Maunakea Stellar Explorer from KONA

Overview

For an out-of-this-world experience, check out Maunakea Stellar Explorer from KapohoKine Adventures. This thrilling adventure is the only Big Island star tour to feature nighttime astronomical observing AND safe daytime solar viewing with all ages welcome! Our in-house stellar explorers are the best and most experienced in Hawaii with one having created the Mauna Kea Visitor’s Center and operated it for a decade. Others on staff have written noted articles and reviews for well-known astronomy magazines and have worked at world-class observatories.

City: Big Island of Hawaii

Thu 24 Oct

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $263.76

Make a reservation

Thu 24 Oct

Starting at $263.76

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Bottled water

Driver/guide

Dinner

Jackets

Additional Info

Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
Public transportation options are available nearby
Suitable for all physical fitness levels

What To Expect

Kailua-Kona

The adventure starts with dinner.

Saddle Road

Next, you’ll travel across Saddle Road between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, two of the tallest and most massive volcanoes on Earth. Your National Park Service trained guide will discuss the volcanology, geology, and history of these monstrous wonders, as well as providing in-depth narration on the various lava flows and flora and fauna that you’ll be passing by. Lastly, your guide will take you to one of our preferred locations on Mauna Kea for nighttime stargazing.

Mauna Kea

You’ll observe deep sky and planetary objects through a large aperture Dobsonian telescope under one of the darkest and most pristine skies on planet Earth! Our Dobsonian telescopes are a true purist’s experience to view the night sky. Their fast focal ratio enables you to see sprawling wide field views of objects that simply aren’t possible with the types of telescopes used by other tours. Depending on what is visible in the current sky and weather permitting, you’ll observe galaxies, nebula, star clusters, planets, double star systems, the moon, and much more; all the highlights and showpiece objects like you’ve never seen before! Afterwards, warm up with Kona coffee and hot chocolate before returning to your resort. Warm jackets provided. This tour does not visit Maunakea’s summit out of deference to Native Hawaiian concerns.

Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (70)

1968TR250

Aug 2020

Our guide was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and well prepared. They had coats for us, though we'd brought our own, these were welcome as it does get cold up there! We got to see nebulas, galaxies, the moon (of course), Saturn and it's rings plus Neptune and 4 of it's moons. We also saw the comet Neowise. Since it was going away from the Sun it's tail was not as distinguished as we'd hoped, but it was still interesting. Rich, the guide, was full of information and would have stayed longer but we began getting cold after a couple of hours so packed it in. Bit of a drive, lunch/dinner was good, a picnic. The stars and telescope great!

DennisZ1340

Mar 2020

Lawrence, the driver/tour guide/chef, was prompt, amicable, and a font of Island knowledge. The family at Kona Farm Direct coffee estate were gracious hosts and gave a great tour and demonstration of how a coffee farm does things, detailing how the season progresses and how they use grafting techniques to improve the viability of the plants. The meal was hot and tasty, as was the fresh coffee. We had the opportunity to mingle with the rest of the tour patrons. The journey to the staging area for viewing was fun and entertaining, but the one drawback was the one thing the company cannot control. The clouds didn’t clear and we couldn’t see any of the sky. That was disappointing, but mother nature will do as she pleases, and overall the tour was absolutely positive.

Response from Host

Mar 2020

Aloha Dennis, Mahalo for the wonderful review. We're happy to hear you had a great time on your tour even though the weather wasn't ideal. We hope to have you adventure with us again real soon! Find us on Instagram @Kapohokine.

William_S

Mar 2020

Viator describes as ‘Star Gazing’ only. In fact, it included a visit to a coffee farm and a bbq. They were fine, good even, but the expectation of a short excursion was set and not met.