Maunakea Stellar Explorer from KONA

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.

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.

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.