This is a wonderful trip. The company is professional from the moment you book. You aren't left hanging about any aspect of your trip. We were picked up from a local mall and loaded in to a nice Mercedes van. Its a little tight down the aisles but the seats are very comfortable and the view out the windows is great. We stopped at a rec center to pick up another couple from Hilo. There were 14 in the van I believe. Then we stopped at the visitors center (not much to see there) and had our pre-ordered dinner. Vegetarian lasagne.. Very tasty but veggies were too crunchy. A delicious brownie was dessert. Of note, they have boiling hot water available here so if you wanted to bring a cup of noodle or something like that you could. I would bring my own tea bags next time. Then it was up to "the summit" actually you don't summit the mountain but you are only 16 feet below it. There was snow and people were snowboarding and boogie boarding down a hill. Crazy right? It was very cold and I was dressed warmly but my feet could have used different shoes and more socks. They give you a great warm arctic parka and heavy gloves but remember the lower part of your body because it gets cold in hiking pants. Jeans would be better. You are up there a while. We watched the sun set from there and it was awesome. Then in total darkness at another location our tour guides set up telescopes and proceeded to teach us about the heavens. A bucket list for sure to see a faint glimpse of the Milky Way...I want to see more of it now. Our guide was Arthur in our van with a new hire guide they called Moose. Both these guys were so friendly and kind. Great people. Arthur was so thorough in everything he was teaching Moose...I know he will be a great guide. There was not one question that Arthur couldn't answer with authority. We were lucky to have him. In the other van was a guide named Travis who was outstanding and did the bulk of the astronomy talk. Hot drinks in the freezing darkness and then we were taken back home. Don't miss it. Remember to bring extra socks and warm clothing if you plan to go. But do go!!! read more

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Although the tour seems to be a little pricy, it's so worth it to see the amazing sunset on the summit and see all the stars and constellations. Our tour guide/driver was very knowledgeable and friendly. Tour pick up met around 3:45 at Waikoloa Queen's marketplace with a 14 passenger Mercedes Van. It took about an hour to get to the Mauna Kea visitor center where they served us a hot meal and provided us jacket. We left the visitor center around 5:30 and got to the summit 30 mins before sunset where we got to walked around to see all the big telescopes. Sunset right before 7 and we were back down to the visitor center by 7:30 ish to enjoy the stargazing experience with hot beverages for a little over an hour. Back to the pickup location past 10 pm. Wonderful experience. read more

Wonderful trip and well worth the cost. Our guide Maka was well versed on the island history and current events related to Mauna Kea. This was a bucket list adventure and it was incredible! read more

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Do yourself a favor and book a trip with these folks. Period. Seriously, this was one of the high points of our trip. The Summit Adventures team coordinates the pickup either from their central offices or on a pre-determined circuit towards the destination: the summit of Mauna Kea. I do advise that you arrange for an RX of Acetazolamide (Diamox) before your trip if you are worried about altitude sickness. Our entire group made the summit without major distress, but some needed to stay in the van because they were feeling too weak / uncertain of their footing. Part of your trip cost covers a catered box meal served at a camp location part of the way up to the summit (see below for pictures of the NeNe - an indigenous wild duck). This gives you a chance to warm up and to acclimatize to the altitude. The summit will be COLD after the sun goes down so be sure to pack / buy something warm enough that you can enjoy your time at the top. Despite our trip arriving on the worst day of the month to take pictures of the Milky Way (full moon = bad), I did manage to get one serviceable shot. The Mauna Kea summit is considered sacred ground to native people of Hawaii and after having visited myself - I can see why. Trek well, my friends! read more

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Highly recommend this company/tour! We experienced it as timely, hospitable, extremely safe and they take great care of you from beginning to end. While other choices exist, this one by far appeared to have the safest Mercedes Bus, and a super knowledgeable, funny and friendly guide, Maka. We've been all over the world and this one ranks amongst one of our best tours. You won't be disappointed! read more

This was the highlight of our trip to the big island! Although a tad pricy, it was well worth it. Fernando our guide was amazing! He was knowledgeable, friendly, and fun. We not only learned about astronomy, but also about the island's history and floral and fauna. We were picked up on time and driven in a comfy van to our first stop, the summit visitor center for dinner. The lasagna was good, but if you wanted to save a few bucks you could bring your own. Being above the clouds, seeing the sunset, and stargazing was the coolest thing my daughter and I have done together. Cannot recommend this company enough! read more

