The detection of malaria parasite is investigated by using a surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensor, which is designed to work around 10 MHz. The SAW sensor is then employed to build a photoacoustic (PA)-SAW sensing system. PA signals and spectrums of different materials have been obtained for calibration. The PA signals of normal blood and infected blood are obtained through the SAW sensor subsequently. The infected blood is with cultured ring-stage malaria parasites concentrations of 1%. The demonstration shows that the SAW sensor has good potential in the diagnosis of malaria at early stage.