Cocoa West Chocolatier

Bowen Island, Canada

4.4

Open now

20 reviews

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 604-947-2996
Website:
www.cocoawest.com
Address:
581C Artisan Lane, Bowen Island, BC, V0N 1G2
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.5 miSnug Cove Community Shuttle Stop
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepted Cards
Credit, Debit
Parking
Street
Wheelchair Accessible
No
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
No
Attire
Casual
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes

Today

Today 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Open now
Local time (Bowen Island) 2:34 PM Sunday, May 25, 2025

Business hours

Monday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Tuesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Wednesday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Thursday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Friday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Fair trade, organic handcrafted truffles and hot chocolate. Our retail shop also meets our wedding and corporate event customers’ needs — vegan options are available. We have a boutique-​style «bed and chocolate» accommodation at our Chocolate Suite on Bowen Island, B.C., just minutes from the Vancouver area. You can find us by email: cocoawest​.com, Twitter:@CocoWestBC or Facebook: face​book​.com/​C​o​c​o​a​W​e​s​t​C​h​o​c​o​l​atier

Meet the Business Owner

Joanne M.

Business Owner

Changing careers in to follow her dream of working with chocolate, in 1999 Joanne set for herself a path of learning and mastering the craft of the Chocolatier. Under the tutelage of one of Vancouver’s leading Chocolatiers, Joanne developed her technique and became adept in the art and science of creating fine chocolate. But knowing her craft was not enough to open a successful shop; a business strategy was required.

Joanne was selected to participate in the British Columbia Institute of Technology’s (BCIT) Venture Program. This was an intensive incubator program during which Joanne researched the chocolate industry, and developed a business model and financial structure for her chocolaterie. She was elected Valedictorian for her session, and was also the Guest Speaker at the graduation of the following Venture Program session.

Joanne opened her shop Cocoa West Chocolatier on Bowen Island in British Columbia, just off of Vancouver in the summer of 2002.

Vicinity

Near this location:
100
ft
Movement Global
590 Artisan Lane
100
ft
Movement Global
590 Artisan Lane
110
ft
Cloudflower Clayworks
Artisan Lane
110
ft
Wren Boutique
569 Artisan Lane
150
ft
Bowen Veterinary Services
573 Prometheus Place
450
ft
Bowen Island Massage Therapy
Suite 575 Artisan Square

