Discover A Different Side of Maui On These 10 Awesome Farm Tours

Are you on the hunt for under-the-radar Maui activities? You know, excursions that give you a feel for Maui’s true character beyond the golden beaches and plush resorts. Well, we’ve got just the thing!

The island is a bountiful cornucopia of farms. And farm tours are one of the most memorable, off-beat activities around. Farm tours allow you to glimpse an exclusive side of Maui that few visitors see— one full of gourmet organic meals and affectionate animals. From quirky alpaca ranches to exotic fruit farms, here are the 12 best farm tours on Maui.

1. Oʻo Farms

Oʻo Farm is one of Maui’s most delightful hidden gems. This diversified, organic farm is nestled on the verdant slopes of Haleakala, where stellar views abound, and a multitude of crops flourish.

Encompassing eight acres, Oʻo is home to tidy rows of garden vegetables, greenhouses bursting with tomatoes and herbs, and charming orchards of coffee, citrus, and olives. The produce grown here supplies several renowned Maui eateries.

Two tours are offered Monday through Friday: a breakfast/coffee tour and a lunch tour. Both excursions include a tour of the grounds, stopping here and there to taste-test the produce. Oʻo’s tour guides deliver a fountain of knowledge about organic produce and the farm’s unique, no-till practices.

While the breakfast tour emphasizes coffee, both tours culminate with a fresh, gourmet meal made with produce collected during the visit. Oʻo breathes new life into the farm-to-table experience and is a must-visit for any foodie.

2. Maui Alpaca

Maui Alpaca— the name says it all. This off-beat farm is home to a family of friendly alpacas and angora bunnies. With help from fuzzy friends, Maui Alpaca produces highly prized— and irresistibly soft— alpaca and angora wool. But in between yearly alpaca shears, Maui Alpaca doubles as one of Upcountry’s quirkiest attractions for animal lovers.

This eight-acre farm in Kula hosts daily farm visits where visitors can meet, feed, and take pictures with the animals. You’ll get to know the alpacas’ peculiar personalities and receive a brief rundown of the animals’ history.

The tour concludes with a fun yarn-spinning demonstration using angora fur. You’ll leave with a renewed appreciation for alpacas and a few too many alpaca selfies in your camera roll.

3. Maui Pineapple

The pineapple and sugar industries once dominated the Hawaiian Islands. Today, only two Hawaiian pineapple plantations remain, and one is in Haliimaile in Upcountry. Discover the pineapples’ seed-to-store journey on a tour of Maui’s last pineapple plantation: Maui Gold Pineapple.

This tour visits the Haliʻimaile pineapple fields, where pineapples grow as far as the eye can see. Here you’ll get to taste a fresh pineapple, picked right off the plant, and learn about Maui Gold’s cultivation techniques.

You’ll also visit the Maui Gold processing facility, where you’ll glimpse the voyage pineapples take en route to store shelves. The best part about this tour? Every guest leaves with a packaged, airport-ready pineapple.

4. Ku’ia Estate Chocolate

Ocean views, warm breezes, and 20 acres of cacao fields: to chocolate lovers, Ku’ia Estate’s chocolate plantation is heaven on earth. Get a peek— and taste— of the cacao that becomes award-winning Ku’ia chocolate on a 90-minute tour.

This excursion heads into the foothills of the West Maui Mountains, where Ku’ia Estate cultivates a seemingly endless expanse of cacao. You’ll sample raw cacao and learn about Ku’ia’s harvesting techniques.

The best part comes at the end when you ascend a viewing tower for a nine-piece chocolate tasting. Does it get any sweeter?

5. Maui Tropical Plantation

Maui Tropical Plantation is one of central Maui’s biggest attractions, home to a renowned restaurant, souvenir shopping, and a zipline course. Despite all this, the Maui Tropical Plantation is, in fact, a working plantation.

Maui Tropical Plantation spans 1,800 acres in Waikapu. The best— and only— way to get a look at the 40 crops cultivated here is aboard the Tropical Express Tour. The lime green tram dubbed ‘Tropical Express’ takes visitors to the furthest reaches of the property.

