3.9 · 85 reviews
Steve_G
February 2024
Awesome star viewing and Marcus our trip guide was amazing!! He was very knowledgeable about astronomy and the formation of the universe
Lauren_P
January 2024
Fantastic tour!! We saw the rings on Saturn, the bands on Jupiter and much more!!! Guides are so knowledgeable and really fun to be around!! This telescope is amazing!!!!
Sorbrique_G
December 2023
Marcus was an excellent guide! He was friendly and knowledgeable about stars and Hawaii. The meal was decent, typical tour food, maybe a touch better. My only complaint was having 20 people (we had another tour w/us) to one guide made things a little long, but we made do and were able to see some very cool things. If you have never had the opportunity to see the night sky through a telescope, would recommend this trip. If you have, you can skip it.
Ron_M
December 2023
I especially liked that the guide used his laser pointer to highlight the stars and constellations he was talking about.
Kathryn C
October 2023
We were very fortunate to have great weather for viewing some constellations and planets (Saturn and Jupiter were viewable) with the solar telescope. Our guide was Sam who brought his environmental science background to the tour and was also incredibly knowledgeable about the local culture and, of course, astronomy. Also very thankful for the coats they provided, it was below 50 degrees at our stargazing point! A must do excursion!
Mary_M
October 2023
Marcus is a very knowledgeable and friendly tour guide. ,.............forcing a minimal of words in this rating isnt a good idea.
Christopher_S
September 2023
No star-gazzng...rained whole time...driver drove around very slow to extend time...was obvious by 6:30 trip was a bust...yet until 8:30 to get back to hotel...I understand one can't c9ntrol weather but weather forecast prediczed clouds throughout night ...and vedor persisted with trip...I WANT A REFUND...my wife is a heavy weight publicist and this experience is going to end up all over the internet and beyond if you cannot return f7nds...have been coming to Hawaii for decades and this was THE WORST
Cheryl_K
August 2023
Seeing Saturn and getting a video of the moon through the Dobsonian telescope. Seeing the Milky Way against the really dark sky. Our tour guide was friendly, knowledgeable and funny. Make sure you wear warm clothes: sweat pants, warm socks. Warm jackets are e provided and were much appreciated. Worth the money.
rebeccas
July 2023
Please read thoroughly because the description is very clear this does not go to the top of Mauna Kea. I saw a few not great reviews because it did not go to the summit. We had Rich as a guide he was amazing. So much knowledge about constellations and the Hawaiian islands. We have children who are teenagers and we would totally recommend this tour with Rich!
X5667ZFchrish
July 2023
Short version: Do not spend your money or time on this tour. Cancel if you have already booked. Trust me. We booked this back in January for our Hawaii trip in July. We paid approximately 1100 USD for our family of 4. We are traveling with two kids aged 8 and 11 so we knew that we would not be going to the summit from the outset. We were picked up at 3:50 pm near Mauna Lani. Then drove 35 to 40 minutes to Kona to pick up the other six members of the party. We then went to Kona Harbor for dinner and honestly what we were served was probably 15 dollars per meal. Basic fish and chips and hamburgers. The price covers a soft drink but not even a single alcoholic drink for the adults. You are on your own nickel for that. We then began our drive to what we thought was Mauna Kea. On the way the tour guide told us we would be going to an elevation of about 8000 ft for viewing and that we would not be going to the summit because access is limited to companies with permits (apparentlu they do not have one) and there were children in the party. This was expected. He then also teased the possibility of viewing through the solar telescope to see solar flares. After about 50 minutes of driving, we pulled into a park just off of Saddle Road, which based on Google searching later that evening is "Gilbert Kahele Recreation Area." I checked my phone, the elevation was 6300 ft, leas than half of the total elevation of Mauna Kea. We then waited at a playground for 45 min to an hour for the sun to go down. The guide made it seem like they were eyeing cloud conditions during this time like we could move to higher elevation if need be. Eventually the clouds did begin to clear after sunset and we piled back into the van and drove.....across the street. Our viewing area for the evening was just off of Saddle Road with headlights from motorists shining into your face and lights from the bathroom at the park also providing nuisance lighting. Not at one point during this tour did I feel that I was on Mauna Kea or had climbed Mauna Kea. I know the actual location is on the slopes of Mauna Kea, but at less than half the.elevation and right next to Saddle Road you never felt that you were "on" the mountain if that makes any sense. At this point, the guide then began to setup the telescope. He pointed out some planets, constellations and stars with the laser pointer. The telescope was a complete and total letdown. All the bluster on their website about how great it is and you will see galaxies ane nebulas....Looking through the eyepiece I could see a slightly larger version of what I could see with the naked eye. Someone else wrote a review saying it was about the same magnification you could achieve with a good pair of binoculars. I totally agree. What we were told was a galaxy was a star with a glow around it. After this my kids totally lost interest. To make matters worse there was always some cloud cover throughout the evening. For the price we paid one would expect every attempt would be made to obtain a cloud free viewing, like maybe moving to higher elevation? This was not done or even hinted at. Regarding the solar telescope, I would guess that you will have a very low chance of being able to experience this since you must have no cloud interference. The guide indicated that the clouds begin to dissipate...after sunset. So you do the math on that one. We were then served the equivalent of Swiss Miss hot chocolate in a small paper cup and