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Mauna Kea Summit: Small-Group Stars Adventure at Hawaii's Tallest Peak
4.8
1,482 Ratings
Kailua-Kona
Embark on a small-group adventure to the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii’s tallest peak. Explore the mysteries of space and time while enjoying breathtaking views from 13,796 feet above sea level.
Embark on a small-group adventure to the Mauna Kea Observatory, Hawaii’s tallest peak. Explore the mysteries of space and time while enjoying breathtaking views from 13,796 feet above sea level.
Duration:
8 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel - Travelers staying in Kailua Kona will meet the guide here. Your guide will meet you at the benches closest to the hotel’s parking lot entrance at the curbside. There may be additional meeting location stops along the way to Maunakea. - Maunakea Visitor Information Station - Enjoy a…
- Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha’s Kona Beach Hotel - Travelers staying in Kailua Kona will meet the guide here. Your guide will meet you at the benches closest to the hotel’s parking lot entrance at the curbside. There may be additional meeting location stops along the way to Maunakea. - Maunakea Visitor Information Station - Enjoy a warm picnic dinner while you acclimate to a higher elevation and learn about Hawaiian star navigation before you head to the summit. - Mauna Kea Summit - Enjoy a sunset from above the clouds while overlooking the Pacific Ocean atop Maunakea. After the sunset, travel to a more comfortable elevation and let our guides reveal the night sky with our 11” Celestron telescopes. - Maunakea Visitor Information Station - Descend to a lower elevation after the sun sets and sip hot chocolate during a private star show with our 11” Celestron telescope. View deep space objects with our Stellina digital telescope and share captured images of the Hawaiian night sky with your friends & family
What's Included
- Private star show with telescope
- Hooded parkas and gloves
- Central meeting locations for pick-up & drop-off
- Hot cocoa and cookies
- Included local taxes
- Expert guidance
- Hot picnic dinner
- Private star show with telescope
- Hooded parkas and gloves
- Central meeting locations for pick-up & drop-off
- Hot cocoa and cookies
- Included local taxes
- Expert guidance
- Hot picnic dinner
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Gratuities
Additional Information
Embark on a fascinating voyage through space and time at the Mauna Kea Observatory, perched high atop the peaks of Hawaii’s Big Island. The view from Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s loftiest pinnacle affectionately dubbed ‘White Mountain,’ situated 13,796 feet (4,200 meters) above sea level, offers a distinct perspective of the island. With our small-group…
Embark on a fascinating voyage through space and time at the Mauna Kea Observatory, perched high atop the peaks of Hawaii’s Big Island. The view from Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s loftiest pinnacle affectionately dubbed ‘White Mountain,’ situated 13,796 feet (4,200 meters) above sea level, offers a distinct perspective of the island. With our small-group astronomy tour, you are guaranteed a unique and intimate encounter on the mesmerizing summit of Mauna Kea.
- Minimum age is 13 years - No children under 13.
- Due to the high altitude; this tour is not suitable for those with respiratory, heart or circulatory conditions, poor health, or pregnancy
- If you plan to scuba dive, do not plan to go to the summit within 24 hours after you dive due to the altitude.
- IMPORTANT - Please note, guests meeting at the Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha Kona Beach Hotel must meet at least 15 MINUTES PRIOR to the tour’s departure time.
- Guests are required to wear closed-toe walking shoes or hiking boots, long pants. We recommend bringing a light sweatshirt or jacket
- Guests must bring their own water bottles. Tour operator will provide filtered water refills.
- Please advise your parka size (small, medium, large, x-large or xx-large) and choice of meal at time of booking. If you do not indicate this at the time of booking, you will be required to call and advise them of this information directly.
- There is minimal walking on this tour, the maximum being about 150 yards
- The access road to Mauna Kea is four-wheel drive only, so it can be bumpy. The custom off-road transit vans will get you to the top and back in safety and comfort. The transit vans can carry a maximum of 12 passengers
- Snow is seasonal at Mauna Kea, with the heaviest snowfall occurring during the winter months
- Please note your scheduled pick-up time may differ from the tour start time displayed online. Contact us to confirm your meeting time & location.
- No scuba diving within 24 hours
Location
Courtyard by Marriott King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel
Palani Road
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
4.8
(1482 Ratings)
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Donm757
Oct 3, 2025
Summit and stars great! - Eugene did an excellent job on the tour. Lots of background information on the way up Maunakea and also at each stop on the way to the summit. The stargazing and telescope work was great also. Not to mention getting us up and down the volcano safely. We had a great time.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Emily_c
Oct 2, 2025
Awesome experience - The experience was nothing less than excellent! Jeff, our tour guide, made sure several times throughout the tour that we were safe and well taken care of! Also was very knowledgeable on all things Mauna Kea and space. I would definitely tour with them again!
