Cook Islands Chocolate Factory — Local services in Ngatangiia

Easily the most authentic cultural experience on the island and a MUST DO!!! To be clear - you are not really paying for a chocolate factory tour, you are paying for a conversation with one of Rarotongas most authentic and hilarious local characters.

As Koteka admits in some of his replies to other reviews on various sites "The Chocolate factory is the bait"!

Koteka has sincere dreams of starting a thriving chocolate empire on the island once he finds the right investors (perhaps you?) and will tell you all about his setup and the history of his family cocoa business. He gave us a $10 discount each off the usual $20 price because the rain prevented us going to visit his trees. When we asked if he had change for a $50 note he solemnly said with a wink "No, but don't worry we will try to take the rest off you before the tour ends", which we found hilarious.

He spent the tour insisting we sniff boxes of cocoa beans in various stages of fermentation and also try samples of his cocoa products and somewhat suspect highly alcoholic home made drinks.

Yes there are some hygiene and potential health and safety issues and yes you will wonder if you're going to die when you sip the mysterious shots he offers you but that is part of the fun!

He did end up taking our whole $50 note in exchange for some samples but this was hands down one of our most memorable experiences on the island and...

During our 2 week visit to Raro walked past the sign to this place on the corner of Ara Tapu many times. Thought this sounded like a fun place to go. We did head up there on day but the place was closed. By the look of most of the reviews it look like we dodged the proverbial, and I think the $20 tour fee is a bit over the top. Business entrapreneurship would suggest encouraging the visual excitement of the product to encourage a purchase; by getting word of mouth you will help make your start-up a must-visit destination. However the only thing that we heard from other tour providers on the island about the factory was to "avoid, unless you want to visit something that looks like a crack house." Looks like many of the other reviews on here agree with my sentiments. Spurious enterprise. If the owners put as much effort into their business as they do in trying to respond to balanced critiques of their business, they may...

This is an interesting experience, but not for everyone. This is a cooperative start up, operating from a tent / small building. Don't expect a factory by western standards. We paid for the $20 tour, which was about 1hr 20 talking with a man who is passionate about establishing a new industry in Rarotonga. Between 40 or so farmers they have several thousand trees. The tour includes him describing the history of cocoa on the Island, and an opportunity to taste cocoa beans at every stage of processing. We found it very interesting and worth the money. You must phone ahead to book. If you are uncomfortable with being on a farm at home, gardening or getting your hands dirty, then this likely isn't for you.

Also, we bought the chilli and passionfruit liquor to bring home for ourselves and as a...