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

Wed 23 Oct

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $263.76

Make a reservation

Wed 23 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)

robert_p

Dec 2018

We were fortunate to be the only ones on this tour. Marcus was our driver, cook and astronomer. We had an interesting tour of a beautiful coffee farm where Marcus made us a delicious barbecue dinner. Then we drove to a location to observe the stars while we watched a long lasting beautiful red sunset. With great enthusiasm, Marcus showed us many astonishing and beautiful celestial delights as the clouds disappeared to show us the beautiful night sky. We learned so much about astronomy which my husband has recently taken up as a hobby.

JohnT6523XZ

Nov 2018

This tour is way overpriced. There is free stargazing available at Mauna Kea visitor center. * Tour promises coffee tasting. You get ONE 1.5 oz cup of one type of Kona coffee and a straw dipped in some unexplained honey. I have never been to a "tasting" anywhere else in the world when you only get ONE cup. Then you're explained to buy coffee. *Tour promises tea sampling. There was NO sampling of tea. *Tour includes dinner, which was pre-cooked and small in portion size. * The solar telescope was just set up in the parking lot at the Keauhou shopping center. * The brilliant pictures in the ad sets unrealistic expectations of the night sky. You CANNOT see any colors like that through the telescope. * For star-gazing they pull off alongside the saddle road, not far up the base of Maunakea. There is a rest stop on the other side of the road which radiates ambient light, combined with traffic headlights from the road that constantly ruin the experience. * Overall, the staff were knowledgeable and friendly. However, the tour is overpriced and there is better (in my opinion) free stargazing from the Maunakea Visitor Information Station. The value of this trip is more around $50-75 per person. For the total price, we paid for our group (USD $198 per person), we could have bought our own solar or Dobsonian telescope (USD $800 from Walmart). These telescopes are quality; however, they are hardly "state of the art" as advertised. A better description of the telescope provided is "quality telescopes for serious amateur astronomers".

Response from Host

Dec 2018

Aloha JohnT! We are disappointed that you did not enjoy your tour with us. At the coffee tasting, you can have as many tasting cups of coffee as you want and there is no limit, but it clearly is a tasting. The coffee is 100% estate grown, and it is one of the very few, maybe only, coffee farms that is 100% estate, instead of combining the coffee of a variety of growers. There are teas available for tasting as well, and we will look into what happened during your tour. We are very sorry that you were not happy with your experience. The telescopes that we use are the best for clean optics. The refractor type telescopes used by every other company do not offer the same quality optics. We don’t go to the summit or visitor station which now closes at 5:00 pm. Thank you for your input!

MaryJ1234567890

Nov 2018

Group tour starts with one solar telescope set up in the parking lot of a shopping center. Under the burning sun, no shelter. We go to a coffee farm for the aforepromised "tasting". We are each served one small cup of luke-warm weak drip coffee and a straw dipped in some unexplained honey. There is no tea tasting as the ad promised. Then we are offered 3 types of coffee to purchase at about USD $50 a pound. We are served a pre-cooked dinner of modest depression-era portions: 2 burnt ribs, a dollop of beans, a dollop of coleslaw and a cookie. We drive some distance along the road going towards the Maunakea Visitor Center (which is a long ways down from the summit). We pull off the highway long before we even get to the visitor center, directly opposite a brightly lit toilet stop with dust clouds from traffic blowing over us. Location of stargazing: 19.747407, -155.527525 (copy and paste to Google Maps). One telescope is pulled out and set up for the whole group again. We all take turns looking through the eyepiece at a much smaller patch of sky than what we can see with our own eyes just by leaning our heads back. The stars look about the same, although the telescope does eliminate the light pollution from the toilet stop. The next day we feel so dissatisfied that we decide to drive ourselves up to the Maunakea Visitor Center. Everything there is free. They have a solar telescope set up which automatically turns to face the sun continuously. They have about 10 other telescopes stashed on the side. 4 days a week they have star gazing nights 7-10PM for free. We take the staff's recommendation of walking up a volcano trail nearby. Wow wow wow. Feels like you're on top of the world. And it's free. Bottom line: Lesson learnt. Take heed, y'all.

Response from Host

Dec 2018

Aloha MaryJ! Thank you for taking the time to write your review and we are sorry that you did not fully enjoy your tour. At the coffee tasting, you can have an unlimited amount of samples including tea and we will look into why that was not obvious during your tour. The coffee is 100% estate grown, which is very rare and it is maybe the only, coffee farm that is 100% estate. The price appears high compared to big brand name coffees, however, it reflects the labor and many steps that go into producing a small-quantity and high-quality local product. Hawaii has some of the most beautiful night skies and when you look up your eyes allow a larger area of view due to their peripheral field. A telescope focuses and enlarges a specific part of the night sky. The hours at the Maunakea Visitor Station are changing due to renovations and it closes at 5 pm. The free Maunakea Star Gazing organized by the Visitor Station will be suspended for about 6 months due to an infrastructure project that will improve visitor safety and to better protect natural, historic and cultural resources. We do hope to see you again and that your next experience will result in a more positive review!