manoa chocolate factory tour

O‘ahu Cacao Farm Tour & Chocolate Tasting

Discover the journey from cacao tree to chocolate bar in a 2-hour immersive tour through our lush orchards in Hawaii.

Duration: 2 hours
Days: Tuesday, Friday, Saturday
Times: 9:00 AM & 11:30 AM
Location: 67-172 Farrington Hwy Unit C, Waialua, HI 96791
$85 for adults (13+)
$65 for children (ages 8-12)

The Experience

Your Tour Includes:

A guided walkthrough of our cacao orchards.
Learning about the agriculture and history of cacao production.
Tasting fresh tropical and cacao fruit.
A guided chocolate tasting session.

You’ll leave with a deeper appreciation of the cacao and chocolate industry in Hawai’i and worldwide.

Immerse Yourself in the World of Cacao and Chocolate

Have you ever wondered how chocolate is made from the fresh fruits of a small tropical tree? Join us on a guided tour of our cacao orchards to discover the process of harvesting, cultivating, and transforming cacao into chocolate.

Explore our shady cacao orchards.
Learn about the rich history of cacao production.
Taste fresh cacao fruit and tropical fruits.
Enjoy a curated craft chocolate tasting session.

Before You Go

What to Wear: Closed-toed shoes and sunscreen recommended.
What's Provided: Cold water, mosquito spray, and umbrellas (available upon request).
Accessibility: The tour involves a 30-minute walk on uneven ground and is not ADA accessible.
Family-Friendly: Suitable for ages 8 and above.

Special Offers & Shop

After your tour, treat yourself to chocolate bars, gifts, and merchandise. Our insulated tote bags make great souvenirs, and our chocolate is perfect for gift-giving.

Kamananui Orchards

67-172 Farrington Hwy Unit C, Waialua, HI 96791

a dream fulfilled ~ note from dylan, september 2024

When I started Mānoa Chocolate 14 years ago my dream was to make chocolate from cacao we grew ourselves, right here on my home island of O'ahu. We've finally done it. We are thrilled to announce after six years of hard work, our O’ahu cacao farm, Kamananui is now open for farm tours!

Located on the famous North Shore, our farm sits nestled at the base of O’ahu’s tallest peak, Mount Ka’ala. On our tour, you will learn why this site is special (it’s the most genetically diverse cacao farm in the world), history of the location, and a fresh cacao fruit tasting. The tour is topped off with an extensive chocolate tasting of bars and treats within the comfort of our Orchard Pavilion. Oh, and not to be forgotten, along the way you’ll likely encounter some wild peacocks and a pig or two.

Kamananui represents a partnership between Mānoa Chocolate and Cacao Services; a cacao consultancy business based in Hawai’i. Starting this farm required extreme patience. It took two years of scouting our island before we found a location in Waialua on O’ahu’s North Shore. The site had everything we could hope for… except, infrastructure. It was completely raw and covered in thick invasive weeds. How hard could it be? It turns out, VERY! We had to dig a well, install a pump, get permits to allow the electric company to hook up power to the pump so we could water our seedlings, put in a road that would be accessible when it rained… the list goes on and on. We learned a lot, and many times the hard way. All said and done we finally made our first batch of Kamananui chocolate last month. Fermentation of the first harvest is always unpredictable and we weren't sure what to expect, but it came out great! We are so excited for you to try it.

To distinguish this farm, we were keen to develop a new package design that emphasized our involvement and represented the unique characteristics of this farm. I’m proud to say that this artwork was created by Mānoa’s in-house artist and my brother, Carson Butterbaugh.

We hope to see you soon beneath the canopy of our orchard. Please don’t hesitate to give us your feedback so we can continue to improve upon this new experience. Aloha!

- Mānoa Chocolate Founder and Kamananui Cacao Orchards Co-founder, Dylan Butterbaugh

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Manoa Chocolate Tour

Experience The Real Hawaii!

