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    Lydgate Farms

    4.7 (375 reviews)
    Closed 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

    By appointment only

    Lydgate Farms Photos

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    Last stop on the tasting tour. Nice seating area shaded with water.
    Elizabeth B.

    Spring for the deluxe tour. At the end instead of having to decide what you want you get a great variety. Our tour guide Sherry was amazing, great energy. Expected to have my husband pass me his dark chocolate as normally it's not his thing but he tried it and I'm sad to say he kept eating all the chocolate. If you're looking for a good intro to fine chocolate and eco tourism this is it.

    Gift shop
    Winston L.

    We didn't have much time on Kauai but we were able to manage squeezing in this 3 hour chocolate tasting and botanical garden tour. No regrets. A rough overview of what you get is a ton of chocolate tasting, a decent amount of tropical fruit tasting, a small amount of walking to see some of the interesting plants on part of the 46 acre farm, and a tour guide who will go through all of the above as well as the history behind Lydgate Farms. Our tour guide, Sheri, was fantastic. Very nice, entertaining, and knowledgeable. She presented a lot information in an approachable way. I can tell you I know a lot more about chocolate and other topics like vanilla farming. Highlights for me included: - tasting a white pineapple and fruit from a fresh cacao pod for the first time. - seeing cacao trees, vanilla beans, and all sorts of other interesting plants. - trying all sorts of different kinds of chocolate and eating 20+ pieces. A few watchouts. Liberally use bug spray and try not to miss any spots. Our family got a few bites in the areas we missed. Another thing - the website only allows a certain number of children per time slot, so if you get in late, you might need to pay the adult price for a child, which is unfortunate.

    Pricing guide
    James A.

    a must-stop three hour tour for chocoholics if visiting the island of Kauai. Like coffee, the cacao plant grows in the tropical belt with Hawaii being the only state in the Union that can grow it. Thus, taking a chocolate tour (and sampling chocolate) became something my wife wanted to do during our visit to Kauai. I booked it on the first day on the island, with cost being $140 per person via Viator, and was able to reserve spots for the following day at 11:00. It's well set-up with clear signs pointing you to the farm (need to pass by other houses through a small residential area). Guides will tell you where to park your car...we intentionally came only 10 minutes before the start and were some of the last ones to arrive. Our tour was fully filled with a maximum of 25 guests. The property is hilly, and the tour does involve a bit of walking, with 3 separate sitting areas where we sampled different foods. In our initial gathering spot, we met Mason (our primary guide). He later told us that he was going into civics. His charismatic personality and willingness to help others, really serves his guests well during the tour and his future (in politics, I'm assuming). We learned a lot about the farm, and had access to bathrooms, natural bug spray (mosquitos definitely bite here) with a place to wash hands, and distribution of umbrellas (for the occasional shower and protection from the sun). Got to sample an apple banana and cocoa tea while learning about the history of the farm. There was so much information, I had to take notes on my smartphone...apologies if I looked like I was not paying attention. In addition to the 3968 cacao trees on the farm (46 acres), other products are grown and raised to supplement the viability of the main crop: apple bananas whose leaves are used the cacao fermentation process; honey from the 50 hives to pollinate the cacao (the parasitic destructor mites that have devastated honey bee hives across the world have not yet made it to Kauai...makes me appreciate the Hawaiian agricultural controls); the vanilla plant vines that are hand pollinated to produce such rare extract that the public can't buy it. We walked to the second spot, passing by various plants and crops. There we sampled unusual tropical fruit (rambutan, soursop, and white pineapple), chocolate covered macadamia nuts (grown in Hawaii), and different honeys. Made me love mac nuts again. The final spot was to taste the chocolate bars. We sampled 5 of theirs (70% dark, 70% with sea salt, 75% with rum, 78% reserve, 50% milk with coffee/nibs), 3 Valrhona, and 1 Hershey. Mason gave a demonstration by hand of how cocoa liquor is made from the fermented seeds (this part is done by machine at a plant in Oahu...their plan is to do future expansion in Kauai so they can emphatically state that it is a completely Kauai product). The 70% dark 1/8 lb bars are $18, and I ended up buying quite a few to give as gifts (Mason didn't buy this explanation). We tried one bar when we got home, and can confirm how creamy and sweet they are (no bitterness). Other tidbits: -- chocolate is a fruit, not a bean or vegetable. -- Only Hawaii can grow it in U.S. -- Grafting is common for consistency -- Chocolate is purple. Black means there were moldy shells. No mold here, so discarded shells can be made into tea -- Most macadamia nuts sold in Hawaii are grown in Australia, and only packaged in Hawaii. -- White chocolate is real chocolate, just using cocoa butter only. -- AI will tell you dark chocolate is bitter cause raw cocoa is earthy (i.e. bitter). Instead, Mason proposed that it was because mass production causes uneven, incomplete fermentation. Smaller batches = careful watching = less bitterness. This was a revelation to me. -- the owner is a fifth generation farmer in Kauai, with him recently changing the name of his farm to his family name. -- At the 2023 Cacao of Excellence Awards held in Europe, Lydgate won the top prize (gold medal) for the Asia & Pacific region, along with six others in the same region, including 2 others from Hawaii. They had previously been named Top 50 in the world multiple times. -- Because they are such a popular tour, there are multiple time slots and days available. The most important thing to note about the quality of the chocolate: cacao plants bear fruit all year round, with Lydgate farms picking and fermenting by hand when it is the right time (as opposed to bigger operations where they combine ripe and unripe fruit all together for the sake of efficiency). Even for a layman like me, it was a convincing argument on why their dark chocolate is premium, costly, and has no bitterness (even at 70%). The major awards that they have received is just confirmation of this fact. And the tour being 3 hours long in such a small area...the time went by really fast.