This was a great tour, and well worth the money. Originally, I questioned the value - I can drive up a mountain! - but I was concerned about using a rental car, so I opted for a tour, and I'm glad I did. At the meet up location in central Kona, we boarded the bus, which is a large and comfortable stretched van, with super large windows. Our guide was friendly, and a good driver. As we drove, he provided very interesting information on the geological formation of the lava that surrounded the highway, explaining why some lava is smooth and some lava is rocky, some is black, and some is gray. Our guide (Craig, I think) has a science degree with majors in geology and astronomy, so his information was legit, and he was able to answer lots of questions with great detail as we drove along. He provided a good balance of history and science, in a manner that was engaging and informative. I could not have learned as much on my own. The mountain itself is amazing. The landscape of barren reddish rocks, being above the clouds - is unlike anything I have experienced in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado or Montana. Other worldly. You could really see a lot with the big windows in the van, and it was nice not to worry about driving. Sunset at the summit was intense. Gorgeous colors and the clouds all around you, as the wind whips around you at 50 miles per hour (at about 30 degrees). The parkas and gloves provided were very warm, and it seemed like we had the best coats compared to other tour groups. Some guy drove up on his own in shorts and t-shirt - you can't stay out too long dressed like that... The sunsets pretty quickly but we had enough time to experience it and take pictures. Then we went down near the visitor center and as it got darker out, we met up with another bus from this company and the 2 tour guides hauled out giant telescopes and provided a really great astronomy show, pointing out and explaining many different constellations, planets, and galaxies, and we were all able to view them in the telescopes too. Again, our guides were super informative and enthusiastic, which I really enjoyed. Good food was provided - an early vegetable lasagna dinner, and then hot drinks and biscotti after the star show. Breaks were sufficient. The other people on the trip were friendly, and the seating was very comfortable, which helps because the trip is pretty long (about 8 hrs). read more

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This company is so bad I made a Yelp account just to write this review. They cancelled our summit tour less than an hour before we were supposed to leave, with no explanation. Their last minute cancellation left us unable to rebook with a different company that was actually touring that day. I would highly recommend avoiding this company, they are unreliable and have very poor customer service read more

We had considered driving up to the summit of Mauna Kea on our own, but after realizing there is a $5000 tow fee if anything goes awry, we rethought our choice. Problem was, this tour can book up weeks in advance. We put our name on the wait list for the wait list and were super excited to find out, we got seats on the tour bus! First off, the tour bus was fantastic. It is a new Mercedes luxury class high top awesome van (that's the best way I can think to describe it). It was ultra comfortable. And after seeing the road to the top of the summit, the bad drivers and the fog, I was very happy to have an experienced guide chauffeuring us around. The tour was well paced. What I loved is that the guide had intimate knowledge of the island and was able to provide information about the sites along the way that I never would have found out otherwise. We stopped at the visitor's center and had an absolutely delicious cheese lasagne dinner and brownie. We continued to the summit, where we saw the sunset over the clouds, from the top of the State. It was out of this world--it looked like a scene out of Star Wars. The guides were able to point out stars, constellations and even set up powerful telescopes which allowed us to see the craters of the moon, the moons of Jupiter, the ring around Saturn, and Mars. It was incredible! We were also provided with Parkas and hot drinks to keep us warm and comfortable at the high elevation. It was an amazing experience I would highly recommend. Going alone, we never would have seen even a fraction of that--without a guide and telescope, I don't think it would have been worth the drive. Art and Maca were absolutely top notch guides and listening to Art tell us about the Island was a highlight of our trip. He is a wealth of knowledge and a great human being. We'd highly recommend this tour and can't wait to go back! read more

The trip to the summit was well-planned and well-executed, with good quality almost all-around: the winter clothing, the warm food, the tour guide explanations, the stargazing, etc. However, there was one significant problem: The vans/buses that the company uses has some excellent spacious seats, but also some other small, crammed ones. We were randomly assigned to the bad ones, and since the majority of the trip is spent inside the bus (for several hours), it was quite uncomfortable. I understand that actually the company had made an effort to provide more comfort by having upgraded the buses shortly before our trip. However, this resulted in those two very different levels of quality of seats within the same bus. While asking for major changes may be unreasonable, I think it is reasonable and well within the power of the company to offer different pricing: I think it is currently unfair to charge all customers the same, while some get to travel in first class and some others in tourist class. read more

