Very informative tour. We learned a lot about the process of growing and processing cacao into cacao nibs which are then sold to be used to make chocolate. We tasted delicious chocolate that was made from cacao grown from these fields. Thoroughly enjoyed the tour and chatting with the owner. Highly recommend. read more

The cacao farm is breathtakingly beautiful. Very informative tour - we really learned how much work goes in to growing and processing cacao for chocolate. Also appreciated learning how the owner used her engineering background to perfect the growing, drying and roasting processes. The chocolates we tasted were delicious! We highly recommend this tour. read more

Great and informative tour by a friendly and knowledgeable host! My entire party of 13, ages 5 to 80, had a great time.

Lovely tour of a newer operation. You get to pick a pod, suck on a few different beans and sample the finished product. There's not much for sale, you'll need to go into Hilo to get the finished product. Light walking, a little buggy with a pretty view. There's a port a potty but the owner let our small party use the house bathroom. read more

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Excellent tour. Susan the owner was extremely knowledgeable and made the experience fun for my family, including my two very young kids. Of course tasting at the end was also a treat! read more

If you love chocolate, cacao, or just an experience of culture I highly recommend this tour to you. I came here after a morning hike at Akaka Falls. Susan was the tour guide and her and her husband own the farm. Orion is their ranch-hand and he was really great to talk to before the tour. Our tour was a very small crowd, there were three of us me and an couple from Oahu. We began our tour a under a newly placed Gazebo where Susan introduced herself and gave background on the grounds, their introduction into the Cacao business and an agenda to the tour. We then walked into the orchard and learned of the different stages of life and colors of the Cacao trees and their fruit. We became educated on how to identify a ripe and ready Cacao pod which we got to pick and would open to try. We were encouraged to try one another's pods to taste the differences. Some were fruity, some more bitter, sweet and so on. Susan went on to tell us about the fermenting process, the bean stage and then we got to try the beans as well- 100% cacao amazing. Afterwards we go back up to the gazebo where we get to sample chocolates made by confectioners with ML cacao. Susan also let us sample their chocolate made in house. There is not much for sale, chocolate bars and nibs. This whole tour is about the experience and well worth it. I did bring home cacao nibs so I can put them in my PB protein balls. read more

This is a must-do activity if you are on the big island!! We have been to many tours in our travels and the Mauna Kea farm tour is one of the best we have ever been on. Susan was incredibly knowledgeable and passionate about the process of growing and processing cacao. That enthusiasm translates in her tour and after spending an afternoon on the farm I not only got to taste some fantastic chocolate, but also learned a lot about what goes into the chocolate we love. read more

Mauna Kea Cacao - Cacao beans in the drying process. - Attraction Farms Near Me - Pepeekeo, Hawaii

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We are so glad to have randomly come across Susan's chocolate farm tour! Susan is extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the entire process: how to maintain trees, harvest cacao, and ferment and dry beans. She also shared so many of her experiences living on the big island and answered all of our questions. One of our best highlights of the trip! read more

Susan, owner and tour guide led us on an educational, informative tour. Oh, how cacao is taken for granted. Very intimate setting. From seed to final product is awe inspiring. Tasting the cacao in it's rawest form, then walked through the entire process, in pure form, it's no wonder she has received world wide recognition. Should be a stop on every one's trip to Hilo, and the Big Island! Thank you so much for the memories, Susan. read more

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This was awesome! Susan greeted my boyfriend and I as I drove in, and we were the only tour guests, so we got a super detailed tour experience. Way better than the tours with twenty other folks all crowded around to look at a single cocoa pod at a counter. Susan toured us around the small farm that she and her husband run (all by themselves!), told us about the challenges of moving out here and doing agriculture, and gave us a lot of background about growing her trees. It's cool to see the innovations that two engineers come up with to improve their farming. She let us crack open a couple of pods, taste the fresh fruit (amazing, unlike whatever you think they might taste like), and gave us a rundown on fermenting, drying, and making homemade chocolate. There was also samples and an opportunity to purchase chocolate - Susan gave us homemade samples (which were super good), but we also got to see what commercial chocolate makers do with her beans (they all tasted different and super yummy). She's not pushy at all (like other food tours we have gone on), super friendly, happy to answer your questions, and is an all around awesome tour leader. I hope this place takes off and we will recommend the Thursday tour experience to others. read more