    Taylor C.

    Our tour guide Jenna was amazing. You might think you won't get enough samples to account for the price of the tour but you definitely will. Chocolate, fruit, tea and more! And you can always ask for seconds if you want. So much knowledge about the chocolate making process and about the foliage and trees on the island. Seeing the farm was amazing. The honey tasted great. And the chocolate eating experience was wonderful. Worth every dollar we spent to go!

    Chloe W.

    Looking for a unique activity near Kapa'a, we found the Bee & Honey tour at Lydgate Farms. The tour includes an introduction to the process of beekeeping, a tour of the apiary, and a honey tasting - fresh out of the hive! Before visiting the hives, you are outfitted with a full beekeeping suit and veil. I highly recommend drinking lots of water beforehand and bringing a water bottle, as the suits get warm quickly. For the tasting, you will try the farm's 4 types of honey, and even eat some fresh honeycomb. Roni and McKenna were knowledgeable guides who answered our group's many questions about bees and the honey collecting process. After this tour, I would definitely love to visit again for the chocolate tour!

    Alex showing us how to access the honey
    Bertrand L.

    We did both the chocolate tour and the honey bee experience. Both were wonderful experiences. For the former the chocolate education , tour and tastings were educational and really demonstrated what good chocolate both tastes like and how it's derived. LF has award winning chocolates and it's clear why. The honey bee experience was also incredible. Being taught about how bees work as a community to make honey and the ways we as humans have been able to work within this system. It was neat how we suited up for the experience, and learned so much from the hosts Alexa and Jessica. Great experience.

    Cacao tree
    Katherine R.

    Absolutely amazing tour. Ours lasted a little over three hours and included chocolate, fruit, honey, and macadamia nut tastings. Very generous servings of all. Our guide Jenna was wonderful and very knowledgeable about the farm and chocolate in general. The farm used to be a botanical garden so we learned many things about native/invasive Hawaiian plants in addition to the cacao trees. Super cool to see vanilla plants, too!! Very expensive products in the gift shop, but the quality of all of them is extremely high.

