Our family loves theme parks, swimming pools, and chocolate, so we jumped on the chance to tour a chocolate plantation on our 2019 vacation to the big island of Hawaii.

The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Company offers small group tours of its facilities. Located up in the hills of Kailua Kona, the drive to the plantation/factory tour is through lush vegetation with stunning ocean views. I was surprised to find that The Original Hawaiian Chocolate Company is located in a primarily residential area, with acres of land for their operations.

Chocolate can only be grown in a few places around the world and Hawaii happens to be the ideal tropical climate. We were given a tour by the owner of the company, Bob Cooper.

The tour took about sixty minutes, starting with the source, cocoa trees. It was a hot and humid morning, so it felt nice to stand under the shade of the trees and learn how chocolate, or rather cocoa fruit, grows.

After our close-up view of the trees, Mr. Cooper took us to a covered tent, where he demonstrated how to cut open the large cacao fruit pods. Inside the pods are white beans and a sticky, sweet liquid. Cute geckos waited on the table so that they could eat the spilled liquid.

The beans are removed and dried on large, flat wooden trays. They will stay like this for several days.

We were taken indoors to see the roasting machines.

Our attention and patience was rewarded with chocolate samples!

and of course, every tour ends in the gift shop. We signed the guest book and bought a few bars.

If you love chocolate and don’t know how it is made, the tour at the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Company is a great bit of education. I have to admit that our family was a little restless. At the time, my step kids were 12 and 9, plus they already knew a lot about chocolate from multiple tours of the Cadbury Factory in England. I think the kids and us, were slightly less interested, than if we had come into the experience with zero knowledge. That said, this was one of our cheaper activities at 20.00 for adults and free for the kids. We enjoyed the chocolate and it’s also nice to support a local, artisanal company.

On the first full-day of our vacation we drove inland about thirty minutes to the lush, rolling hills of Kamuela for a horseback riding excursion at Dahana Ranch.

We arrived early and went into town for coffee and pastries at Kamuela Kitchen. Kamuela Kitchen was an excellent local find with warm hospitality and great food.

We enjoyed Kamuela Kitchen enough to return after our ride for lunch. Grilled cheese for the kids and avocado stuffed with crab for the adults.

Dahana Ranch is a working cattle ranch that offers trail rides and full-on cattle driving experiences. Dan is an experienced rider, I’ve been riding ( including a few lessons) about twenty times, and this was the first time for the kids. We went with the basic ninety-minute trail ride that accommodates all levels. Dan is very tall and accustomed to riding shire horses in England, so I called ahead to make sure that they had the right horse for him. Some of the other ranches only had smaller horses, so it was definitely important to call, rather than to show up and be disappointed.

Dan was given a beast of a horse that truly only an experienced rider could handle. I was given a brown horse named Abbie, nicknamed “Crabby Abbie” since she was a grumpy old lady that took every opportunity to nip at the other horses. I struggled with her a bit, as I tried to steer her away from everyone else on the ride, including our guide, Melissa. My step kids were given very patient and gentle horses, perfect for beginners.

The kids were nervous about the ride. I thought they might even try to bail, but they didn’t and within the first third of the ride, they were confident and enjoying the experience. The had such a great time, that they wanted to go again. Our trip, with regard to both time and money, was already booked up, but if we return to Hawaii, Dahana Ranch will be a top priority. This was our last major vacation prior to Covid-19, so hopefully after the pandemic, we will be able to find a stable close to our home in Colorado.

I felt confident going into the ride, but I hadn’t accounted for a previous injury that would flare up. I had sciatica back in 2017 and even though the immense pain went away within a few months, I still have a lingering weakness in my legs/hip and the pain occasionally comes back. When we had the opportunity to trot, pain seared down my leg. I had to stay towards the back of the pack and take it slow, which did not make Abbie happy.

Dahana Ranch doesn’t believe in “Nose to Tail” riding and encouraged us to keep the horses from walking in a straight line or even stick to the trails. They wanted the horses to be kept alert and not to be overly familiar with the trail.

Back at the ranch we said goodbye to the millions of dogs running around and to the very friendly pig. I think the pigs name was Meatball. It softly snorted as it enjoyed being petted.

Dahana Ranch has merch for sale and quite the collection of dusty boots ( not for sale).

If you’re looking for a great horseback riding experience on the Big island, look no further than Dahana Ranch. It was the top activity that everyone in the family liked and it happened to be one of the cheapest activities of our vacation- 80 each for the kids and 90 for adults! A bargain!

Hawaii 2019: Original Hawaiian Chocolate Tour

Hawaii 2019: Horseback Riding at Dahana Ranch