STARGAZING ON MAUNA KEA

at the summit on Mauna Kea

SHE PROMISED ME THE MOON AND THE STARS

Janet sure can deliver.

She knows I am fascinated by the night sky. I grew up just outside of New York City in Harrison New Jersey. My night sky then was usually an orange glow. Occasionally I’d see a planet, or was that a plane overhead?

Janet has had a better experience with celestial sightings. She hiked in the mountains of Colorado and camped out in the Alaskan wilderness. She rafted through the Grand Canyon. She’s been under some dark skies and yeah, she’s gotten up close and personal with the Milky Way several times.

For me, the Milky Way is a candy bar.

A visit to the summit of Mauna Kea on the Big Island was supposed to change all that for me.

Mauna Kea is the tallest mountain in the world, if measured from its base on the sea floor to the summit at 33,500 feet. Mt. Everest rises to 29,032 feet. Still, at 13,803 above sea level Mauna Kea is quite tall. Taking advantage of the extremely dry air and the many clear nights are several observatories at the summit. The dark skies of Mauna Kea are absolute and a great place to see a glorious display of stars and Janet picked out a tour company to drive us up to see the sunset and to explain the night.

You don’t need a tour company to take you, but you’ll need a 4x4 vehicle to get up the steep gravel road, and unless you’re packing a telescope that can coordinate its position to the night sky, your experience at the summit will be limited to catching the setting sun. That’s worth the trip alone, with the clouds below and Mt. Haleakala on Maui in the distance.

But for the whole shebang, which included a pick-up at Waikoloa Village, a drive to the summit with knowledgeable guides showing us various constellations and how the stars aided seafaring Hawaiians, telling us about the various observatories, as well as providing snacks and hot chocolate and necessary warm coats and gloves and taking our pictures with the array of stars above us, we decided to go on the “Mauna Kea Summit Sunset and Stars tour” with Hawaii Island Holiday through Viator.

Mauna Kea observatories

It is expensive at $289 pp (not including tips), but well worth the convenience of traveling to the summit of Mauna Kea and the invaluable advice the guides gave us so we could enjoy the excursion safely.

TAKES YOUR BREATH AWAY

It was in the eighties at our resort, but we were told to bring along jackets. It gets cold up at the summit, but the tour guides also offered full length coats decorated with a Hawaiian flower motif that we could borrow for the night or even purchase them afterwards.

The company recommends travelers to be in good physical shape with no medical conditions that may impede breathing, and they recommend that no one under 13 should travel. This is not a wheelchair accessible trip. There are good reasons for all these precautions. The air is much thinner at the summit and the guides cautioned us not to move too quickly while at the top and altitude sickness is a very real concern.

To acclimate to the thinner air the guides stopped first at the visitor center at 9,200 ft. Remember the summit is at 13,803. It was tough at first to walk around, your lungs never quite get enough oxygen.

t-shirt for sale

There’s a small display at the visitor center of the several observatories at the summit and the religious significance of Mauna Kea to the Hawaiian people. There’s a souvenir store offering t-shirts, posters and knickknacks, but no water.

It is important to remain hydrated while at these higher altitudes. There are fountains to refill your personal water containers, but no water for sale at the visitor center. 

Make this a priority to remember. 

PICTURE PERFECT

To reach the summit beyond the visitor center there is only a gravel road, making 4x4 vehicles the only allowable means to travel. The guides, driving an appropriately geared van, slowly climbed the steep, winding road chatting away like there was nothing to be worried about, but there are steep drop-offs and visibility can be low. We would not want to have done this trip on our own.

We finally parked along with several other vehicles amongst the observatories to watch the sunset. The guides pointed out Mt. Haleakala on Maui and took our pictures with our resplendent coats and a location plaque denoting our elevation.

As the sky slowly darkened, we watched the observatories stir and their panels open for the telescopes to begin their night’s work.  

Mauna Kea observatory

I’M BEING FOLLOWED BY A MOON SHADOW

Check your lunar calendar before booking a trip for stargazing. We were graced with a brilliant full moon on the star gazing part of our evening. As you might have guessed, a full moon impacts the dark sky, so the overall experience was lessened. Still the guides set up their telescope and geo-positioned it for us to see distant galaxies. We also got a very detailed view of the moon through the telescope. They took pictures all everything and passed them along to us via email and even took our picture with an “almost” heavenly array of stars behind us.

beam us up Scotty

With handheld laser markers they pointed out certain stars that were important to the seafaring Hawaiians to guide them across vast stretches of the Pacific. They pointed out the Southern Cross constellation, normally only seen south of the equator. We were that high up in elevation to “peer” that far south.

This was a unique, breathtaking experience.

Pun intended.

MAUNA KEA OBSERVATORIES 

BIG ISLAND SUNSET AND STARGAZING

Maholo for reading.

Love Janet and greg

Following pictures courtesy of Hawaii Island Holiday

© 2025 by Gregory Dunaj