Finca Pastoreo — Attraction in Dorado

Well, this is going to be a bit of a long review. Let's begin with the good.

The place gives you a cozy ambiance the moment you get there. The staff is friendly enough and fully bilingual. The pizza was great. They offer a lot of natural products and the waiting time is not that long. This would be a very nice hangout place for a date or a small group hangout. The labyrinth is a novel idea, with its murder/mystery concept.

With that being said, there's a lot of room to improve. For starters, the tour guide. When you're doing a tour expo, you stick to the facts. A brief history of the place is nice. Information about the animals and their activity is expected. What is not expected and not welcome is when the tour guide starts rambling about current events while providing an opinion that no one asked for. All of this while standing in an open field with the sun blasting down on you.

This brings me to my next point. Heat warnings should be placed at the very entrance and where the tour starts. Perhaps a few resources to prepare for the walk ahead. Because of the rambling tour guide and the terrain we were walking on, we spent over an hour with no protection. They have a store on site. They could sell sun block, umbrellas, and other articles to make the scenario a bit more bearable. The path is long and not the easiest to walk on. I was part of a party of five plus my small pet, which we had in a stroller. Taking the stroller through that path was a nightmare. Which is funny because we were assured that we would have no problems bringing our dog. All of that to see a few cows, sheep, chicken, and pigs. I honestly don't think it was worth it. It pains me to write that, since I love animals.

Then there's the dining/seating area. I mentioned earlier that it was a nice place to come in with a small group. When I say small, I mean no bigger than 4. The facilities can not handle anything larger than that unless you're planning to occupy separate tables.

Then there's the labyrinth itself. The concept is intriguing enough, but there are quite a few red flags. For starters, if you're planning on walking it, make sure you get there early enough. I went in there close to 5pm and barely made it to the first checkpoint. They advertise the place as open until 9pm, yet I didn't spot a single light in there. I saw some solar lamps at the checkpoint stations, but that was it. There were zero employees keeping track of who was heading in or out. The path itself is rough, and anyone can easily twist an ankle in there. Make a combination of any of those traits I just mentioned, and it's a recipe for disaster. Anyone walking in there after sunset could easily be at risk. Also, cellphone reception is spotty in that area, which does not help at all.

Even with all of this stated, I am planning to go there again at some point. I will be better prepared and will try doing the labyrinth earlier. If my experience improves, I will redact my review accordingly. I will try everything, but the farm tour. That, I will...

Went with my family (all adults) and my small dog. We went for the whole package since we had never been there.

The tour: while the tour is great to see the animals and their amazing operation, our tour guide talked to excess. He did give information about the farm, but went off topic way too much and seemed to forget the sun was bearing down on people not used to the exposure. The tour itself is small as there were not that many animals to see, but the overtalking made it extremely long. It was still very enjoyable to see what they have accomplished.

The maze: is fun and exciting, but there seems to be no security or even someone counting the people going in or out. The entrance to the maze is behind the establishment far from the view of employees. They allow entry to the maze until 8pm, but we saw no lights in the maze (aside from solar lights in the checkpoints). I feel they should have at least a warning to avoid entering after X hour seeing as for some people, it may be harder to get out than others. We entered at 5pm, but by 5:30 were making our way out to avoid getting stuck past sundown so we did not get a full maze experience. I would say go in as early as possible and bring LOTS of water.

Food & drinks: delicious and even tasted healthier than food elsewhere. Although very pretty, the dinning area is small with a few benches and only 2 chair tables. Large groups would have a hard time sitting to eat. I do believe they are expanding this area and if true, it will be awesome. For the moment, it is very comfy for couples and groups no bigger than 4.

Overall, it was a great experience. I loved that they allowed entry fir my dog. We felt the joy and serenity of nature and we are very much looking forward to going back and seeing what...

Wow! Very impressive and growing establishment. Much respect to the owner, Juan Melendez, and his family for developing this establishment. Beautiful property 😍 They have a gelato shop with homemade from scratch, organic, local and seasonal ingredients. Everything they use is grown or produced by them or another local farm. We tried so many flavors and everything was delicious, very unique and exotic flavors we haven’t tried elsewhere. We also had affogato and may have been the best we’ve ever had!!! Everything here is grass fed, pasture raised and regeneratively grown 🤩which is not easy to find nowadays. I truly admire the respect they have for the island, the animals, nature, and their way of business. They have a cute little market where they sell kefir, butter, ghee, cheese, lamb, beef, chicken, pork, eggs, honey, and all sorts of artisanal items. Everything from Puerto Rico. We saw birds, chickens, baby chicks, pigs, goats, beautiful farmland, barns, where they processed eggs, etc. From Wednesday- Saturday they sell their pizzas, we didn’t try it but the customers there raved about it. On Saturdays they also play live music and sometimes the owner (who is a poet and musician) performs. They have a maze adventure which we heard is a hit! Everyone we came across was super friendly with us and the children too. Bathrooms very clean. We didn’t have time for a tour but plan to come back and try that out next year! Finca Pastoreo is an overall gem in Puerto Rico. Highly...