Mauna Kea Stargazing Experience + Photos

Unforgettable experience

Amazing experience. Dylan and his crew were great and gave an great talk.

via Tripadvisor

Nothing but the highest level of integrity and looking out for clients

Even though I actually never went on the tour with the company I need to write a review on their behalf. They were thinking of cancelling the tour due to clouds and were very communicative around that sending constant updates. I was going to summit on my own anyway for sunset (not via tour) and when I got up there, it was above the cloud line and clear. They decided to continue with the tour at a later time, but when I told them it was clear near the summit, rather than trying to 'earn the fee/make the sale' they suggested I cancel the tour, stay at summit, and offered a full refund. This was awesome and cant thank the tour company enough. Would highly recommend the company in terms of communication and integrity and I am sure the tour itself is excellent and worth the money. Because of their thoughtfulness and generousity I was able to stay near summit and get excellent milky way photos. Could not recommend this company enough based on their honesty and thoughtfulness.

via Tripadvisor

Not Worth It

Would not recommend this tour. Save yourself the money and drive up to Mauna Kea on your own. To be fair, the staff were friendly, knowledgeable, and did a good job getting everyone safely to the viewing location. We also lucked out with excellent weather. Unfortunately, those were the highlights. The experience itself was surprisingly chaotic. While the lead astronomer, Dylan, was trying to give his presentation, the photographer was constantly lining groups up for Milky Way photos just a few feet away. Between the photography, people talking, and others getting up for pictures, it was difficult to hear or stay engaged. If you're expecting a peaceful evening learning about the night sky, this isn't it. Dylan was clearly knowledgeable, but his presentation felt more like a stand-up comedy routine with astronomy mixed in than an actual guided stargazing experience. Instead of focusing on the stars and constellations we were actually looking at, much of the discussion revolved around black holes, nebulas, and other astronomy topics that had little connection to what was visible in the sky that night. It was entertaining at times, but not what we signed up for. The telescope felt especially misleading. The website advertises that one is provided, but guests never actually get to use it. Instead, we were shown images on an iPhone that were presented as if they had just been captured, only to later discover they had been taken weeks earlier. That left a bad taste and felt unnecessarily deceptive. By the end of the night, we genuinely couldn't figure out what our nearly $300 per person had paid for. The viewing location was on public land just minutes off the highway with no special access, we never looked through the telescope, and the astronomy portion rarely focused on the sky above us. In the end, it felt like we paid hundreds of dollars for hot chocolate, a folding chair, and two professionally taken Milky Way photos. Mauna Kea is breathtaking and absolutely worth experiencing. This tour, however, added very little value and actually detracted from what should have been a memorable, peaceful night under the stars.

Response from the operator: Mahalo for taking the time to share your feedback. We’re genuinely sorry the experience didn’t meet your expectations. I’d like to clarify a few points for future guests (new telescope coming soon!). One of our telescopes is equipped with a built in imaging system designed for deep space objects such as galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. Rather than viewing through a traditional eyepiece, guests watch live images captured by the telescope as they develop. We also occasionally show examples from previous nights to show what other objects are visible throughout the year. In addition, we sometimes include bonus 30 minute long exposure images in our galleries at no extra charge. These images are carefully captured, processed, and edited over multiple nights to showcase faint deep sky objects at their best. While they may not have been taken that evening, they’re an added bonus that stargazing companies don’t provide. We include them because we want guests to leave with beautiful astronomical images they can enjoy long after the tour. Regarding the timing of the Milky Way photos, on nights when clouds are in the forecast or approaching the horizon, we sometimes choose to take group photos earlier in the evening. We’ve learned from experience that if we wait until after the astronomy presentation, clouds can roll in before everyone has a chance to be photographed. Taking photos first helps ensure guests don’t miss out on one of the highlights of the tour. Our viewing location is intentionally selected well away from the busy public access road, with approximately 99% less traffic than the popular roadside viewing areas. This gives guests a quieter experience, darker skies, and a location that is typically miles from the nearest vehicles. We also intentionally built in a one hour cloud delay this particular night as conditions warranted. Rather than rushing into marginal weather, we’ll often wait for clouds to clear so guests can enjoy the best possible skies. Without that flexibility, we could simply end up sitting in the clouds for an hour. We also stand behind our tours with our Clear Skies Guarantee. If conditions don’t allow for quality stargazing, we’ll cancel the tour and offer guests the option to reschedule or receive a full refund. As mentioned briefly avice, we are also excited to share that we’ll soon be adding a new telescope with eyepiece, which will provide incredible live views of the Moon and planets while complementing our deep sky imaging system. Finally, if any guest has concerns during the experience, we always encourage them to let us know while we’re together or reach out afterward. We truly want the opportunity to make things right and are constantly working to improve. Guests who book reach out through Instagram @EpicTours can also save up to 25% compared to third party booking platforms. We appreciate your feedback and will continue working to provide an even better experience for future guests.

via Tripadvisor

Beautiful but not what we expected

The tour can be Mauna Kea or Mauna Loa- tour guides decides day before. We were assigned Mauna Loa. The guide was very well versed and the photographer was generous with photo opportunities. The tour started an hour late, which for some traveler's (us) made starting at 10 pm very difficult to stay awake and we had a 2 hour drive home. The telescope transfers photos to the guides phone for viewing. Was hoping for some planets- but galaxy- nebula and deep space was the theme. We are educated but not astronomers— felt it was a little beyond our needs. I prefer Mauna Kea- and old fashion star gazing.

Response from the operator: Mahalo for joining us and for the thoughtful feedback. I’m glad you enjoyed the guide and photography. We do adjust locations and start times to provide the best possible conditions. On the night of your tour, the later start allowed us to avoid the bright moon entirely, something the standard sunset tours were unable to do. While the later schedule isn’t ideal for everyone, it gave us access to much darker skies and better deep-space viewing. Our current telescope experience focuses on galaxies, nebulae, and other deep-space objects, which can be different from traditional stargazing. We recognize that some guests only know a more classic telescope experience with planets and other brighter objects, and we’re exploring the addition of a second telescope in the future to offer more viewing options. We’re also proud to include complimentary professional Milky Way portraits of our guests, a unique part of the experience other stargazing tours do not offer. We appreciate you giving us a try and sharing your perspective. Mahalo and safe travels!

via Tripadvisor

Amazing stargazing experience

An amazing experience where you are able to get an unobstructed view of the stars. We took so may great pictures and our guide was very good.

via Viator