20 reviews of Cocoa West Chocolatier

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Place rating: 5
Rancho Mirage, CA
Really a great place to meet the locals, enjoy a good coffee and fantastic handmade, organic chocolate. I am very watchful of eating good quality food, and always look to avoid things containing common allergens. This shop offers great quality sweets, and all properly labeled for allergens. Chocolate is soy-​free. Hard to find that! Highly recommend this shop.
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
Cocoa West is very special chocolate made with love and organic ingredients. You can enjoy it on Bowen Island. But, why wait until you visit? Have it shipped to you. You’ll be glad you did!
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
As a business owner, I am appreciative every one of my clients. Each year, as the holiday season approaches, I search for a way to express my sincere gratitude to my client, ands it’s usually a struggle as nothing ever seems just right or good enough. Then last year I discovered Cocoa West organic chocolates – an exclusive experience for even the most discerning. The helpful Cocoa West team custom branded the chocolate packaging with my company logo and delivered my order directly to my office. And my clients loved the chocolates too – they are a cut above the rest. I highly recommend Cocoa West organic chocolates.
Place rating: 5
Downtown, Vancouver, Canada
Excellent chocolate, coffees and gelato. Great little patio to relax and enjoy the surroundings. My wife and i stopped here while on a day trip to Bowen. If on this island, be sure to pop in at least for the chocolate.
Place rating: 4
West Vancouver, Canada
The hot chocolate and ice creams are great. Service is fast and friendly. The chocolates are organic, fair trade and using local ingredients where possible. Thus the sticker price shock of one chocolate piece costing bw $ 5 – 8!!! I didn’t try them.
Place rating: 5
Downtown, Canada
Hot chocolate is to died for… Everything is organic! Great little gem on bowen island
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
Cocoa west is a must visit when on Bowen Island. A small little chocolatier a small ways up the hill from Snug Cove. This review is mostly for the chocolate suite, a beautiful accommodation that’s in Artisan Square, in the same building as the chocolatier.
My partner and I just stayed a few nights on Bowen and it was a great retreat from the city. I found Cocoa West online through the tourism bc website. If you want to know more about the suite it’s right on their website.
Joanne and Carlos were extremely accommodating and provided everything we needed. There were complimentary chocolates and snacks in the room. There were movies and books — all chocolate related of course. The washroom also has a glorious rainfall shower head and heated floors. Super luxurious. An added bonus was the free wifi.
The chocolates were amazing. Each one with distinct flavours that would melt in your mouth. Definitely great quality chocolates compared to many places you can find in Vancouver. They also have ice cream, hot chocolates, and other beverages that they offer. I highly recommend trying the chocolates or staying over night in the chocolate suite. Nothing but rave reviews for this place.
Place rating: 4
Vancouver, Canada
They say chocolate are a girls best friend… wait or is that diamonds? No I am pretty sure that it is chocolate. Either way I made best friends with this booth. Love their truffles. I think I want to marry one of these.
Place rating: 5
Edmonton, Canada
Just a short review.
They have delicious ice cream in the shop. We will try the chocolates next time.
Place rating: 4
Surrey, Canada
Tucked away on Artist Lane you don’t want to miss it. The variety of chocolates that are available are wonderful and taste just as good. Don’t miss their hand crafted bars as well — they are something you really want to take home.
If you need a break — don’t forget to grab a delicious hot chocolate!
Place rating: 3
Vancouver, Canada
So you made me hike all the way up this damn hill for a chocolate shop?
I didn’t find Cocoa West Chocolatier any more special than other chocolate shops. It was still pretty good chocolate, but the price was almost double than what I thought should be charged. Although, it is the only chocolate shop on Bowen Island so I guess they can charge anything they like.
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
This review is 99% for the chocolate suite. Go the website and click on chocolate suite and check it out! It looks just like that…
This past long weekend the wife and I decided to discover Bowen Island, on a whim, aka no set plans and no bookings.
We arrived in the afternoon on Saturday and found a patch of grass, checked out a map and started looking for where we might find a B&B or lodging. The little cove was packed with tourists which we hoped were mostly there for the day (they were!!!) so we didn’t have to fight for a bed to sleep in…
We called a few places after finding the General Store and buying a cold bottle of wine and finding another grassy spot to sit in the sun. the 3rd place was the only one that answered and that was the chocolate suite in the Artisan square… We walked up the highway and found a trail. We were in the square in 10 minutes! Wow, another great part of the island!
They had a cancellation so they had the suite ready for US! We entered a luxurious room with modern everything, and chocolate samples. The room had complimentry drinks and snacks and movies that were choco-​related. What a delight. The girls at the chocolate shop were adorable too. We got the place for the night and in the morning recieved a free cookie and a creamy smooth hot chocolate with expresso shots. So good. All for under $ 180. Super romantic.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
Quick walk up from the ferry terminal. Take the walking trail rather then the road to have an enjoyable view and time.
Went for the small box of choose your own chocolates (6 + 1 bonus starfish). Should have made all 6 choices the «Unbelievably Good Egg!»
The plain chocolate (starfish and snowmen) were average. The Domino is a really cute idea and ranked about half way out of all the choices.
Truffles are really their signature items here.
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
A chilly November day, accompanied by the smoothest, creamiest sweet hot chocolate, with a shot of espresso. A perfect accompaniment.
Visitied this cute shop recently and discovered their chocolates. There’s some small tables so you can order one of their coffees/​hot chocolates and savour away. Gelato is also sold which would be great in the summer.
Back to the drink, my hot chocolate was made from real chocolate, and mmmm… thinking about it makes me happy.
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
As per my other reviews on Bowen, I said I would be giving them a minus sign for no good coffee on Bowen Island but Cocoa West has a morphed me into a believer! Remember that scene where neo from the Matrix is dead and with the kiss he’s reborn? Well that’s how my experience with Cocoa West’s coffee was. I’m a believer!!!
Oh, hot chocolate on a stick is amazing too! The Chocolates are amazing and a little pricey but well worth the indulgence!
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
This is one of my favorite chocolate shops ever! Located in the Aritisan Square, a little of a stroll up from the ferry. The chocolates and truffles are not cheap but you only need a couple to be deeply satisified. My favorite is the Chai truffle. Flavors are always changing too. In the winter a Poblano hot cocoa will get your blood running, and keep you warm on a cold winter day.
They also double as a Bed and Breakfast, which i imagine would be sweet.
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
Yummy! We made friends with a nice old lady who lived on the island so it was an overall pleasant experience. You need the water that comes with it, don’t say no to it.
Place rating: 3
Vancouver, Canada
After our long but super pleasant «hike» around Killarney Lake, and hearing repeatedly about the cocoa shop in Artisan Square and all about «the BEST spiced hot cocoa» they have, we just HAD to see for ourselves.
At the end of our hike we were already tired, and now we found ourselves huffing it up a seriously steep hillside to Artisan Square, a very cute business area.
Okay, yes, they have deeeep daaaark chocolate here. and YES, people were buying boxes of Chocolate ! and yes, they do have gelato and sorbetto. It does get warm here.
What I thought was nice, was that they brought our drinks out to us on little trays with a small chocolate sample, mine being of the dark chocolate variety, and also little glasses of water. It was so pleasant.
I would have given them a fourth star, but call me greedy, I wanted there to be MORE chocolate in my drink. I think it should be almost «over the top» if you want to make a statement with a drink like that.
(But that’s just me.) The spiced part was definitely there, and reminded me of a Mocha Chai, if you’ve ever had one of those… mmmmmmmm…
Place rating: 2
Vancouver, Canada
* A chocolate shop where everyone just buys gelato *
Should I take it as a bad sign when I walk into a chocolate shop and everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) is just ordering from their small gelato section and ignoring the chocolates?
The chocolates looked like standard fare, and were priced higher than they probably should have been.
I took a pass (on both the gelato and the chocolate).
Place rating: 5
Vancouver, Canada
I’ve only been there once and over a year ago. However, I do remember both their signature hot chocolate (with various different choices of cocoa content) and their truffles and pralines to be absolutely excellent. We spent a weekend on Bowen Island in February and even though the weather was rather nice for that time of year, the hot chocolate at Cocoa West completely hit the spot. If you find yourself on Bowen one of these days (which is always worth even a day-​trip, anyway), you should not miss stocking up here before you take the ferry back.