Review provided by Viator
Fred_g
Oct 1, 2025
Star gazing - Jeff was a great guide. For best view of milky Way plan around New Moon. Take it slow and steady. Your at over 13,000 feet and gravel so take it easy
Review provided by Viator
Dale_o
Sep 30, 2025
Memorable experience to... - Memorable experience to witness the sunset from the top of a mountain. Eugene was a great driver and host, and provided a very interesting and engaging survey of the night sky.
Review provided by Viator
Grace
Sep 29, 2025
The Mauna Kea Summit and Stars trip was fantastic! We highly recommend it! Or tour guide, Willy, was excellent. - This is an excellent tour. Our guide was great. Willy was knowledgeable and friendly. Scenery was spectacular. Food was delicious. We highly recommend it.
The star gazing was incredible.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Kenb333
Sep 29, 2025
Great tour, Jeff was an amazing guide. - Going to the top of Mauna Kea was an experience. We were met by Jeff, our guide, who provided us with a great southwestern chicken stew. He gave us plenty of history and information about Mauna Kea and Hawaii in general. All of it interesting. Be prepared as it was quite cold at the top but the view of the sunset was stunning. Afterwords we dropped 1,000 feet, got the telescopes out and checked out the night sky as Jeff pointed out what we were looking at. The sky without telescopes was reason enough to be here.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Lindaholody
Sep 28, 2025
Enjoyable Mauna Kea Summit Tour - While it was a bit expensive, it was worth every penny. Driving up the Summit, is for professionals. While it was very cold at the top, we were provided with warm jackets and gloves as well as blankets for the journey up. We selected our dinner in advance, but had no idea it would be so good! Our guide (who if memory serves me was Jason) was EXCELLENT! He really knew the solar system and pointed out various constellations, stars, planets. He also gave us a lot of information as we were driving up to the summit, so it made for a very great learning experience. Not only was our guide fantastic, we were very fortunate to have a great group of people on our tour, which made it all the more enjoyable. I consider this tour a must do if you're in the area, and the weather cooperates, which it did for us.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Suvankar_b
Sep 27, 2025
This is a very satisfied... - This is a very satisfied experience from start to finish. Very well coordinated (with amenities), and the travelers are looked for well by the guide. The guide (Jason) was very knowledgeable, had sharp wit and did his best to make it a comfortable and also once in a lifetime experience. And of course, the views (and stargazing) are breathtaking! Totally bang for buck.
Review provided by Viator
Jan_w
Sep 26, 2025
14000 ft and beyond - Nothing short of outstanding! Jeff our tour guide, driver, chef and one well educated astronomer made our trip one of the best tours we’ve had on this trip. And our picture album he sent us will provide us with forever memories. I rate this tour and Jeff a 10.
Review provided by Viator
Usna85fl
Sep 25, 2025
Mauna Kea Excursion Sep 2025 - Views at sunset were amazing. Truly a must-do, memorable experience.
We enjoyed the nice 4x4 ride. So glad that we did not drive ourselves. Road to the summit was steep, with a long unpaved stretch of several miles. You must have a 4x4 to go past the ranger station. There were lots of idiots with Jeep rentals who obviously did not know what they were doing.
Only hiccup was that the road to the summit was closed for an hour or so due to heavy fog. There were lots tour company provided a nice, hot meal of chicken chili while we waited. The excursions make an “altitude acclimation” stop at the visitors center anyway, so the trip wasn’t significantly disrupted.
I’m not sure how frequently the road closes due to fog, but is not unusual. Another benefit of taking a commercial tour is that they have priority over the long queue of jeeps. When the road opened, we were able to bypass the line.
If you have issue with high altitudes, this excursion is NOT for you. Pick-up is at sea level and the summit of Mauna Kea is just under 14,000 feet. You will feel it.
The views were absolutely amazing. It was quite busy at the top, with everyone taking plenty of great pictures.
Several minutes after sunset, the rangers clear out the general public. We were able to stop about 1,000 feet lower than the summit for about 45 minutes of stargazing. The sky was crystal clear and we had a very knowledgeable guide who brought multiple telescopes, hot chocolate and snacks.
I highly recommend this tour. It was exceptional.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