Book online or call: (808) 698-5779

Tour Overview

Our guests will park at the bottom of Puia road, in the old plantation village of Paukaa. From there, our tour van will drive everyone up the hill to our beautiful estate at the Honolii Orchards – a family owned multigenerational farm. The drive up the hill is brief but scenic, through old macadamia nut groves and cattle pastures, and you’ll learn some of the history of the area from your driver. Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by your guide who will be your steward for the rest of your experience.

Tour Name: Honolii Orchards Chocolate Tasting and Farm Tour
Availability: Mon, Wed, Fri
Duration: 3h
Start Time: 10am - 1pm

What's Included

Guided tour from Paukaa to Honolii Orchards
History of agriculture & chocolate explained
Tasting room with 10 craft chocolate bars
Insight into single-origin chocolate flavors
Sampling of fresh cacao product
Explore a beautiful cacao farm
Learn from a master farmer

What to expect

Scenic Arrival Guests will park at Puia road and be driven to Honolii Orchards, enjoying the scenic route.

Educational Experience Learn about the history of agriculture and chocolate, including its origins and differences between craft and commodity chocolate.

Tasting Experience Sample at least 10 different craft chocolate bars from various farms in Hawaii, appreciating the diversity of flavors and learning about terroir.

Exclusive Insights Understand Hawaii’s role as a chocolate hub and gain knowledge to become a leader in the craft chocolate industry.

Variety of Treats Enjoy fresh cacao juice, roasted cacao beans, cacao tea, and seasonal fruits and treats around the farm.

Purchase Opportunity Guests can buy the chocolates they tasted.

Chocolate Warning Be prepared to consume a significant amount of chocolate during the tasting, with the option for more if desired.

Departure and return

You will be departing and returning at the same location

Cancellation policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours in advance of the start date of the experience.

What others are saying...

Manoa Chocolate Tour & Tasting | a Unique Experience in Hawaii

Hispanic/Filipino man at Manoa Chocolate Tour to purchase chocolate bars in Kailua, Hawaii.

What kind of food do you think of when Hawaii pops into your mind? Is it pineapples or coconuts? Or perhaps is it those boxes of chocolate-covered macadamias that you buy as souvenirs?

What if I told you about Manoa Chocolate , Hawaii’s craft chocolate brand, and that you can tour and taste their samples?

For $25, you can visit Manoa Chocolate in Oahu and learn about how the bitter cacao bean transforms into the delicious treat everyone loves.

Disclaimer: This post uses affiliate links, which means I make a commission if you book through this post. If you do decide to book using my links, thank you so much for your support!

Manoa Chocolate Tour: Introductions & Learning

333 Uluniu Street, Suite 203 Kailua, HI 96734

Manoa’s factory is located in the small town of Kailua, about 30 minutes away from Honolulu. The parking lot is metered but only accepts coins. However, you can park on the side roads. If you’re lucky, you might be able to snag a spot right by the Kailua Library for free.

The chocolate bars for sale at Manoa Chocolate in Kailua, Hawaii

Upon checking in, a Manoa employee will greet you and your group and walk you through the chocolate-making process. Then they give you samples of all of their different types of chocolate.

Our guide, Kellen, was so sweet and engaging while sharing her knowledge about Manoa’s history.

History of Manoa Chocolate

Manoa Chocolate was started in 2012 by Dylan Butterbaugh, who was born and raised in Hawaii his whole life. As he was graduating from the University of Hawaii with a degree in Sustainable Development, his classmate experimented with cultivating cacao on the islands. Dylan was fascinated and saw the need for bean-to-bar chocolate with only the best cacao. He went all in with Manoa Chocolate, from planting the trees to sourcing beans all around Hawaii and other parts of the world, to investing in machinery to shell, harvest, roast, and morph the cacao into a high-quality bar.

Dylan learned everything he could about the chocolate-making process through YouTube (when there weren’t as many resources at the time). He used a tricycle and a back massager to create a makeshift winnower, a machine that separates the bean’s shells from the cacao nibs inside. The shells are then used to make chocolate tea (which Manoa also sells!). He used a barbeque to roast the beans. This was all before he invested in the manufacturing equipment needed to grow Manoa as a business and pioneer Hawaii’s craft chocolate industry.