Great tour! Our guide Art was very friendly and knowledgeable. I felt safe in the van and was glad I didn't have to figure out directions or deal with possible breakdowns on the steep, dirt road. There were a lot of other cars up there that had no idea what they were doing and I didn't have to worry about them at all! It was a nice touch that they provided dinner (veggie lasagna) and parkas and gloves. It was 15 degrees up there! The sunset was incredible, a one of a kind experience. Everyone I sent pictures to was so surprised to see snow in Hawaii. A once in a lifetime experience made easy and unforgettable by Mauna Kea Summit Adventures. read more

Great service - convenient, safe, informative, helpful... Keiko pretty much summed up most of the highlights (although we didn't have snow on our tour, had a bit of cloud cover below us so all we could see is mauna loa, and I wasn't quite listening for a sexy guide voice.. hehe) Air is thin up top so take deep breaths to try to avoid feeling light headed/dizzy I can't stress enough what the view is like after the sun goes down. I saw hundreds, if not thousands, of stars that I had never seen before (east coast so I get a lot of light polution). You will most likely never, ever see the night sky like this again (unless you come back up the mountain or go up into space) Overheard a conversation the driver was having with another customer about how much they stress safety and customer satisfaction. With all the potential dangers up there (mainly from the narrow winding steep roads and the stress it puts on vehicles/drivers), it's important to choose a place with a lot of experience with that area. Mauna Kea Summit Adventures uses heavily customized vehicles for customer safety/comfort. After hearing some of the pitfalls/near tragedies with some of the other companies, I'm all the more happy to suggest Mauna Kea Summit Adventures read more

We loved this tour! My 16 year old son is thinking about a career in astro physics and this tour just about nailed it for him. Our guide, Dave was very knowledgable about the telescopes and history of Mauna Kea and we teamed up with another guide for a kick-ass star gazing tour a little lower down the mountain where i could catch my breath - the air is thin at the top folks! We've done alot of planetarium shows etc. and this was top notch. An extra perk... Dave is a geologist and we learned more in 1/2 hour about the volcanoes of Hawaii than i had on a previous volcano tour a few days before. read more

My husband I went on this tour waaaay back in 2000, on our honeymoon. We still talk about this tour and our tour guide, Buck, almost 17 years later. Can't wait to take it again with our kids in a couple of years! So glad to see they are still in business. read more

We did the Sunset and Stargazing Tour on Mauna Kea. It was totally worth it. We were well taken care of from the minute we met up for the tour. Travis, our tour guide was knowledgeable, thoughtful and friendly. The agenda was impeccable. I did get a little altitude sickness (no one else did) but was still able to enjoy the delicious vege lasagna, sunset, stargazing and hot cocoa all the way. Loved hearing the history and current issues about the mountain, I could certainly understand and appreciate how sacred the mountain is to the locals. Thanks for the wonderful experience. read more

Sunset on Mauna Kea was stunning. I've never seen anything like it. Guides were extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Would highly recommend this. read more

We loved this tour. Seeing the top of the mountain with a guide that can give you information is amazing. It was a little cloudy on the day we went, but the part of the sunrise we saw was stunning and the views experience was still great. Even better though was seeing the stars. I have never seen such an incredible view of the stars with the whole Milky Way visible. The telescopes added to the experience too. Overall the trip is well run and is much better than trying to do this yourself. read more

Great tour! Maka was informative, funny, and entertaining, and a genuinely nice person. The sunset was gorgeous, and the stargazing was amazing. We also really enjoyed the lasagna and brownies. Would highly recommend this tour. read more

I went on a tour with Mauna Kea Summit Adventures in the summer of 2009. It was absolutely the highlight of my Big Island vacation. I called the last minute and they told me they had a spot on the tour the last night before my departure. Everything was as advertised and the tour guide was extremely knowledgeable about Hawaii history, the geography and everything about the island and the two giant volcanoes (Mauna Kea and Mauna Lea). The drive up the mountain after having our dinner at the 9000 ft visitor center was exciting as I was in the shotgun seat up front. The evening sunset above the clouds was a sight I would never forget. And finally the perfectly clear dark sky when we returned to the private viewing area they had off the visitor center and those excellent 11 inch Meade SCT scopes provided awesome views of some of the sights I can't see in my northern latitude home. This is a tour not to be missed if you're even slightly interested in astronomy and vulcanology. The memories (and the pictures I took) will last me a lifetime. read more