Maunakea Stellar Explorer from KONA

Name: Maunakea Stellar Explorer from KONA
Brand: Kapohokine Adventures
SKU: 5413P26
Price: 263.76 USD
Rating: 4.0 (90 reviews)

Big Island of Hawaii, USA

6 hours 30 minutes
Pickup offered
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

Hawaii’s natural wonders aren’t only on land and in the sea—the Big Island is also a prime spot from which to admire the wonders of the solar system. This tour is the only one that includes both afternoon solar viewing and nighttime stargazing, accompanied by astronomy experts. Visit different destinations and use a state-of-the-art solar telescope and Dobsonian telescope to spot solar flares, galaxies, star clusters, and planets.

Spectacular solar and astronomical sightings through high-powered telescopes
Delicious Hawaiian-style dinner with a view over Kailua Bay
Learn more about astronomy from expert guides
Hassle-free hotel pickup and round-trip transport

What's Included

Bottled water
Driver/guide
Hotel pickup and drop-off
Jackets
Dinner

Gratuities

Meeting and Pickup

Pickup points

Select a pickup point

Start time

03:30 PM

Pickup details

Please call the phone number on your ticket/voucher for your pick up time and schedule.

What To Expect

Kailua-Kona

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Saddle Road

1 hour • Admission Ticket Included

Mauna Kea

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
No heart problems or other serious medical conditions
Not wheelchair accessible

Near public transportation
Most travelers can participate
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 26 travelers

Operated by Kapohokine Adventures

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.

Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

Frequently Asked Questions

The answers provided below are based on answers previously given by the tour provider to customers’ questions.

Filter by:

Q:I am a vegetarian / I have allergies / I am gluten or lacto free.

A:Just let us know any dietary requirements in the 'Special Requirements' box in the Traveler Details section during checkout. Or you can let us know after booking by visiting 'Manage my Booking' and emailing us there.

Jul 2019

Q:What is the pick up location?

A:We offer pick ups from most hotels. Let us know where you are staying in the 'Special Requirements' box in the Traveler Details section during checkout. Or you can let us know after booking by visiting 'Manage my Booking' and emailing us there.

Jul 2019

Traveler Photos

Featured review

Steve_G

Awesome star viewing and Marcus our trip guide was amazing!! He was very knowledgeable about astronomy and the formation of the universe

Reviews

4.0

90 reviews

Total review count and overall rating based on Viator and Tripadvisor reviews

Reviews by Viator travelers.

We perform checks on reviews

Showing 1-10 of 90 reviews

Highly recommend!

Steve_G, Feb 2024

Awesome star viewing and Marcus our trip guide was amazing!! He was very knowledgeable about astronomy and the formation of the universe

Can’t recommend enough!!

Lauren_P, Jan 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!!!!

New to Stargazing—I’d recommend

Sorbrique_G, Dec 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.

I especially liked that...

Ron_M, Dec 2023

I especially liked that the guide used his laser pointer to highlight the stars and constellations he was talking about.

Enchanting

Mary_M, Oct 2023

Marcus is a very knowledgeable and friendly tour guide. ,.............forcing a minimal of words in this rating isnt a good idea.

Worst experience

Christopher_S, Sep 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

Great experience

Cheryl_K, Aug 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.

Great star gazing experience!

Grant_A, Jun 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!

Driver and Guide had a...

Woosung_J, Jun 2023

Driver and Guide had a excellent knowledge about astronomy. Especially, they had an amazing passion! It was the most impressive.

Great learning opportunity

America_G, Mar 2023

The best of the tour was Matcu's guide. He was highly knowledgeable. Excellent time. I will recommend this tour .

Shows stars by roadside, not summit

niyatigoelster, Jan 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.

Not what we expected…. Better

Noelle_H, Jan 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

Spectacular Star Show!!

Madhu_B, Dec 2022

Stars Stars …….. Stars!! Spectacular view of millions of stars !! With telescope it was still great attraction!!

Nate was an amazing...

Jonny_G, Dec 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!

Loved the guide, Mark!...

Mark_P, Nov 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.

Horrible experience

Jane_O, Sep 2022

Five long hours riding in a van and seeing no stars. The “dinner “was a plastic bowl with portions that were small enough for young children but not for adults this was the most expensive trip to see zero stars. Definitely would not recommend this to anyone

Amazing!!!

Ashley_H, Aug 2022

Rich and Hunter were AMAZING tour guides! They were both so knowledgeable and it was a pleasure to ride with them. I highly recommend this tour for anyone with an interest in Astronomy!

Beautiful Stars!

Joshua_L, Aug 2022

We loved rich and hunter so much! What a beautiful experience this was! I proposed to my partner and Rich was such a great help. I would recommend eating a good meal before, the food wasn’t the highlight by any means. And bring a good camera if you want any pictures.

Marcus was very...

John_T, Aug 2022

Marcus was very personable and knowledgeable. Great guide, saw many stars and a few planets. The dinner was ok, ate at a small diner next to the harbor.

Excellent experience

Jenifer_R, Aug 2022

Adam was a great tour guide. We had an amazing and fun experience. The stars were amazing and Adam had a lot of very interesting knowledge and information about plants on the island.