Hacienda CacaoyMango Cacao & Chocolate Class: Make Your Own Bar

The hacienda owners teach you the whole process, from cacao plant to the bar you make.

A hands-on chocolate-making class at Hacienda CacaoyMango near Guayaquil where you walk the cacao fields, learn fermentation and roasting, and craft your own chocolate bar in the working factory. The experience includes a three-course lunch with local ingredients and hotel pickup. A bilingual guide leads the roughly four-hour session. This is a family-hosted experience, not a standard tour: the owners themselves share their traditions and techniques.

Step-by-step itinerary

Cacao farm and chocolate experience

• Welcome and traveler recommendations
• Visit cocoa plantations and learn process
• Learn fermentation, roasting, grinding, tasting
• Make personalized chocolate bar
• Enjoy three-course lunch

The experience

What sets this apart is that the hacienda owners personally host the experience instead of handing you off to a guide. You start with a welcome and orientation, then spend about two hours walking through the cacao plantations to see how the beans are planted, tended and harvested. The owners explain their methods as you move through the fields. This is their family operation, not a demonstration staged for visitors.

After the fields, you move to the artisan chocolate area for about thirty minutes, where fermentation, roasting and grinding happen in front of you and you taste the results. Then comes the factory floor itself, where you watch the chocolate bar production line and make your own bar using dehydrated fruits you choose. That takes another thirty minutes. The whole sequence (field to fermentation to your finished bar) is the point. You see how each step changes the cacao.

Lunch follows in the restaurant area: a three-course meal built from local coastal ingredients, taking about an hour. A bilingual guide (English or Spanish) stays with you throughout. Hotel pickup and return are included, so you don't need a car or need to arrange transport to the hacienda.

What’s included

• Hotel pickup and return transport.
• bilingual guide in English or Spanish.
• welcome drink.
• three-course lunch with appetizer, main course and dessert.
• access to the cacao fields, fermentation and roasting areas, and the chocolate factory floor.
• your own handmade chocolate bar.

Before you book

Days and timesEvery day

AgesAdult (18 to 69 years) · Senior (70 to 90 years) · Youth (8 to 17 years) · Child (3 to 7 years) · Infant (under 3): free

GroupPrivate

Live guideEnglish and Spanish

Meeting point and pickupHotel pickup included.

Cancellation and refundsFree cancellation up to 24 h before the start. After that, no refund.It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund.

Prices and times updated 9 days ago

Good to know

Low physical effortStroller-friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomeNot recommended with back problems

Operated by Ecuador Farm Tours

Is this one for you?Hotel pickup means you don't need a car or directions to find the hacienda, and the roughly four-hour length fits easily into a morning or afternoon without eating up a full day.

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Top questions

What languages is the tour guided in?

Live guide in English and Spanish.

Can children come?

Yes. Ticket types: Youth (8 to 17 years); Child (3 to 7 years); Infant (under 3): free.

What happens if it rains?

It may be canceled due to bad weather. If that happens, you're offered another date or a refund. Free cancellation up to 24 h before the start.

How long does the whole experience take?

The experience runs roughly four hours from start to finish, including the cacao fields, chocolate-making, and the three-course lunch.

Do I get to make something, or just watch?

You make your own chocolate bar in the factory using dehydrated fruits you select. You're not observing from the side.

What's included in the lunch?

A three-course meal with an appetizer, main course and dessert, all prepared with fresh local ingredients from the coastal region.

How do I get to the hacienda if I don't have a car?

Hotel pickup and return are included. The bilingual guide meets you at your accommodation and brings you back after lunch.

Who runs this experience?

The hacienda owners personally host the class, sharing their family traditions and techniques rather than delegating to staff guides.