(All Reviews) Waimea, Big Island tours & activities, fun things to do in Big Island | HawaiiActivities.com

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All Reviews for Waimea in Big Island

Overall Rating

4.89 4.89 / 5

Reviews

70 reviews

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Great experience !!

Reviewed by: Quinn

Great experience overall, our guide James is very nice, he is knowledgeable and funny, definitely would recommend it to my friends

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 4

Comfort & well-being: 4

Tips and suggestions

The mic connection be having issues sometimes.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2025/02/27
Activity Date: 2025/02/25

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Amazing experience. Must do

Reviewed by: Hawaii lovers

This was truly awe inspiring. It is absolutely a must do, our tour guide Wes was incredible. We can’t rave enough about it

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2025/02/15
Activity Date: 2025/02/13

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Memorable and Informative

Reviewed by: Oscar

Riding up to the top of Mauna Kea with James, our tour guide and driver, was interesting and entertaining! James is very knowledgeable about the Hawaiian culture and history; volcanic geology; the telescopes on Mauna Kea; and the night sky. And he always paid close attention to all his customers. A better telescope would have made this tour perfect.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 3

Comfort & well-being: 4

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2025/02/07
Activity Date: 2025/02/03

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Cold but gorgeous

Reviewed by: Obarc

James was a great tour guide, very informative. Didn't care for the sandwich choices. Was nice to have the hot chocolate though. The view was amazing.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 4

Comfort & well-being: 4

  • Sunset

  • Some of the telescopes

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Others
Weather: Snowy
Posted on: 2025/02/05
Activity Date: 2025/02/02

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

The sites we went to were excellent.

Reviewed by: AG

Sites we went to was brilliant, and transport was all ok

Local customer service: 4

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 4

Comfort & well-being: 4

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Families
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2025/01/25
Activity Date: 2025/01/04

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Excellent Tour!

Reviewed by: Jerry

The driver-and-guide James has a rich knowledge of history of volcanoes and history of hawaii, and also provides expert guides on the stars.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Tips and suggestions

Take your warm shoes with you.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2025/01/20
Activity Date: 2025/01/19

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Amazing stargazing!

Reviewed by: Joe

My tour guide, James, was great! He was informative, kind, patient and made the experience fun. Seeing the sunset on a volcano summit and then stargazing afterwards is a bucket list thing that everyone should do! Unforgettable!!!

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 4

Tips and suggestions

The altitude is a bit much. I felt dizziness several times, but it was manageable.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Solo Travelers
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2025/01/06
Activity Date: 2024/12/22

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Outstanding experience!

Reviewed by: Seema

We had a wonderful time with James! He explained things thoroughly! He did not try to rush us in any way, and took lots of nice pictures! I would highly recommend taking stargazing tour with Hawaiian eyes!

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Families
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2024/12/29
Activity Date: 2024/12/25

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Breathtaking sunset and star gaze!

Reviewed by: Ziying C

We took the tour on 12/24/2024. It was a full car but very friendly and nice guests together! The eruption was very stunning and the star gaze - wow!
Our guide James is very helpful patient and good at photo shooting as well. He can also speak a little Japanese. Parka jackets saved our lives for sure.
The overall trip experience was excellent. The sandwich was surprisingly good as well.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2024/12/26
Activity Date: 2024/12/24

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Awesome experience

Reviewed by: Swapped

Host was really good, very polite and understanding.

The sandwiches were good, and the hot coco while stargazing, was delicious cherry on top of the whole experience.

The only issue I would complain about is the vehicle, because the space was really cramped up and it was a struggle to get in and out of the vehicle. Many from the back of the vehicle complained about the air conditioning, but I didn’t feel any discomfort, even though I was in the last row

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 4

Comfort & well-being: 4

Tips and suggestions

I would recommend adding details of the vehicle, and leg space availability.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2024/12/23
Activity Date: 2024/12/21

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Great Memories!!!

Reviewed by: An amazing time!