that wrapped up the evening. Note: we were not offered Kona coffee as a choice as the website indicated. The entire viewing experience lasted about 1.5 hours and we dedicated over 6 hours of our precious time in HI between pickup and drop-off to this tour. For the last 20 to 30 minutes of the viewing time, my kids and the other party of six were so bored they were back in the van being entertained by my kids telling them stories about their friends and which YouTube videos they think are funny. My wife and I were the only ones who viewed for the entire time determined to extract any possible value we could from the tour. Our guide was a nice guy but was not an expert in astronomy and admitted to looking up some of the knowledge from the internet. He is a college student studying marine sciences. There were two other vans from the same company that we met at the park and shared the viewing area together and he basically admitted they were more knowledgeable than him. I listened to some of their discussions and can confirm this. I certainly did not get the sense that any of the guides from this company designed the telescope or whatever claim they make on the website. Overall this was a completely waste of money and more importantly time in Hawaii. I cannot recommend this tour to anyone and would advise you to just go to the beach with your family and keep your ONE THOUSAND hard earned dollars in your pocket. If you really have the itch to look at stars just drive to the same spot I told you about and park next to them and keep your money. Or better yet..drive to the Mauna Kea visitor center at 8000 ft and actually be above the clouds. Final thoughts: My wife and I are from Michigan and remarked to each other that we have seen WAY better stars, I mean stars that will knock your socks off, in Northern Michigan in the summer. Am I saying MI stars are better than HI? No. But what I saw with partial cloud cover the whole time did not beat what I have seen in Michigan. Secondly, my 11 year old noticed as we walked into our rental near the beach that the stars were better here than where the tour took us. I am just heartbroken from this experience as I had been looking forward to it for 5 months with the expectation that it would be one of the highlights of our trip. I guess I should have done more research. Do not make the same mistake!!!! Do not book this and cancel if you already have...you still have time.
Grant_A
June 2023
Food was good, and the stars were great! Hunter was our driver/guide and I can not say enough about how knowledgeable he was about everything Hawaii and the night sky! Ask him literally anything.... he knows!
Woosung_J
June 2023
Driver and Guide had a excellent knowledge about astronomy. Especially, they had an amazing passion! It was the most impressive.
N5599CWangelicam
May 2023
Diego was super nice, and I feel bad for giving a bad review as he was great, but this tour was just not what we expected. We were hoping to go higher on the mountain, have more telescopes to look through, and have a bigger dinner experience. This tour was probably more worth $100 or less not the price we paid..
America_G
March 2023
The best of the tour was Matcu's guide. He was highly knowledgeable. Excellent time. I will recommend this tour .
niyatigoelster
January 2023
This tour takes you on the road and stops at the side of the road and shows the sky. Even the visitor center of Mauna Lea is higher than where they take you and anyone can go to the visitor center for sunset and stargazing by themselves. Do not waste your money on this tour and time. Take a tour that takes you to the summit or go yourself. This is worth no more than $20.
Noelle_H
January 2023
Amazing experience. And not something I would usually sign up for. But my kids(young adults) and I were really surprised. The sky was amazing with the abundance of stars. I loved seeing Sirius and learning so much astronomy and myths. Both Adam and Diego worked really hard to make it spectacular . Diego thank you for putting up with the Southwest airline struggles we were facing at the same time. My only hiccups were dinner changes and challenges. And they got worked out. It was a fantastic last excursion for our Hawaii trip. Thank you Diego
Madhu_B
December 2022
Stars Stars …….. Stars!! Spectacular view of millions of stars !! With telescope it was still great attraction!!
Jonny_G
December 2022
Nate was an amazing guide. He was extremely knowledgeable about the stars, volcanoes, and Hawaii. We really loved the stargazing portion of the night. The only reason. I’m giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is that I wish we had more time on the mountain. We started by having dinner at a restaurant, which felt random and maybe like a way to stretch the experience to justify the price. I’d much rather have gone earlier to Mauna Kea to see the sunset before stargazing. Or else just had a shorter tour and I could have gotten my own dinner. Still, the star part was awesome and Nate was a great guide. Viewing the night sky from Mauna Kea was a great experience!
Mark_P
November 2022
Loved the guide, Mark! Great vibe and awesomely informative. It was a really memorable experience seeing galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, planets, and moon details.
Jane O
September 2022
This was the most frustrating, disappointing, and complete waste of $479.00 for my husband and me. Six hours, terrible food and no stars to be seen. We had to sit in the van for one hour and 45 minutes to pick up other people from hotels and then finally arrived at what was supposed to be a restaurant with dinner. It turned out to be a Small dump/dive like place with a very haphazard service that someone shouldn’t even have to pay five dollars for. The service was haphazard at best. Everyone at our table had finished eating before my husband even got his food. The portions were child size it was disgusting. To top it all off we drove to a parking lot stood outside and saw absolutely no stars we then drove to another parking area and saw no stores all of this for $479 is extremely disappointing to say the least I would never recommend this experience to anyone because it was a horrible waste of time on one of her precious days in Hawaii.

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