Booking choice: The Lydgate Farms chocolate tour, from $145 per person. Check dates Compare the options below
You will spend around two hours on your feet outdoors at Lydgate Farms before sitting down to taste, on paths that cross grass and red dirt with some steep slopes. Tours run in light rain, and mosquitoes like the same shade the cacao does.
None of it needs special kit, but the wrong shoes or no bug spray can spoil the morning.
The quick answer
Wear closed-toe walking shoes with grip, light breathable clothes and a hat. Bring insect repellent, sunscreen, water and a light rain jacket, plus a cool bag if you plan to buy chocolate, because it melts fast in a parked car.
What should you wear on the chocolate farm tour?
Light, breathable clothes you do not mind getting a little dirty, and a hat for the sunny stretches.
Shorts are fine, but if tall grass or bites bother you, light long trousers are better; one guest on the Kilauea fruit farm tour gives exactly that advice. Kauai's red dirt stains, so skip white.
Packed and ready? Check weekday dates for the Lydgate Farms tour and tasting.
Check dates for the Lydgate Farms chocolate tourWhich shoes are best?
Closed-toe shoes with grip: trainers or light hiking shoes are ideal.
The Lydgate paths include steep, sloping grass that gets slick after rain. Princeville Botanical Gardens asks guests to wear good walking shoes for its stairs and gravel, and the Maui and Oahu cacao tours recommend closed-toe shoes too. Flip-flops are the one thing to leave behind.
Do you need insect repellent?
Yes: it is a tropical farm on the wet side of the island, and mosquitoes are part of the deal.
Put it on before you arrive. Princeville Botanical Gardens provides organic, DEET-free bug spray on its tour, but at Lydgate Farms bring your own.
What if it rains?
Bring a light rain jacket: tours run in light rain, and Kauai's showers usually pass quickly.
An umbrella is awkward on a guided walk; a packable jacket is easier. Princeville hands out umbrellas and runs rain or shine. If a big storm is forecast, the Viator booking cancels free up to 24 hours before.
What should you bring?
Pack light: you carry it for the whole walk.
- Water, especially on a warm morning
- Insect repellent and sunscreen
- Hat and sunglasses
- A light rain jacket
- A cool bag and ice pack for chocolate you buy
- A card for the farm shop and cash or card for your guide's tip
- Your booking confirmation and the farm's address: 5730 Olohena Road, Kapaa
Why bring a cool bag?
Chocolate melts fast in a parked car on Kauai, and the farm shop comes at the end of the tour.
A small insulated bag with an ice pack keeps bars in shape until you get back to your room. If you are heading straight to the beach, buy last or plan to go back to the room first.
Ready for a morning on the farm? Honey, vanilla, fresh cacao fruit and a long tasting, with free cancellation up to 24 hours before.
Explore the Lydgate Farms chocolate tourShould you eat before the tour?
Have a light breakfast: the tasting comes at the end, and there is a lot of it.
Guests report tasting honey, fruit, macadamias and many kinds of chocolate, and some say they were "chocolated out" by the end. Arriving starving makes the first two hours drag; arriving full wastes the tasting.
Is it different at Princeville or the fruit farm?
Slightly: Princeville supplies walking sticks, umbrellas and bug spray, and the Kilauea fruit farm is flatter and wheelchair accessible.
At the fruit farm you need your own car, since many taxi drivers will not take the long dirt road from the meeting point. Wherever you go, the same shoes, repellent and water apply. Compare the two chocolate walks in Lydgate Farms vs Princeville.
Would a garden suit you better? Princeville provides sticks, umbrellas and bug spray.
Check dates for the Princeville garden and chocolate tourFrequently asked questions
Can I wear sandals on the chocolate farm tour?
It is not a good idea: the paths are grassy and sloping, and closed-toe shoes with grip are much safer, especially after rain.
Does the farm provide bug spray?
Bring your own to Lydgate Farms. Princeville Botanical Gardens includes organic, DEET-free bug spray on its tour.
Will chocolate melt in the car?
Yes, quickly. Bring a cool bag with an ice pack if you plan to buy from the farm shop.
Ready to book
Choose your tasting
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Kauai Chocolate Farm Tour & Tasting
- Three-hour guided tour of the Lydgate Farms cacao orchard and botanical gardens
- Tastes of estate honey, vanilla, tropical fruit and fresh cacao fruit
- Chocolate tasting, from chocolate-covered macadamias to the 70% estate bar
Princeville Botanical Gardens & Chocolate
- Guided walk through Princeville Botanical Gardens (terraces, creek beds, valley floor)
- Fruit and honey samples, then a tasting of single-origin chocolates from around the world
- Gratuity included; walking sticks, umbrellas and DEET-free bug spray provided
