Booking choice: The Princeville garden and chocolate tour, from $126 per person. Check dates Compare the options below
Princeville Botanical Gardens is on the North Shore, in a jungle valley behind Princeville. Lydgate Farms is on the east side, above Kapaa. Kapaa is about 35 minutes' drive from Princeville, and the two sell very different mornings under similar names.
The short version: the garden is the main event at Princeville, and the chocolate is the main event at Lydgate.
The quick answer
Choose Princeville Botanical Gardens for flowers, rare plants and a jungle walk with a seated chocolate break; it is $126 on Viator with the tip included and takes children from 2. Choose Lydgate Farms for chocolate: a working cacao farm, bean to bar, with a long tasting of its own award-winning chocolate; it is $145 plus tip and only takes ages 9 and up.
How do Princeville and Lydgate compare side by side?
Princeville is a garden walk with a chocolate break; Lydgate is a cacao farm tour built around chocolate.
| Princeville Botanical Gardens | Lydgate Farms | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | Princeville, North Shore | Kapaa, east side |
| What it is | Botanical garden walk | Working cacao farm |
| Chocolate | Global single-origin bars plus a taste of the garden's own | The farm's own, bean to bar |
| From (adult) | $126, gratuity included | $145, gratuity not included |
| Length | 3 hours | 3 hours |
| Days and times | Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri at 9:30 AM | Mon to Fri, starts 9, 10, 11 and 12 |
| Ages | Child rate 2 to 13 | 9 and up only |
| Group size | Up to 17 | Up to 25 |
| Wheelchair accessible | No | No |
| Rating | 4.8 (884) | 4.9 (1,105) |
Leaning towards the garden? Check dates for the North Shore walk with the gratuity included.
Check dates for the Princeville garden and chocolate tourWhich tour has more chocolate?
Lydgate Farms, clearly: chocolate is the point of the tour, and guests describe abundant samples.
Lydgate's sample menu runs from Hawaiian-grown dark chocolate over macadamia nuts to a 70 percent estate bar made from its own cacao, and guests report being "chocolated out" by the end. At Princeville the tasting is a seated break of small pieces, mostly bars from around the world, and one guest found it good but minimal.
Which is the better garden?
Princeville: it is a botanical garden first, with native, canoe, medicinal and rare plants from around the world on terraces above a creek.
Lydgate also walks you through its farm gardens and serves honey, vanilla and tropical fruit, but its focus is cacao. If you want to see flowers, the jungle and a guide who can name every plant, Princeville is the one.
What is the real price difference?
About $19 per adult before tips, and more after: Princeville's Viator price includes the gratuity, while at Lydgate the tip is extra.
Princeville is $126 with the tip; Lydgate is $145 plus whatever you tip. Booked direct, Princeville is $105 plus tax and tip. For the full breakdown, see the chocolate tour price guide.
Here for the chocolate? Lydgate's three hours follow cacao from the tree to an in-depth tasting.
Explore the Lydgate Farms chocolate tourWhich is easier to get to?
It depends where you stay: Princeville suits North Shore visitors, Lydgate suits the east side and Lihue.
Princeville is about an hour from Lihue airport on Highway 56; Lydgate Farms is at 5730 Olohena Road above Kapaa. Neither includes transport, so you drive and park on site. Lydgate asks you to arrive 15 minutes early; Princeville asks for 30.
Which is better with children?
Princeville if your children are under 9, because Lydgate does not take them on the farm tour at all.
Princeville charges a child rate for ages 2 to 13 on Viator, though the gardens suggest about 5 as the age at which children enjoy it. Lydgate invites families with younger children to its tasting room in Kapaa instead, open Monday to Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM. More in the chocolate tour with kids.
Can you do both on the same day?
Not realistically: Princeville ends around 12:30, and Lydgate's last start is at noon, about 35 minutes' drive away.
Book them on different mornings. Remember that Princeville does not run on Wednesdays, which leaves Wednesday free for Lydgate.
Which should you book?
Chocolate lovers should book Lydgate; garden lovers and families with younger children should book Princeville.
- You want to see chocolate made from the tree: Lydgate Farms.
- You love flowers and plant stories: Princeville.
- Children under 9: Princeville.
- Staying on the North Shore: Princeville, then lunch in Hanalei.
- Staying in Kapaa or Lihue: Lydgate Farms.
Garden it is? Check dates for the walk with fruit, honey and a seated tasting.
Check dates for the Princeville garden and chocolate tourFrequently asked questions
Is Lydgate Farms better than Princeville Botanical Gardens?
For chocolate, yes. For a garden walk with a chocolate break and more flexible ages, Princeville is the better fit.
Does Princeville Botanical Gardens make its own chocolate?
It has a small cacao grove and gives you a taste of chocolate from it, but most of the tasting is single-origin bars from around the world, and the garden's own chocolate is not sold.
Do I tip on either tour?
The Princeville gratuity is included on Viator. At Lydgate Farms, gratuities are not included.
Ready to book
Choose your tasting
Free cancellation up to 24 hours before on every option. Prices are from-prices in USD and move with the season.
Princeville Botanical Gardens & Chocolate Tasting
- Guided walk through the 9-acre gardens, 9:30 AM start (check in from 9:00)
- Gourmet chocolate tasting: single-origin bars from around the world plus a taste of the garden's own
- Seasonal fruit samples and the garden's honey
Lydgate Farms Chocolate Farm Tour & Tasting
- Three-hour guided tour of the Lydgate Farms cacao estate
- In-depth chocolate tasting, plus honey, vanilla and tropical fruit
- Beans named among the world's best at the Cacao of Excellence awards (2017, 2021, 2023)
