Mauna Kea Summit, Hawaii, United States

5Paul S 5:00 PM Apr 30, 2022

Quasi bucket-list experience
Booked our tour with Mauna Kea Summit Adventures. Had a wonderful experience and the food was pretty good, too! Our guide (Travis) did an excellent job of providing local history and making the whole trip fun, entertaining, and educational. We learned a lot, witnessed a pretty amazing sunset, and had plenty of time to view multiple celestial objects through one of the large and pricey telescopes provided and set up by MKSA near the visitor center. (One telescope for each of the two vans in the tour.) Well executed and highly recommended.

4Samantha S 5:00 PM Jul 27, 2022

A Beautiful & Unique Experience!
After doing quite a bit of research, we decided to go as a family of 20 to check out the Mauna Kea Summit to watch the sunset & stargazing. It really is such a unique experience and a wonderful evening activity. Even if you are unsure or hesitant about the weather, layer layer layer and dress warm because it is freezing! The drive up was so cool because it truly felt like we were riding above the fog and clouds. You definitely need a 4 wheel drive vehicle as they do check your vehicle before allowing you to head up to the summit. Make sure you arrive at least an hour before the scheduled sunset time as they require you to wait 30 minutes at the visitor center before driving up so you can get acclimated to the altitude. The drive from the visitor center to the summit is about another 30 minutes. You can drive to the visitor center in any type of car but the sunset views are pretty non existent unless you hike up the hill across the street. The visitor center doesn’t have much except a handful of souvenirs so you pretty much have to sit in the car or bring your own folding chairs should you decide to sit outside. The night sky gets truly dark about an hour after the sun sets and then the stars light up and you can see the most stunning view of the Milky Way. I wish the cars in the parking area would turn their headlights off to avoid disrupting the views - that was the only bummer. It was definitely worth while, just come prepared! Oh and definitely make sure you have a full tank of gas before heading towards Mauna Kea as there are zero gas stations nearby.