My husband and I had a great time in the tour. We were picked up on time and the guide made the trip to the summit entertaining and we learned many different things about Hawaii during that time.
The sunset at the summit is breathtaking and our guide was prepared to take pictures that he later shared with all of us!
It got cold after the sunset…. so be ready. The hot chocolate while stargazing was a very nice addition!

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2024/12/21
Activity Date: 2024/11/30

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Excellent Tour Guide James

Reviewed by: Eric M.

James who was the tour guide was very nice and thoughtful in providing anything we needed and gave a very informative details about Mauna Kea and the surrounding areas. He was also very helpful in pointing out specific constellations during the star gazing tour. He offered and took pictures of us with our phones. I really enjoyed the tour and highly recommend anyone who comes to The Big Island of Hawaii to take this tour and hopefully James will be assigned as your tour guide.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Solo Travelers
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2024/12/04
Activity Date: 2024/12/02

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Stunning and otherworldly views

Reviewed by: Briza Del Villar

This was such an amazing experience. I felt like I was on another planet and our guide James was such an awesome guy. I’m hoping to experience this again in the future soon

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Families
Weather: Sunny
Posted on: 2024/11/30
Activity Date: 2024/11/27

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Excellent Guide - knowledgeable and helpful

Reviewed by: Ravinder

The best part is the guide took excellent pictures of everyone with the sunset and stars.

Very knowledgeable and answered all questions. Was very considerate and made sure all were ok during the trip.

Setup the telescope very well - we could see the rings of Saturn very clearly.

Local customer service: 5

Location & environment: 5

Schedule & duration: 5

Equipment & facilities: 5

Comfort & well-being: 5

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Families
Weather: Cloudy
Posted on: 2024/11/14
Activity Date: 2024/11/12

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset Stargazing Tour

Reviewed by: Joan

Our guide, Koki, did a fabulous job with the Sunset photos for each of us at the summit and also a great job getting everyone's photo with the stars. He was an excellent driver and went slowly on the bumpy gravel part of the drive.

Because Koki's Japanese dialect is not something most English speaking people understand, he needs to speak more slowly and distinctly. I had a great deal of trouble understanding him - seems like I could only catch 4 out of every 10 words, and that is not something I expected on this tour. Granted, out of the 10 people, there were 2 Japanese men and Koki spent a lot of time on the way home speaking only to them in Japanese.

So, I had very mixed feelings about this tour. I come to Hawaii at least a couple times a year and I would definitely ask more questions about the guide and his speaking and understanding ability before I take my nest tour.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Solo Travelers
Posted on: 2024/11/11
Activity Date: 2024/11/09

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Unforgettable experience

Reviewed by: David D

Todd, our guide, was great. Great driving up the steep dirt road. Great info about the geology, topography, observatories, constellations and more. Engaging, informative. All the other details too - nice sandwich, hot beverage and clothing for the cold. Did I forget to mention the views? Fantastic views of the sun setting into the Pacific and a clear night sky.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2024/09/11
Activity Date: 2024/09/09

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Nice experience

Reviewed by: Rahul

Guide was very informative and friendly. I recommend this trip.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2024/09/03
Activity Date: 2024/08/09

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Wonderful experience

Reviewed by: cj

The Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour was amazing. It is a must do and the pictures are a treasure. Our guide was great, took picture that we downloaded and twas very informative.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2024/08/01
Activity Date: 2024/07/09

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Great tour.. highly recommend

Reviewed by: Tyler W

We Embarked on a magical family stargazing tour in Hawaii! Marvel at the breathtaking night sky, where countless stars twinkle above. We Learned about constellations and celestial wonders from knowledgeable guides. We Created unforgettable memories together as we connected with the universe and each other under the enchanting Hawaiian night. A must-experience adventure! Awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome
️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️️

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Families
Posted on: 2024/07/31
Activity Date: 2024/07/29

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Absolutely amazing!