This is one of the best tours I've ever taken about anything, anywhere. Susan is amazing, and her achievements with her cacao on an international scale are quite impressive. We loved how personal the tour is and how interactive she makes it. We learned a ton, and she was so patient with all of our questions. Her homemade chocolate is the best I've ever tasted. You should definitely check this out and support local farming. read more

My husband and I chose this tour over coffee farm tours for our honeymoon on the big island. Susan, owner and guide, was incredible. Tour groups were small and we had a lot of fun walking their grounds and learning about the process of growing, harvesting, and processing cacao to chocolate. On this tour you're able to pick your own pod, crack it, taste the seed raw AND as a nib, and sample chocolates made from cacao harvested on the farm. Super fun experience and well worth the 2 hour adventure from the Kona side of the island. Susan and her husband were so gracious to provide water bottles, bug spray, sanitizer and masks for all guests if needed. There is a very clean port-a-potty on the grounds as well. I would suggest a light jacket in case of rain and do bring comfortable shoes suitable for soft dirt/uneven terrain. Tour lasts 1.5-2 hours. read more

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We truly enjoyed our tour through Mauna Kea Cacao Farms. Susan and Sarah were pleasant, informative, and devoted to answering all our questions about the world of Cacao...with a little family history and local insight along the way! Our 14-year-old daughter was thrilled to pick, crack and taste cocoa pods and, of course, taste local makers' and Susan's finished chocolate. Our tour began in a picturesque gazebo, with bottled water and seating, then went through the orchard, to using Susan's own ingenious processing equipment, and finishing with the tasty chocolate samples (Susan's was the best). This is a great tour! Thank you. read more

Do this. You'll have a great time in the fresh air with a spacious coastline view, get up close and personal with the trees as you learn all about cacao, and end with a chocolate tasting that will leave you asking, "I can buy some to take home, right?" read more

Who would have thought you could see chocolate growing in Hawaii! I was lucky to be one of the first people to tour the Mauna Kea Cacao farm near Pepeekeo on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island. The farm has acres upon acres of cacao trees growing. But the trees do not have chocolate bars hanging from the branches, they have big pods. We were guided on a foot tour of the orchard by the actual farmer who clearly is an expert. During the tour the farmer cracked open the pod to reveal the cacao beans inside that are processed into cacao. Fascinating. We saw how the beans are fermented and dried in preparation for roasting, and had a thorough explanation of how chocolate is made from the raw cacao, and what makes the fine chocolate of boutique chocolatiers so much better than the mass-produced bars one usually finds in stores. I had never really given much thought to how much work goes into making the chocolates that I so enjoy. Now I can appreciate why fine chocolate costs more. We had the chance to eat some chocolate actually made by the farmers from the cacao growing on their land, and some made by other chocolate makers using the cacao grown here. That was truly special and was perhaps the best chocolate I have ever tasted. The farm is located about 10 miles north of Hilo and just a mile off the belt highway, Highway 19. The tour needed to be booked in advance through the website and directions to the farm were then recieved. It is easy to find, and the road to the farm is paved. It was a cool, rainy day when I was there, be prepared to be out in the weather. And be prepared for some walking over uneven ground -- this is a real working farm, after all. There are many other tourist sites in the vicinity, so it is easy to combine this tour with other activities. Whether you are a local or a visitor to Hawaii, this tour is entertaining and educational. read more

Must do!! Susan and her husband were incredibly kind and generous. They gave a great tour of their property and gave such a nice hands on experience picking our own pods, cracking them, and trying the cacao in all the stages: fresh fruit, fermented, dried, cacao nibs, and chocolate! Their small batches of homemade chocolate was the best I've ever tasted and they were so kind to spend extra time answering all our questions. They also kept our tour size nice and small and made hand washing and sanitizing stations available throughout the tour to keep everyone clean and safe! I highly recommend this relatively low cost experience!!! read more

My wife and i really enjoyed our tour. Susan was very knowledgeable and made all the information really interesting. We were delighted by the beautiful location and hands on experience. I now really appreciate the effort and care required for premium chocolate read more