Dorien and Papito's Chocolate farm stay was fantastic! We arrived at the island after being transported by boat by Rogelio and Dorien's father, and we were shown our cabin on the water. What an amazing place! The cabin is quaint and cozy, with a single bed in the loft above an open air "living room" underneath that has two hammocks for lounging in. The restroom was a really neat set up with a toilet in a small screened room and a separate, outdoor shower with a conch as a shower head. The cabin is about an acre away from the main house with gorgeous manicured gardens, affording plenty of privacy to the occupants of the over the water cabin. There are two other cabins on the property which have an equal amount of privacy in their own spaces throughout the property. To get to the main house, where you have the option to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, you take a skinny trail through gorgeous trailing hibiscus bushes, and where you walk among feeding hummingbirds, and other beautiful tropical birds. Breakfasts and dinners were incredible! We didn't need much for lunch, only a chocolate banana smoothie which was so delicious! Dorien and Margarita are amazing cooks! I would recommend the chocolate tour as well as snorkeling at the mangrove island. We also used the kayak and traditional cayuco to fish and snorkel in the area. The sunken sailboat was pretty cool to see! Dorien's daughters, Nora and Elaina, were so adorable! They could swim laps around us all day long. They also helped us learn a few Spanish words. We hiked a lot in the trails around the property, seeing a sloth up close, eating cocoa pods, and watching howler monkeys playing in the trees. We saw so many cool birds including aracaris and toucans. At night, swimming in the bioluminescence is out of this world! I've never experienced anything so magical! I only wish I knew how to capture that magic in the form of a photo. In short, you'd be missing out on a trip of a lifetime if you bypass this place, you won't regret it!
The Finca Montezuma is a cacao farm where you can see and learn all the process to make artisanal chocolate. The owners are very nice and want to share all their knowledge. It was really interesting, and the chocolate is so tasty! In the jungle there are red frogs and sloths to see, and the snorkelling around is amazing.
