Chocolate Workshop. Private Tour from San Jose

Recommended by 94% of travelers

Badge of Excellence

San Jose, Costa Rica

7 hours (approx.)
Pickup offered
Group discounts
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Learn about the chocolate industry in Costa Rica on this private 7-hour tour from San Jose. You'll visit Tirimbina, a private biological reserve in the rain forest and take a guided hike across a suspension bridge to a cacao plantation. Get an intimate look at the chocolate-making process, from fruit to chocolate bar. Lunch is included.

7-hour private chocolate tour from San Jose
Take a hike to a cacao plantation
See cacao trees in the tropical forest
Learn about the process of turning the fruit into chocolate
Lunch and private transportation included

What's Included

Professional naturalist tour guide
100% private deluxe transportation
2 hours chocolate tour at Tirimbina Reserve
Delicious lunch
Bottle of water

Alcoholic Beverages
Tips for tour guides

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Pickup details

we offer pick up service from all hotels in san jose. if yuor hotel is not listed please tell us your hotel name and we will arrange pick up

Operating hours
.7:00 am

Itinerary

After hotel pickup in San Jose by air-conditioned private vehicle, your tour starts with the drive out of the city to reach the Costa Rican countryside.

During your experience, discover the origins of chocolate, a plant — cacao — that dates back to civilizations of Mesoamerica like the Maya and the Aztecs. With your guide, take a hike across the Tirimbina suspension bridge to a cacao plantation and through a section of forest to see the plant growing.

Hear about the natural and cultural history of the cacao tree, and learn how the fruit is processed and turned into the chocolate that you eat and drink, from harvesting and fermentation to drying and milling. Plus, you may taste different types of chocolate, particularly organic chocolate grown by the Association of Amazilla Women of the Caribbean, a rural group dedicated to the production of organic chocolate.

When your tour is over, you'll be returned to San Jose for hotel drop-off.

Tirimbina Biological Reserve

3 hours • Admission Ticket Included

Braulio Carrillo National Park (Pass By)

Sarapiqui River (Pass By)

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Child and infant rate applies only when sharing with 2 paying adults
Children must be accompanied by an adult
Not wheelchair accessible

Infants must sit on laps
Most travelers can participate
This is a private tour/activity. Only your group will participate

Supplied by

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Peter_G

We had a really fun time doing this chocolate tour. My wife and I were on our honeymoon and chose to do a real chocolate tour (since I'm a chocolate maker in the US) Our tour guide Mario was right on time picking us up for the drive from San Jose to the rain forest preserve where the wild life and chocolate tour began. On the way, Mario added historical information about the city and country. We even stopped for a quick view of a pineapple plantation, howler monkeys and a banana search. The chocolate tour was everything we were hoping for and more. A hike through the rain forest and hanging bridge to open and taste real cocoa fruits. Most chocolate makers I know never tried the fruit. It was really good. My wife and I had some amazing chocolate and made our own drinks. We loved it. The lunch after was great too. On the way, we saw some green frogs that were deadly to the touch. Mario made sure we didn't get too close. We just had a lot of fun and well worth the price. Thank you. I wish I could post pictures as we took a ton.

Reviews

4.7

based on 16 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Sweet!

Susan_H, Mar 2025

The private tour was a splurge but it was the only way I could find to do the chocolate tour from San Jose, and I’m so glad we did. Getting to see the chocolate-making process, with tastings along the way, from A to Z is very cool. Bonus points for wildlife.

Response from Host, Apr 2025

Thank you for the fantastic 5-star review. We're thrilled you enjoyed our activity and had a great experience with us. Your support means the world to our team. Looking forward to welcoming you back soon!

NOT WORTH IT!!

becky, Jul 2023

We paid for a private tour and didn’t get a private tour. 8 more people were added to my group. Also for that amount of money it was truly NOT worth what we got for it. Crossing a hanging bridge and a lesson on chocolate THAT WAS IT!! NOT WORTH IT AT ALL.

