Incredibly Personal Experience - I can't say enough about this tour and how special it was. It was just the 4 of us and we were shown around this family's cacao and coffee farm. We toured the property and got to eat raw cacao fruit and to see all of the things that they grow on their farm. It was wonderfully casual and the daughter was patient and allowed us to ask as many questions as we wanted. It's clear how much she loves this land and we loved learning about all that they do to ensure it stays healthy and thrives. Once we were done walking through their personal jungle, we had the chance to turn roasted cacao into a ceremonial chocolate drink and chocolate treats. We had a wonderful opportunity to get up close and personal with this family. They were lovely and the experience touched us all. If you have the chance, visit this farm!

Fun family experience - We enjoyed this experience so much! This family owned farm took time to educate us on their organic farming and their ancestors knowledge and practices. We were able to taste the cacao fruit, grind the cacao and taste different ways to enjoy the cacao. Highly recommend spending time here. We loved it!

Don't miss this unique adventure! - This was absolutely the high point of our trip! Totally different from the usual crowded tourist manufactured "experiences", this was a real meeting with a local farming family, who took us in as honored guests and shared their love of the earth and of their culture. We didn't just learn the ancient history of chocolate, we actually made it and drank it the way the original growers did. Then we made and drank a modern version, and finally ground it into a paste to make our own delicious chocolate candies to eat or take with us. And if that weren't enough, we were served a delicious homemade lunch, made with love and pride, as we conversed and had all our many questions answered. We left with a glow and a feeling of being honored to have met such warm, friendly and welcoming people. You will simply have to experience it all for yourself - you won't regret making time for this unique and amazing adventure!

Don't miss this unique adventure! - This was absolutely the high point of our trip! Totally different from the usual crowded tourist manufactured "experiences", this was a real meeting with a local farming family, who took us in as honored guests and shared their love of the earth and of their culture. We didn't just learn the ancient history of chocolate, we actually made it and drank it the way the original growers did. Then we made and drank a modern version, and finally ground it into a paste to make our own delicious chocolate candies to eat or take with us. And if that weren't enough, we were served a delicious homemade lunch, made with love and pride, as we conversed and had all our many questions answered. We left with a glow and a feeling of being honored to have met such warm, friendly and welcoming people. You will simply have to experience it all for yourself - you won't regret making time for this unique and amazing adventure!

Homefeeling - Es war traumhaft! Familiar! Very much informations! Very friendly! I felt like being at Home! Close to nature! Martin and his fauchtet are absolutly fantastic

Don’t miss this deeply personal experience. So good. - Fantastic tour. Best thing we did in Costa Rica. So informative and fun, a very personal experience. We learned so much - thanks!!! And the added waterfall swim was a great bonus

Off The Beaten Path Must Try! - I'm leaving this review in multiple places because it was amazing and one of my favorite activities I did in CR to really slow down and enjoy the process. Truly a personal experience and doesn't feel like you are just cattle, being herded from one place to another. Our guide & host, Martin, explained the process from start to finish, showed us and we were involved in being able to taste the cacao fruit right after he machete chopped it up, tasted a roasted cacao bean by itself, but also tried fresh sugar cane juice. We were told that the Indigenous People of Costa Rica would drink hot water poured on crushed up roasted cacao beans. It wasn't sweet but it wasn't really that bitter and it was really cool to try it. There were only 3 of us so I feel like there was a lot of time to get to know Martin and his daughter Monica but also take part in other experiences such as having fresh pour over coffee from their own coffee beans. You have got to try this! I'm all for going "off the beaten path" for experiences so this really satisfied that curiosity and I just watched & listened with amazement. Don't just follow the google address, look on their website: (gotta google "family stories local experiences don jorge chocolate farm tour") for more detail about how to get to their entrance when you get close. I was just there Jan 10 and it looked like there used to be an entrance somewhere else, not sure but I followed the website and got there easily. I would love to come back to Costa Rica and have more time there but also come back and visit Martin, maybe try the Cooking Experience. But if I do, I'll bring Martin some smoked salmon (his request) because he loves it! I forget and there also could be communication mixups but I don't think he meant fresh salmon because that sounds almost impossible. So, smoked salmon must be it.

Like visiting with knowledgeable friends - Martín and his family were the best hosts, teaching us about the plants and fruits on their beautiful family farm. Pride in their traditions and love for the land is so clear here. From learning about the importance of honeybees to making a local sugar cane juice and of course cacao to drink and chocolate candies, it was fascinating and so much fun to learn about the process. We will forever be spoiled from eating store bought chocolate! Totally worth it and a refreshing escape from the overcrowded touristy tours. Highly recommend.

Must do for chocolate lovers! - This is a must do tour if you’re in the area and are a chocolate lover! Martin and his family pride themselves on being a small company that only does a small number of tours per day with a small number of people, so you get a more personal experience. You’ll get to see a portion of the farm, learn about various flora and fauna, participate in the processing of sugar cane, and the process of making chocolate - from picking the cacao to actually making your own chocolates to take home. They were so tasty!! We learned a lot and had a great time. Martin and his family are very sweet and make you feel very welcome. Logistics: You will likely book the tour through their website (not through trip advisor). Carlos at their office is great! He was extremely attentive and helpful. The farm is about 15ish minutes outside of La Fortuna and you’ll need to arrange your own transportation.

Enjoyed it, but we didn't get to make chocolate bars - We loved walking around the farm and learning about traditional chocolate techniques! Everyone we met on the tour was friendly and we liked learning about their lives. The snack provided was also really tasty. I enjoyed trying a traditional chocolate drink and a less traditional sweetened version with milk. That said, we booked this tour because we thought we would make chocolate bars as shown in the photos. Instead we made a kind of chocolate paste that we couldn't bring home and didn't enjoy eating as much as we would have a chocolate bar. If we had known this we would've booked a different tour closer to town.