Maunakea Stellar Explorer HILO

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

Sun 22 Jun

Other dates

You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $240.73

Make a reservation

Sun 22 Jun

Starting at $240.73

Make a reservation

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What's Included

Hotel pickup and drop-off

Professional guide

Bottled water

Driver/guide

Dinner

Beverages

Coffee and/or Tea

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

Rainbow Falls

Start your adventure in quaint Hilo town where you’ll drive along the historic waterfront before arriving at Rainbow Falls. This iconic waterfall right off a postcard features an 80 foot tall twin waterfall system. Look for the rainbow effect that gives the waterfall its name!

Boiling Pots

Continue traveling up the Wailuku River to Boiling Pots. Impressive photo opportunities are often found here when the river “boils” through depressions in the rocks.

Kaumana Caves Park

Explore Kaumana Caves, part of the lava tube system that brought lava 1.5 miles from Hilo-town in 1881. Take a peek inside the cathedral-like space before tucking into a quick picnic-style lunch atop the caves.

Mauna Kea

Your guide will take you to one of our preferred locations on Mauna Kea for nighttime stargazing. 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!

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. While you’re taking in the breathtaking terrestrial views, your guide will prepare some heavenly views just as stunning. Setting up a state of the art solar telescope for your viewing pleasure, your specially trained guide will let you safely watch the sun come alive in true color with vibrant solar flares, sunspots, prominences and any other current activity weather permitting.

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Cancellation Policy

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

Traveler Photos

Reviews (87)

Tourist23815911801

Jan 2019

We were staying in Hilo and most of the tour operators offered star-gazing tours from Kailua/Kona.It was by chance that we came across Kapohokine Adventures which have this Stellar Explorer tour from Hilo.Pros:- Our tour guide was Krystal who is an astrophysicist. She was also very knowledgeable about Hawaiian customs, Hawaiian vegetation and native/non-native species and provided much local information as well. She was very pleasant and made the ride enjoyable with her witty, humorous comments.- The tour vehicle was brilliant red in color (easy to spot) and very clean from the inside and outside (I don't like dirty windows as they spoil all pictures).- They provide choice of sandwiches or salads for dinner and soft drinks/water.- They provide warm jackets during the star-gazing which were much needed for the night time weather. It gets very cold, very fast, when we are outside the van for the star-gazing. It was very windy and temperature was somewhere in the 55 F range when we were outside.- The tour also included guided visit to Rainbow falls, Boiling pots and Kamana Caves lava tube. All 3 attractions were worth watching, especially Kamana Caves. As the Thurston lava tube in Volcano National Park was closed, Kamana Caves were particularly interesting for us.- Great guide, superb facilities and clear, cloudless night made this a perfect star-gazing experience for us.Some tour operators do not actually have a telescope. But they just use a laser pointer and point our the stars/planets/galaxies in the night sky. Krystal had a 10-inch Dobsonian Telescope for this tour, so it was a much better experience.From a pricing perspective, I believe they charge quite similar to the other tour operators.The reason we went with Kapohokine was because they were taking tours out of Hilo.There are many tours which take you to Mauna Kea summit and then have star-gazing once they are back to the visitor center. We didn't want to go to Mauna Kea summit and so this tour was perfect for us.We went as a couple. We are in our early 30's and requested for vegetarian sandwiches.Many thanks to Kapohokine and Krystal for making this such a wonderful experience !!

JillinSingapore

Jan 2019

We went out with Rich, who was a fantastic guide. My 11 year old put away his iPad as he found him so interesting. The tour from Hilo included stops at Rainbow Falls, Boiling Pots, a lava tube (which was very cool), and then the star gazing. We watched the sunset from Mauna Kea (we ate dinner in the car to save time) and then the telescope came out. Rich was very knowledgeable and we saw a lot of different types of stars. Note it's very cold, while they provide jackets, you need to wear jeans, sweater. If you have a hat or mitts, bring them.

Response from Host

Jan 2019

Aloha JillinSingapore! Rich made an 11 year old put away his iPad! That is quite an achievement these days and we will let him know about this great review! Happy New Year from all of us!

Companion48887799370

Dec 2018

I’ll be honest, I’m not a real stargazer. The tour guide, Rich, made this tour unbelievable. There were many stops on the way to the stargazing location, with a great deal of culture and sights. Even for a novice stargazer like myself, the stargazing was amazing.