    Lydgate Farm tours are great! The bee tour was AMAZING!!! Very informative and interactive tour. Ronnie, Christine and Malia were so knowledgeable about bees and made it very enjoyable! The chocolate tour is also wonderful with delicious tastings and very knowledgeable tour guides. Highly recommend both tours.

    Nin J.

    Jasmine and Toni were amazing. They greeted us so kindly and Jasmine took us on for a quick and informative tasting. Jasmine was very sweet and explained each chocolate and history with us and each one got better and better.

    June 2024
    Kyoo C.

    Was fortunate enough to try the chocolate tasting at the farm back in June 2024. After coming back, we recommended to family who were going to Kauai in August 2024. They said the tasting was moved from the farm to tasting room set up in Kapaa so that's where they went. If the tasting room offers the same level of tasting as they did at the farm, definitely go try it out in Kapaa! So generous to sample many different kinds of chocolates from bars to the mac nuts, and some other competitor chocolates which opens your eyes to how good Lydgate farms chocolates are, lol. This farm was tricky to find, as the phone lost connection when getting near the area. Luckily having an idea of where road was going before connection got lost helped find the right place. I can see why they moved the tasting to Kapaa, it'll be much easier for people to go tasting there, sell more chocolates, and free up the farm lots for those doing the tours. Smart business decision. These chocolates are pricey, but you get what you pay for. They can be generous with the tastings, because they know you will love it and have to buy it, lol. It's like the free samples at costco, but instead of a 10% success rate for those, it'll be a near 100% sale at Lydgate:) Wife ended up grabbing several tubes for us and family. I did have to agree, the fresh mac nuts in these chocolates was like no other I've tasted. Tasted so fresh toasted light, like no other mac nuts. Really can't beat the best chocolate covering best mac nuts... It was a privilege to have had the tasting at the farm, since it allowed us to see the chocolate trees and fruits in the parking lot. That alone was a great learning experience! It also made us have to try the cacao nectar pops they had made from the flesh of the cacao fruits. On a hot day, it was an incredible treat, so refreshing! A bit melted on my hand so I thought I better wash my hands, but surprisingly it wasn't even sticky!?! Asked the friendly host Ms. Brook if there's any sugar in these bars, she said they put just a little bit to help it be a frozen bar or something. Amazing treat! Hope they have these bars at the Kapaa tasting room too.

    Vanilla vine
    Jim R.

    Absolutely one of THE best things we have ever done in our numerous visits to Kaua'i. While not really a good activity for younger kids, this 3-hour tasting tour provides so much great information about chocolate farming, production and other culinary secrets. Our FANTASTIC HOST, Mason was so engaging and passionate about chocolate and the farm, and provided a steady steam of humor, information and science. We've visited chocolate farms in Ecuador and spice farms in Tahiti and Tanzania and none of those visits could hold a candle to Lydgate. Their artisanal chocolates are so superior (in fact recently awarded one of the best in the world at the Paris "chocolate Olympics") and you get to taste lots of it during the visit while touring the property, learning about native plants and other crops like vanilla. In between you are seated in open-air, shaded "classrooms" getting schooled on chocolate. The three hours absolutely flies by-especially with Mason. While the cost seemed high when I booked, I was very well satisfied with the value when it was over-you do a lot of tasting. Afterwards the shop is open and you can purchase items direct to take home, or for $30, have it shipped home. We ended up buying $200 of chocolate we liked it so well. So spread the word, this is a MUST DO for adults and teens.

    Jillian G.

    Excellent chocolate tour with a tropical fruit tasting and a wonderful tour guide, Henry! The three hours flew by and were an excellent combo of learning and eating. The grounds are beautiful, parking was easy, and the staff was friendly. Nice bathroom on property as well for guest use. We loved the honey roasted and chocolate covered macadamia nuts!

    opening the cacao fruit
    Marissa W.

