Maui's Big Cheese - The Surfing Goat Dairy

Surfing Goat Dairy?  Is it a goat? Is it a surfer? Is it a dairy?  No, it's all three things in one!  Well maybe not the surfing part  but it IS a fantastic goat cheese farm that you might really enjoy..

A hop skip and a jump away from Kihei, the jaunt alone with its views towards the slopes of Mount Haleakala is pretty spectacular.  The Surfing Goat Dairy is one of only two goat dairies in all of Hawaii. It has won many awards and has been around now for over 9 years. In 2008 they were one of three Goat Dairies in North America who got the certification for "Humane raised and handled goats" They don't use any pesticides or herbicides on the farm and the milking goats are fed a special mixture of grains so that the milk is as fresh as it can be.

You can take a casual tour and have some fun interacting with the goats and feeding them.  It is a great family outing and you can watch your kids play with the goat kids!  You can even learn how to milk a goat if you happen to go at milking time....  Everyone is happy and smiling, and even the goats look like they are smiling too! 

Zar was our tour guide and we learned lots of interesting information from how the goats are raised to how they milk the goats to how they make the various cheeses. They keep a daily record on a chalk board of things like milk production, births, breeding, the number of goats in the herd etc.  Zar told us that the day we went there the goat count was 162.

Following the tour we tasted about 5 different flavors of cheese and they were all yummy and not too strong. There was one called "Canada" which has cranberries in it.  Maybe because we are Canadian, this is the one we chose to take home for our Christmas pupu party.
They also make cheese truffles and in the gift store you can buy infused oils, spices, souvenirs and even soaps.

Give it a try sometime.  It's a great day trip and you can combine it with a trip to the Alii Kula Lavender Farm followed by lunch at the Kula Lodge. 
For more information go to the Surfing Goat Dairy website. You can even order cheese and truffles online.
I first came across The Surfing Goat Dairy when I was staying at the terrific Maui Garden House in Kihei.  Wish I was there now.....

Thankyou "Travlin" Pat for contributing to this blog.