended eating the entire thing together, rather than eating the white exterior first and then the seed after.
Sure enough, she was right. The white, slimy exterior tasted a little like a green apple Jolly Rancher, while the seed itself tasted more like chestnut. The taste at this stage gives zero indication that it could be turned into chocolate. It’s very good for you though as apparently just one of these seeds has an equivalent amount of antioxidants as 40 blueberries.
One of the fun facts that Jess shared is that cacao trees mummify their fruit if it’s not needed. It’ll suck the nutrients from an unwanted pod back in to feed other fruit that it’s keeping. If fruit pods don’t get picked, they’ll all eventually get mummified.
Our next stop was where the farm ferments the beans and dries them out. The building where this is done smelled divine – despite being open on both ends, walking in it smelled like we were stepping into chocolate fondue.
There’s a noticeable difference between cacao beans that are just starting to dry and those that have already been going through that process for a while. In the photo below, the beans on the left had only been drying for one day, while those on the right had been drying for a few weeks.
The farm then checks each bean for imperfections which seems like a laborious prospect. These imperfect beans are then set aside on a separate rack.
Although it’s not an official part of the tour experience, I asked if I could try one of the imperfect beans just to see what it was like. It definitely had a more developed taste than the fresh seeds we’d tried earlier in the tour; although it didn’t taste like proper chocolate, it was a little more like what cocoa nibs taste like.
Our final stop on the tour was an opportunity to do some proper chocolate tasting. We’d already tried fresh cacao beans, dried (albeit imperfect) beans and now it was time to test out the finished product.
Before the tasting, Jess played a video which shared more about how the beans are prepared between the time they’re dried and when they end up as a chocolate bar.
We got to try quite a few different types and flavors:
- 70% dark chocolate on a stick
- 70% dark chocolate chunk
- 70% dark chocolate with sea salt
- 70% dark chocolate with orange zest oil
- 50% milk chocolate – this is technically a dark milk chocolate
- 50% milk chocolate with sea salt
All of their chocolate was very tasty. Shae’s favorite was the dark chocolate with the sea salt which I very much enjoyed too, but my favorite was the orange flavored one.
That wasn’t quite the end of the experience though. After that tasting, Jess drove us back up to the welcome area/gift shop where we got to try one more thing – a latte bar. This contained Hilo coffee, cacao butter, cane sugar and milk powder and was surprisingly tasty considering neither Shae nor I like coffee.
We bought several bars of Lavaloha’s chocolate from the gift shop, then headed outside to their garden. That’s because Lavaloha has a botanical garden in a lava tube that you’re free to explore.
Overall, we had a wonderful time on the tour and so would highly recommend it if you ever take a trip to the Big Island.
How Much Are Tickets For Lavaloha Chocolate Farm Tours?
When we visited Lavaloha in December 2024, ticket prices were as follows:
- Adults – $42
- Adults (Hawaii residents) – $32
- Adults (active military) – $32
- Adults (active student) – $28
- Children (12 and under) – $15
Discounts are also available for a large group on 10+ people; you have to call their visitor center for details on pricing.
Address
Lavaloha Chocolate Farm Tours, 1820 Amauulu Rd, Hilo, HI 96720
Website
Other Things To Do On The Big Island
Check out this post for everything else we did on the Big Island.
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