The narrated journey offers tidbits of information about Maui’s plantation history and an overview of Hawaii’s best-known plants. To top it off, the tour features an entertaining coconut husking demonstration.

6. Ono Organic Farms

Road to Hana hidden gems— everyone seeks them. But that hidden gem you’re looking for isn’t a waterfall or secluded beach. Instead, it’s an organic exotic fruit farm.

Ono Organics produces everything from apple bananas and cacao to obscure fruits like durian, egg fruit, peanut butter fruit, and more you’ve never heard of. Located in Kipahulu, this farm sits on 50 acres of what is likely some of the healthiest soil in the world.

Ono Organics invites visitors to explore their operation on a guided ATV tour. As you explore the property, you’ll pick and sample a variety of exotic fruit. Post-tour, you’ll leave with a heaping box of fruit collected during the visit— and a wealth of knowledge about organic farming from the experts themselves.

7. Surfing Goat Dairy

Typically, foodie adventures and goats don’t go hand in hand. But at the Surfing Goat Dairy in Upcountry, the two go together like coffee and cream.

The Surfing Goat Dairy has been making waves since it opened over 20 years ago. Home to over 200 goats, the dairy produces a slew of award-winning cheeses for local restaurants and hotels. But it’s not just the delectable chevre that attracts scores of visitors to the farm— it’s the quirky, affectionate goats.

Take the daily ‘Casual Tour’ for a quick peek at the dairy’s day-to-day operations. This tour neatly packs a goat feeding, a dairy tour, and a cheese tasting (subject to change due to COVID-19) into an informative 30-minutes. You can also explore the dairy’s gift shop, which boasts an expansive selection of melt-in-your-mouth cheese, chocolate truffles, goat milk soap, and merch.

8. Maui Dragon Fruit Farm

At first glance, dragon fruits look otherworldly. Fruiting trees resemble a tentacled alien wielding spiky, bright pink medieval flails. But, as creepy as they might look, dragon fruits are delicious, nutritious, and aesthetically pleasing once cut open. And at Maui Dragon Fruit Farm, over 16 varieties of this unique plant are cultivated.

Maui Dragon Fruit Farm is located on the sunny slopes of the West Maui Mountains. This little-known farm offers walking tours of its tropical orchard, where exotic fruits like soursop, starfruit, and sapodilla grow alongside dragon fruit. Your tour guide will share countless eye-opening facts about Maui’s agricultural history and the fruit grown on the farm. You’ll also get to sample edible plants and fruit picked right off the vine.

Once the tour culminates, you’ll sit down to sample a vibrant platter of exotic fruit. If dragon fruit is your jam, we recommend visiting in summer when dragon fruit is in season.

9. Punakea Palms

Coconut trees have become emblematic of tropical destinations, a symbol of paradisiacal getaways. But at Punakea Palms in Lahaina, visitors learn the true importance of coconut trees.

Punakea Palms is a working coconut farm, yielding over 10,000 coconuts annually. It’s also a growing visitor attraction, offering farm tours and sharing with visitors the critical value of coconut trees— and their delightfully sweet taste.

As you walk through enchanting coconut groves, you’ll learn about the cultural significance of coconut trees and their many uses. But the sweetest part of the tour is the sampling section, where you’ll taste a variety of coconuts in different stages of maturity.

Tours have been closed indefinitely due to the Lahaina Fires.

10. Leilani Farm Sanctuary

Leilani Farm may be an animal sanctuary, but it’s also a healing haven for humans. This non-profit farm is set on eight acres of heavenly Haiku land. Leilani Farm Sanctuary rescues animals left orphaned by hunters or destined for slaughter and gives them a new lease on life.

Over 300 rescued animals now call Leilani Farm home, including chickens, donkeys, geese, pigs, deer, cats, and cows. During farm tours with founder Lauralee Blanchard, you’ll stroll the verdant tropical grounds and get to know the animals and their moo-ving backstories. Leilani Farm aims to foster empathy, kindness, and respect for all living beings.

Those are our 10 favorite Maui farm tours.  What are your favorite Maui farms to visit? Let us know in the comments below.