Roasted cocoa beans at Manoa Chocolate in Hawaii

During the tour, we learned that Hawaii is the only U.S. state with the climate to cultivate cacao, and the coldest location in the world to do so.

Locations that sit on the equator are best for growing cacao. Hawaii just so happens to sit 20 degrees above the equator.

Craft chocolate vs. commercial chocolate

There is a clear difference between craft chocolate and commercial chocolate. The latter is what we all know as chocolate from Hershey, KitKat, and the other brands you see in grocery stores and gas stations. They are all about the bottom line, using low-quality ingredients to make chocolate in the largest amount of batches with minimal human involvement. Their goal is to produce as much as possible, even at the expense of laborers.

Manoa Chocolate falls under the former. They source their beans directly from farmers in Hawaii and other parts of the world (such as Central and South America, and Tanzania) at high prices. This supports the farmers financially. Manoa also aims to use planting cacao trees as a way to reforest the islands, which benefits Hawaii and its people, creatures, and economy.

Lastly, Manoa Chocolate’s main mission is to make the highest quality, most delicious chocolate possible!

Why the name manoa ?

Manoa is Oahu’s lush valley filled with sugarcane and coffee plantations. It is 3 miles east of Downtown Honolulu and less than a mile from the Waikiki area. It is home to the University of Hawaii at Manoa , the flagship campus of the UH system. Despite this, Manoa Chocolate is located in the Kailua neighborhood, 30 minutes east of Honolulu.

The term manoa means solid, vast, deep . It also stands for taking care of the land that cultivates the cacao. With how much heart and soul Dylan put into Manoa Chocolate, it just makes sense. Especially with how they take ethical and sustainable practices seriously.

RELATED: I love participating in food/drink-related activities when I travel, such as visiting the Starbucks Roastery in Seattle or drinking champagne on the London Eye .

Learning about the bean-to-bar process

During the first part of the tour, Kellen points to a gallery wall of framed photos of the bean, starting off as a flower from the Theobroma Cacao tree to getting harvested and roasted. She shares how the cacao pods grow from the tree trunks and is home to the beans inside. There are an average of 20–40 beans in each pod. The beans are surrounded by white pulp, which is used to make cacao water.

Kellen had us try samples of cacao water, which had a fruity taste with tiny notes of chocolatiness (not sweet like a full-on chocolate bar, if you know what I mean). It was refreshing on a muggy day in Hawaii and has so many antioxidants and electrolytes to keep you healthy and hydrated.

We also sampled cocoa nibs fresh from the shell’s bean, by cracking them like peanuts (or manually winnowing them with our fingers).

Eventually, we got to observe the chocolate-making process through the windows. After roasting the beans, they go through winnowing , separating the nibs from the shell. After that, they go through refining and grinding , which they are made into a paste and when sugar gets added to the mix. Then they go through tempering , which heats and then cools the chocolate to the perfect temperature for the best consistency. Finally, the chocolate is ready for the molding process, which removes air bubbles and transforms it into a solid bar.

Manoa Chocolate employee doing a tour in Hawaii

Manoa Chocolate Tour: Tasting all the bars

Now comes the fun part—tasting all of Manoa’s bars!

We were given the packaging of all of Manoa’s bars on the table along with a tasting wheel labeled with different flavor notes. Kellen served us chocolate tea to cleanse our palate between tasting each sample.

Manoa has three chocolate bar collections:

Hawaiian Grown Cacao Collection: Made with beans grown from different parts of Oahu (Mililani, Ko’olaupoko, Waiahole, Waimanalo) and Big Island (Kona and Kealakekua). There are also three bars in this collection that have added flavor in each, such as lavender, goat milk, and regular milk to make it less dark and more Belgium/Swiss style.
Alcohol collection: There are two bars in this collection, one of which is infused with KōHana Rum, and the other with Old Pali Road Whiskey.
Flavors of Hawaii: Chocolates infused with and inspired by Hawaiian fare. Flavors include mango, banana, haupia coconut, sea salt, coffee, and liliko’i (passionfruit). The packaging is colorful, fun, and illustrated by Punky Aloha Studio .

