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Maunakea Stellar Explorer: Big Island Star Tour
3.8
98 Ratings
Kailua-Kona
Embark on a thrilling adventure with Maunakea Stellar Explorer in Hawaii. Experience night sky and solar observing with experienced astronomers. All ages welcome!
Embark on a thrilling adventure with Maunakea Stellar Explorer in Hawaii. Experience night sky and solar observing with experienced astronomers. All ages welcome!
Duration:
6 hours, 30 minutes
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- 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…
- 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.
What's Included
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Bottled water
- Driver/guide
- Dinner
- Jackets
- Hotel pickup and drop-off
- Bottled water
- Driver/guide
- Dinner
- Jackets
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Gratuities
Additional Information
For a celestial adventure, immerse yourself in the Maunakea Stellar Explorer offered by KapohoKine Adventures. This unique star exploration journey on the Big Island combines the thrill of nocturnal astronomical viewing and the safety of daytime solar observations, welcoming all ages. Our team of in-house astronomers boast the finest expertise in…
For a celestial adventure, immerse yourself in the Maunakea Stellar Explorer offered by KapohoKine Adventures. This unique star exploration journey on the Big Island combines the thrill of nocturnal astronomical viewing and the safety of daytime solar observations, welcoming all ages. Our team of in-house astronomers boast the finest expertise in Hawaii, including a founder of the Mauna Kea Visitor’s Centre who managed it for 10 years. Other team members have contributed to notable astronomy publications and have experience working in globally recognized observatories.
Location
Kailua-Kona
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
3.8
(98 Ratings)
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Betty_e
Feb 9, 2025
Star and knowledge - We really enjoyed the star watching trip. The dinner before was at a restaurant we had not tried before. Food and service were very good. Our guide Marcus was very knowledgeable about stars, volcanoes, Hawaii in general... We were able to view and learn a lot about the stars, planets and galaxies. Great time, even if we only went up to about 7000 foot, which was fine with us!
Review provided by Viator
Peter_j
Jan 15, 2025
Night sky - It’s very rare to visit a place that leaves you speechless. The Milky Way is nothing short of extraordinary. The guide is very knowledgeable, patient and warm
Review provided by Viator
Keiko_n
Dec 24, 2024
Marcus was great. He was... - Marcus was great. He was knowledgeable, entertaining and kind. Plus he provided all the stars for us on what looked like a cloudy night! Simply amazing.
Review provided by Viator
Julia_m
Jun 3, 2024
Stars at night - Excellent tour food was great. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and yes parkas were provided. It was 29 degrees. We were not at the summit or at the visitor center if that is where you wanted to be please read all of the descriptions
Review provided by Viator
Relax693916
May 3, 2024
Great trip - Our guide Marcus was amazing. He was very knowledgeable about the stars and Hawaiian history. Super friendly and nice.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Steve_g
Feb 20, 2024
Highly recommend! - Awesome star viewing and Marcus our trip guide was amazing!! He was very knowledgeable about astronomy and the formation of the universe
Review provided by Viator
Francis_o
Jan 14, 2025
Not what you should expect - None of the things happened because Viator contracted with a company that does not do any of this. I unfortunately did not see this disclaimer in. Kapahokine Adventure email they put down in the email. I was not expecting to be booked on a totally different experience. Both of these operators are aware of this happening but they have your money so so sad to bad.
Review provided by Viator
Erik_d
Aug 27, 2024
Great tour but way overpriced. - The tour was a great experience. Nice dinner and good hot choc at the end. Marcus drove the Saddle Road, set us up for sunset viewing near a parking lot and if there were no partial clouds obscuring would have set up the solarscope, and then drove to a secluded spot for 1.30-2 hours using his portable Dobsonian telescope giving each of us turns to watch e.g. Alpha Centauri (a twin star!), Venus and as top of the bill Saturn with the clearly visible ring pattern. And in between used the laser pointer to show lots of stars and nebulas. Even had 3 falling stars, a rarity!
However we were disappointed that all only went to 6000 feet (2 km), meaning we missed the far better sunset views including ocean from the visitors centre. (Summit is not really needed to visit, partly due to sensitivity for local culture but also as it’s simply too cold and can bring altitude sickness). Company delivers as advertised, but we should have read better – though the pickup options in Kona for this tour were amongst the best.
The tour would, both because of less delivered quality and of far less fuel cost for the company compared to the other routes, need to be sold at USD 75 at least below the current level. For the current level of price, go for a tour that visits the visitor centre (9000 ft/3km) for sunset vistas (and stargazing similar to this one) like Mauna Kea Summit sunset and stars, Mauna Kea Summit tour, Mauna Kea stargazing experience.
Review provided by Viator
Sandya-and-erik
Aug 27, 2024
Great experience, but way overpriced compared to alternatives - The tour was a great experience. Nice dinner and good hot choc at the end. Marcus drove the Saddle Road, set us up for sunset viewing near a parking lot and if there were no partial clouds obscuring would have set up the solarscope, and then drove to a secluded spot for 1.30-2 hours using his portable Dobsonian telescope giving each of us turns to watch e.g. Alpha Centauri (a twin star!), Venus and as top of the bill Saturn with the clearly visible ring pattern. And in between used the laser pointer to show lots of stars and nebulas. Even had 3 falling stars, a rarity!
However we were disappointed that all only went to 6000 feet (2 km), meaning we missed the far better sunset views including ocean from the visitors centre. (Summit is not really needed to visit, partly due to sensitivity for local culture but also as it’s simply too cold and can bring altitude sickness). Company delivers as advertised, but we should have read better – though the pickup options in Kona for this tour were amongst the best.
The tour would, both because of less delivered quality and of far less fuel cost for the company compared to the other routes, need to be sold at USD 75 at least below the current level. For the current level of price, go for a tour that visits the visitor centre (9000 ft/3km) for sunset vistas (and stargazing similar to this one) like Mauna Kea Summit sunset and stars, Mauna Kea Summit tour, Mauna Kea stargazing experience.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jeremywy3966uw
Jul 29, 2024
Great trip- terrible customer service - Booked tour through Trip Advisor. KapohoKine Adventures called to say the booking was wrong and I'd need to rebook.
I went through a different service instead. They never cancelled the reservation and despite me never traveling with them - charged me over $400. They were defensive and adamant about keeping my payment.
There are lots of companies offering this tour - (I actually used Mauna Kea Sunset & Stars Tour through Taikobo Hawaii - they were fantastic) I would highly recommend going with one that isn't going to stick it to the customer if there are misunderstandings or other unavoidable irregularities.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
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