Mauna Kea Summit and Stars Small Group Adventure Tour

Hawaii, United States of America

Experience an intriguing and provocative journey through space and time as you head to the Mauna Kea Observatory, nestled high in the mountains of the Big Island! Discover Hawaii from the top of the Island's tallest peak, the Mauna Kea, also known as "White Mountain", 13,796 feet (4,200 meters) above sea level. Be sure not to miss this enchanting Mauna Kea Summit and Stars small group tour!

View a spectacular sunset from the top of Mauna Kea Hawaii and enjoy a unique stargazing experience on this Big Island adventure tour. Travel from Kona through Hawaii's historic Parker Ranch in a specially equipped 4x4 luxury van to Mauna Kea summit on the Big Island of Hawaii. Learn about the Big Island's cultural, natural and ecological history from your naturalist tour guide as you journey to Mauna Kea Observatory for this once-in-a-lifetime sunset and stargazing tour. Limited to 12 people, this tour ensures a personalized and unique experience.

Ride to the Mauna Kea summit in comfort and safety with specially equipped 4x4 tour vans and gain access to parts of the Big Island of Hawaii that most travelers will never see! Enjoy a special hot, picnic style dinner (refer to full menu below) at a historic Hawaiian ranch where you'll be provided with a warm, hooded parka (you must specify size when booking) and prepare to make the climb to the  top of Mauna Kea.

From the Mauna Kea summit, enjoy views of Mauna Loa and see Maui's volcano, Haleakala, along with other special points of interest. Stand among some of the earth's most powerful telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatory as you enjoy the once-in-a-lifetime sunset view.

After sunset, you'll travel to the Mauna Kea Visitor's Center at 9,000 feet (2,750 meters), where your tour guide will set up a telescope for a personal, entertaining and educational star party. Learn how Mauna Kea's unique geography draws scientists from all over the world to study the heavens, and also allows for incredible night time views of the stars. Enjoy hot beverages and chocolate macadamia nut cookies as your guide gives a personal astronomy lesson.

USD $200.00

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Stephanie Z	August 2011
Had a great time watching the sun set atop Mauna Kea. Driver was very knowledgeable and friendly. Stars show was great. He really knew his sky. Learned and saw so many things I never have before. Would definitely recommend.

Review by: Jacqueline W	May 2011
Best bus of the bunch. Driver was very experienced and did an awesome job during the star gazing part of the trip. The sky was great!

Review by: Shona M	May 2011
Very enjoyable tour. Our guide was great. The views were amazing. A must see if you just love the outdoors! Food and snacks were very nice.

Review by: Gareth P	April 2011
This trip was absolutely wonderful. Sunset on top of Mauna Kea is something we will never forget, and our guide gave us a fascinating crash course in astronomy, and other local information. This was an absolute highlight of our holiday, and we thoroughly recommend it.

Review by: Patrick m	March 2011
What an excellent day and evening out. The guide was so interesting and gave lots of information .

Review by: Naoyoshi Y	March 2011
Very enjoyable and informative tour. Never seen before such skyfull of stars! Tour guide was very pleasant and knowledgeable and the meal and hot chocolate were good.

Review by: Sarah C	February 2011
This is an excellent tour, with a spectacular view and knowledgeable guide. They take very good care of you on this trip and it's a unique experience. Highly recommended.

Review by: Michelle M	February 2011
I'll split this tour in half to give a fair review. The first half was very interesting. We stopped at 6000 feet for a cowboy stew at a "ghost town" farm. The ride up to the summit was beautiful with a few stops to get you acclimatised to the high altitude. The final push to the top is over a VERY bumpy road, so make sure you are fully hydrated or the altitude will give you a thumping headache! (Water is provided, do drink it!) The view from the top? Magnificent. You really do feel like you're on top of the world. Very, very cold but the parkas provided do a good job. Wear long trousers and wooly socks! 5 star rating for this bit. _br/_ The second half of the tour was back down at the Visitors centre at aboput 7000 feet. This is the star show, and although our guide was very passionate and informative on his subject, it was a little frustrating as 12 people stood around in the cold waiting for their 15 seconds to look through the one telescope at whatever it was he was pointing out. We ended up standing for around 2 hours during this bit - in a dusty carpark so nowhere to sit down. Could be better with either seating provided or with multiple telescopes so not so much "doing nothing" time.

Review by: Brooke M	September 2010
It was very informative - and well done. I enjoyed the guide who was very knowledgeable and did know what he was talking about - I was quite surprised guides aren't usually that well informed. I would have loved it to be more technical but I am sure I'm the exception and the tour has to be done for the usual knowledge level.

Review by: Marie M	September 2010
Absolutely breath taking

Review by: Michael K, United Kingdom	May 2010
Pick-up and return very convenient, good guide who was knowledgeable about the island flora and fauna, and about the night sky. Our star viewing was a little obscured by high cloud but we saw a few features clearly.

Review by: Carol P, United States of America	September 2009
Buck, our tour guide, was fantastic. This was one of the most unique trips we have ever taken.

Review by: John P, United States of America	August 2009
This is something you must experience.

Review by: Larry & Valerie S, United States of America	August 2009
We loved it. It took a little adjusting to the climate change being so many thousand feet up. The experience was awesome. Our guide was great.

Review by: Larry S	August 2009
We loved it. It took a little adjusting to the climate change being so many thousand feet up. The experience was awesome. Our guide was great.

Review by: Jodie H, United Kingdom	September 2007
Our guide gave us lots of interesting facts on the way up Mauna Kea. The view was incredible from the top! The stars were amazing, I have never seen so many stars in all my life! It was romantic and perfect for the day after our wedding.

Review by: Nicholas H	September 2007
Our guide gave us lots of interesting facts on the way up Mauna Kea. The view was incredible from the top! The stars were amazing, I have never seen so many stars in all my life! It was romantic and perfect for the day after our wedding.

Review by: Robert W, United States of America	May 2007
The guide was very knowledgeable and pleasant, and the vehicle was comfortable. The meal was average - somewhat disappointing since the cost was high and we had expected better. The sunset at that site was unforgettable.

Review by: Anonymous, United States of America	September 2006
I thought the scenery was beautiful and the transportation was worth it, but I thought our tour guide could have talked a little bit more about the island and the history of it.