Manoa Chocolate tour and tasting different sample chocolates

Analyzing the flavors

As we were tasting each piece of chocolate, we had to guess which notes were inside. We all agreed that most of the Hawaiian Grown Cacao bars had fruity notes. It turns out that the Waimalano bar had hints of green apple while Kealakekua bar had a bit of strawberry. The Mililani bar had cherry, passionfruit, AND raspberry.

My favorite bar was the one with goat milk because it had that savory bite that almost tasted like a creamy cheesecake. Cecilio loved the lavender bar; he said that he could actually taste the lavender, unlike in other products that claim to have it but end up being too mild. The lavenders were sourced from Ali’i Kula Lavender Farm in Maui.

I especially loved the rum bar. But the whiskey bar? I could take it or leave it.

As far as the Flavors of Hawaii collection, I had a hard time deciding…but I would have to say that I loved the mango and coffee bars.

Kellen had one more treat for us: she had two white chocolate bars from their tea collection (which is no longer sold online, it’s in-store only). They were chai latte and matcha flavored, and were sold as tiny squares in plastic wrap. I loved both, especially the chai latte bar as it tasted autumnal!

Manoa Chocolate tour and tasting the matcha white chocolate

How YOU can try Manoa Chocolate

If you decide to visit the Oahu island in Hawaii, you’ve got to take a day trip to Kailua to do the Manoa Chocolate Tour & Tasting. You have to make reservations in advance , and the tours are operated everyday at 2 pm. They are about 60–90 minutes long.

You can also visit Manoa Chocolate as a part of a guided tour. GetYourGuide has two tours below which include a trip to Manoa.

Not heading out to Hawaii anytime soon? Don’t worry! You can purchase the chocolates on their website individually or as a set. They also sell chocolate-powdered macadamia nuts, chocolate tea, drinking cocoa, and macadamia spread (think Nutella, but with macadamia nuts instead of hazelnuts).

Manoa also offers a $35 monthly subscription box, consisting of three bars. It may be worth looking into, especially if you like surprises 🙂

insulated bag of Manoa chocolate featuring 7 chocolate bars and a straw hat

I understand that at $10–$12 a bar, Manoa Chocolate is on the pricier side. But by supporting them, you are helping them pay farmers fair wages and you get to be a part of their efforts to reforest the Hawaiian islands through cacao. Plus, they are just so freaking delicious, and are amazing gifts for your family and friends!

Have you ever heard of Manoa Chocolate or the craft chocolate movement?

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Hannah Padilla

Hannah is a travel writer, graphic designer, and the founder/editor of Hannah on Horizon. She is based in Sacramento, California, living with her husband and two adorable dogs. She shares tips on how to experience luxury travel on any budget, and how to maximize time at each trip or destination, no matter what your budget or amount of vacation time at work. She enjoys making you feel like you have visited each destination with her through her storytelling and informative writing style.

The Manoa Chocolate Factory in Kailua, Oahu

One of my favorite hidden gems on Oahu is the Manoa Chocolate Factory Tour. Located in Kailua in the upstairs of a nondescript building, this fun and informative chocolate tour will teach you about sustainable bean-to-bar chocolate and also treat your tastebuds to the exotic world of custom chocolate.

Started in 2010 by Dylan and Tammy Butterbaugh, Manoa chocolate takes it’s name from the University of Hawaii at Manoa – where they were both college students at the time. Their philosophy is simple – create great chocolate from great cacao and make sure that every step of the way is sustainable to farmers and producers. It all starts in Hawaii, the only state that can actually grow cacao commercially. The two started with home made equipment and a love of chocolate. Today they are in the top ten of bean to bar makers in the U.S. and the largest in the state of Hawaii.

Manoa Chocolate is located above Cinnamon’s Restaurant in Kailua at 315 Uluniu Ave. It’s not an intuitive location which is great because if you can find it, you can usually walk in and get the free 30 minute tour which starts with cacao and how it is grown and then moves on to how chocolate is made before ending with chocolate tea and a sampling of their amazing offerings – made from fair trade cacao they purchase from around the world – as well as Hawaii. Chocolate is a lot like wine and there are many different factors that go into creating the complex tastes.