Reviewed by: Phil

Francis was a really fun guide and took care of us really well, making sure we were all doing okay with the high elevation. Sunset was gorgeous, seeing the moon through an 80x telescope was really cool, watching the stars come out was great. If you have a choice, go during a new moon, we had about 70% moon and it created a lot of light pollution in the sky. The other guide (Tom?) was really good at pointing out all the main constellations, even naming some of them in various different languages since we had a mixed ethnic group. Very knowledgeable. Phenomenal, phenomenal tour.

  • Sunset above the clouds at 13,800 feet elevation

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2024/06/18
Activity Date: 2024/06/16

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Amazing experience! Great tour guide!

Reviewed by: Harish

We had an amazing experience and time on this trip. Our tour guide, Stefan, was deeply knowledgeable, fun and friendly. The tour started on time and went out perfect. They provided mitts and coats which kept us warm along with hot chocolate. It was a great evening with no clouds. The views were unforgettable. Five stars, would book again!

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Families
Posted on: 2023/11/24
Activity Date: 2023/10/11

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Once in a lifetime!

Reviewed by: L in Az

This was on my bucket list. My guide was very informative. He took pictures, individual and group pictures of us during sunset and during the stargazing event. Be prepared to bounce around on the dirt road to the summit. Totally enjoyed the hot cocoa and BLT sandwich that was provided.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Solo Travelers
Posted on: 2023/11/22
Activity Date: 2023/11/18

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Amazing Experience

Reviewed by: Mikey

The entire experience start to finish was amazing. Wes was our guide and driver and took the time to explain what to expect and educate all of us on the island and the history of Hawai’i! I would recommend this tour to anybody who would like to enjoy the beautiful Mauna Kea! Wes also took the time to take photos of us at sunset and stargazing!

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2023/11/04
Activity Date: 2023/11/02

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Totally worth it!!

Reviewed by: Lisa

We had a great time on this trip. Our tour guide, Stefan, was excellent! He was friendly and informative the entire time. Even though we took the tour on an overcast night, there was so much to see and the views were unforgettable. Five stars, would book again!!

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2023/05/06
Activity Date: 2023/04/27

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

We had a blast!

Reviewed by: AngelaPK

We had a blast! A very unique experience, especially if you enjoy sunsets, heights, and amazing views.

  • Beautiful sunset!

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2023/04/23
Activity Date: 2023/03/30

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Unforgettable Experience

Reviewed by: Jason

Bundle up and enjoy one of the most unique experiences in Hawaii. The tour ran in a very timely fashion starting with the pickup time and getting to all the sites on site. Our guide was very informative but didn't overwhelm us with information either. The view of the sunset and stargazing just speak for themselves. Nothing short of spectacular and definitely a worthwhile experience.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2023/01/07
Activity Date: 2023/01/04

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Nice trip but operational mistakes

Reviewed by: TravelCouple

It was nice and cold at the summit, but the provided clothes helped a lot. Guide was informative although not nice. The bus to the top is very old and has a poor seating arrangement of mostly rows of three, so couples will be separated. Additionally, if you are separated on the way up, the guide will specifically force you to be separated on the way down in order to preserve your initial seats.

I have an egg allergy and specifically requested egg free food, yet the sandwich I was provided had mayonnaise and I was left with no other options.

The summit was a nice tour but I would recommend a different company. The other buses we saw were much nicer.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2022/11/24
Activity Date: 2022/11/21

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Worth it!

Reviewed by: Kara

Gorgeous stars holy goodness!!!! It is cold but they have some bundling clothes

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Friends
Posted on: 2022/11/22
Activity Date: 2022/11/10

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Thanfkul for this experience

Reviewed by: Kara

Awesome evening all guided, pick up and drop off back near the hotel, very awesome tour

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2022/11/21
Activity Date: 2022/11/12

Mauna Kea Summit Sunset & Stargazing Tour with Meal, Transportation & Guide

Stefan Was Amazing

Reviewed by: Kara

Stefan waited after others had left, and got us the most amazing photos and memories. Thank you to Stefan for caring for the guests.

Helpful
Rating:
Packages: Standard Package
Attended as: Couples
Posted on: 2022/11/10
Activity Date: 2022/10/31
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