Prepare for sensory overload with this half-day vanilla and spice and everything nice tour! Discover the origin and ancient history as well as traditional uses of the world’s most loved spices: vanilla, Ceylon cinnamon, cocoa, allspice, turmeric, cardamom, black and white pepper, to name a few.
Located in the Pacific rain forest overlooking the beautiful Manuel Antonio beach, this certified organic and Demeter biodynamic farm takes great pride in bringing you to the best spices Nature has to offer. In addition to spice, you will be introduced to how a wide variety of essential oil and medicinal plants are cultivated.
Hand pollinated vanilla orchids abound and, if it is pollinating season, visitors learn to fertilize the vanilla flowers themselves by hand. The major crop of this plantation is vanilla, a native to Central America, but many other native aromatic spices and exotic tropical fruits are grown here as well which you will be encouraged to taste, touch and smell.
Your bilingual tour guide will begin at the warehouse where spices are dried and packaged after being harvested. You will then amble along the sensory Rock Garden Trail with its array of pungent bromeliads, tillandsias and epiphytes landscaping a fish pond until you reach a stunning view of the Pacific coast.
In this lovely spot you will learn how to use the many spices grown on this farm as the pastry chef prepares a delicious sampling of gourmet treats and drinks created especially for you. In one review of this tour it was described as “the best foodie tour in Costa Rica.”
Your final stop will be to visit the Spice Shoppe, a famous destination for chefs and visitors alike to buy naturally grown and processed spices, vanilla beans, extract and the highly prized Ceylon cinnamon.
Included roundtrip transportation provided from Manuel Antonio.
The Villa Vanilla and Rainforest Spices is available from Manuel Antonio
Latitude: N 9° 28' 21.47"
Longitude: W 84° 3' 26.21"
08/05/2023
Nice to experience some of the spices in a beverage, ice cream and chocolate drink. This also was educational and guide knowledgable.
05/12/2023
learned a lot.
03/06/2023
Wonderful tour with a very nice and knowledgeable guide. Got to smell and taste multiple spices through different experiences. The sit down snack in the forest with 3 small courses of drinks and edibles made with the different spices was extra special.
01/28/2023
Amazing tour. Learned so much and host very accommodating.
11/15/2022
Absolutely LOVED this tour! Learned a lot and thoroughly enjoyed the tasty drinks and treats made from farm products. Highly recommend! Our guide gave us his recipe for gallo pinto!
06/21/2022
I want to work there! :D
05/25/2022
It would up being a private tour because a group canceled. They sent someone who works in the office to pick us up. We enjoyed the tour and tasting spices right off the trees and vines. Pepper was awesome. Then a beautiful lookout where we enjoyed delicious tea and the drink of the gods, and baked goods they made with their spices. Informative and delicious experience.
01/18/2022
This was a very interesting tour. Our guide was excellent and we learned alot about spices grown in Costa Rica.
03/22/2021
Hank made this visit very enjoyable. We were very happy to experience the natural wonders of this organic farm.
03/05/2020
This was an absolutely lovely experience. Quiet, picturesque, informative, and tasty! This was the hottest day of our vacation, and the tour guide was so attentive to that. Thanks!
12/09/2019
This ended up being a private tour. Giselle, our guide, was knowledgeable and made the tour very interesting.
The tasting was really great - I hadn't expected such a high standard and range of items. A real Foodie experience.
01/26/2019
Did not expect such a nice tour - learned a lot about the spices and vanilla as well as chocolate- excellent food and refreshments
01/10/2019
Enjoyed the tour immensely, learned a lot. Would highly recommend it.
07/06/2017
Best tour on our trip.
02/22/2016
Actually, on this tour, I learned soooooo much about spices etc... I had no idea. Loved it.
01/04/2016
Don't expect to much in depth knowledge from here. I thought we would learn more about the different spices but it was more like a gentle hike with commentary. The ending tasting in the treehouse was nice but extremely sweet. I didn't realize that everything that we had to taste would be sweet and was unable to eat more than half of it.
05/21/2015
This tour was not what I expected. It was not worth the price. However, the tour was conducted by the owner and he was knowledgeable and friendly. I appreciated the taste testing at the end of the tour.
12/26/2014
This tour was AWESOME! The beauty was breath-taking and the knowledge we gained not only about vanilla but the many other spices was great. The end of the tour, with the snacks and the view are really without compare. It was great. The kids loved the swing. We brought home some spices--I wish I had brought home twice as much. Love the tea!