Response from Host, Jul 2023

Your derogatory comment only reflects the kind of person you are. Because just at the end of the tour and having received all the services, you contacted Viator to request a refund, and since this was not approved for unjustified, you only make this review to harm our company It is not true that the tour was not private. The service was given privately with our guide and transportation. The chocolate activity is shared with few other clients. The client from the beginning of the tour was confused as to what the tour consisted of. She demanded a Coffee and Chocolate tour, when this is not indicated on our tour and it is only a chocolate tour. Also the client did not even know that it was a private tour and she asked our guide why other passengers were not traveling. This client from the beginning of the tour gave our guide problems and told him that he had problems with diabetes and high blood sugar and felt bad. She was in a very bad mood and she just complained about everything. Our guide offered them a bottle of water before starting the walk and she did not take it. Later on the walk, she asked the guide for water and they were already very far from the van, so the guide could not give it to her. She later complained that the chocolate tour was too long. She also complained that she wanted to have lunch at 12 noon but lunch was scheduled at 1 pm after the tour ended. In the review this client says that the tour was just crossing a bridge and a lesson in chocolate. That's not true. It is a very complete experience with a lot of information about many things about the history of chocolate, cultivation, processing and how chocolate bars are made. Besides this the experience is developed into the rain forest and with beautiful flora and fauna arround. Our tour also includes a beutiful countryside drive where the a National park is crossed and pinneaple plantations and other crops are explained.

My wife and I were the...

mueller1939, Mar 2022

My wife and I were the only passengers. However the guide and driver gave us the entire package. They were very knowledgeable and did an excellent job.

Response from Host, Apr 2022

Hi, thank you for your positive review. We appreciate it.

Perfect from the start!

Stephen_H, Mar 2020

We were recommended by a close friend to try a coffee or chocolate tour. His recommendation turned out to payout so much in the positive I cannot thank him enough; but I would caveat that the experience we had that was so meaningful all started with our driver/guide Geraldo! Geraldo showed up on time, greeted us, got us to the car, which was clean, nice and very comfortable. Our conversations just seemed to flow as if we had known each other for a life time; talking about everything and anything and providing us with great insight on Costa Rica. The drive was long, but didn't seem that way because of the good conversations had by us all. Once we arrived at the bioreserve; Geraldo got us all squared away with the tour company and because we had a considerable amount of time before the tour; he took us on a mini tour which allowed us to see a sloth and most importantly to me; a poison dart frog! My hearing is pretty bad, but Geraldo was able to focus in on the singing little guy and point it out for me to grab a picture of it! We got back and went on our tour with Walter. Walter did a great job sharing the history of the park and the fauna and animals that we saw. After our tour we went back to the tour area and sat down in the restaurant. Shortly after our arrival, Geraldo showed up and asked about the chocolate...We were puzzled and stated there was no chocolate on the tour. He instantly jumped to his feet and took off. After a little bit of time had passed he arrived and we very apologetic...it seems the bioreserve had made a mistake and booked us on a walking tour and not the chocolate tour. Geraldo asked us if we had time to go back out on the actual chocolate tour and we were totally fine with it. Geraldo, that short period of time had engaged his company, the bioreserve company and worked out what went wrong and how to resolve it. After a very delicious lunch (I loved the ribs) we were off again with Walter, but this time to the small chocolate plantation on the bioreserve. Very informative, very interesting, but my wife found out that fresh chocolate with lots of cocoa is very bitter! Additionally to having the correct tour, we had a chance to see a basilisk sunning itself on a rock in the river and a mother sloth with her baby! We were back with Geraldo and on the road back to the hotel, the conversations continued to flow and Geraldo offered some extra stops for photos, but we knew we had those stops on another tour and passed so that he could get home at a reasonable hour. We cannot recommend Geraldo and Greenway Nature Day Tours enough; great communications from start to finish and they are definitely above the rest when it comes to their customer experience!

Response from Host, Mar 2020

Hello Thank you very much for your email and full tour - day report. We are very pleased that you enjoy the day with Gerardo. WE are so sorry for the confussion at the reserve, but we are glad Gerardo was able to resolve it and you have the time for the second visit to the rainforest.

Amazing first tour in Costa Rica

Peter_G, Jan 2019

This is a highly recommended tour...

Dean_L, Feb 2018

This is a highly recommended tour! We got to hike into a Rainforest and actually see where the Chocolate plantation was and we learned how chocolate was made from the seed to the end product. Not only did we get to see how it was made traditionally but we also tasted different levels of the chocolate. Aside from the chocolate tour, we also stopped for a delicious lunch and also a fruit stall to see the local fruits. The tour company, Greenway Nature Tours was fantastic and our guide Gerardo was superb! This company and tour is not one to miss if you want to know more about how chocolate was made or to take their other tours.