    This was one of our last stops on Kauai, but it was by far one of our favorites! We had read about the tour online, and ultimately decided not to book it because of the price. Fast forward to our time on Kauai, and we were in town where they had their tasting room. We walked in, talked with the chocolate associates and were sold! We booked the tour for a few days later. Our tour guide was Jess and she was incredible! Very knowledgeable and clearly excited about the work that she does on the farm. It was really cool to see all of the fruit trees on the farm and getting to try fruit that we don't have back on the mainland. Then came the chocolate! Every bite was delicious and so fun! I would recommend this tour to anyone visiting Kauai!

    Yummy treat with the honey we collected!

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    Everything was excellent and far exceeded our expectations for this type of an outdoor experience and tour!

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    Page 2 of 10

    Ask the Community - Lydgate Farms

    Review Highlights - Lydgate Farms

    (My wife and I did stock up with plans to do a chocolate tasting for friends when we get home to Colorado).

    Mentioned in 48 reviews

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    Wild Kauai Chocolate

    Wild Kauai Chocolate

    4.9(70 reviews)
    2.5 mi

    My wife had been wanting to make her own chocolate bar for years and I was primarily interested in…read morethe process every time we come to Kauai. Well, we finally pulled the trigger on it and did the experience...and it was well worth it. Lance, the owner and instructor was fantastic. With only 8 spots available, you have to book this as soon as it is available. The shop is only 300 sq. Ft. So any more people would be too much and the set up was perfect. It is amazing this small space produces the chocolate! The overall lesson is great because he takes you from bean to chocolate. This is not tree to chocolate because he doesn't have the trees nor does he have the pods and that part of the collection process (however, Lance, if you or your wife are reading this, it might be a great future endeavor to have an option to work with one of your partners and add on the collection tour before!). While he doesn't have the collection process, Lance does an excellent job speaking to the process once beans are collected. From there, the chocolate making and tasting process is thoroughly explained and you are part of it. Finally, making your chocolate is a lot of fun and there are roughly 30 ingredients you can use for your 2 bars. I personally made: an Indian spice flavor chocolate for half a bar, coconut sea salt for second half, matcha coconut sea salt for 3rd half, and coffee bean sea salt for last). Bring your creativity! Thank you Lance for this fantastic experience.

    Fantastic experience! Very fun and we learned so much from Lance! Plus...chocolate! Highly…read morerecommend!

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    4.7(1.2k reviews)
    19.1 mi
    Locally owned & operated
    25 years in business

    We had such an amazing cruise along the NaPali coast. Captain Kelly, Luke and one other crew member…read moredid an awesome job. We were greeted by a pod of spinner dolphins riding the waves of our bow. They served up a delicious breakfast and lunch. We got to snorkel up against some majestic sea cliffs and sail along remote valleys and waterfalls on a beautiful turquoise ocean . This is an adventure to experience. We will be back!

    The sunset cruise with Holo Holo Charters down the Nāpali Coast was an unforgettable experience. We…read morebooked it to celebrate my husband's 40th birthday, and it was perfect from start to finish. Captain Max was incredible--his sense of humor kept us laughing even as the rain and mist rolled in. The two women on the crew (I wish I could remember their names) were fantastic, making sure everyone was comfortable and answering all our questions with a smile. The playlist on board was spot on, setting the perfect vibe. I wish I could find it on Spotify! Despite the weather, the views were breathtaking, and getting a little drenched just added to the adventure. The food was delicious, especially the smoked pork, salad, and fresh fruit, and my husband loved the mai tais. Even without the sunset, the whole experience was magical. After chatting with other travelers, I'm convinced we had one of the best tours available. especially after talking to a couple at our hotel pool who had paid more than we did and only got snacks limited alcohol. I can't recommend Holo Holo Charters enough, and I'm already looking forward to trying their breakfast or snorkel cruise next time. If you're looking for an amazing adventure, this is it!

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