The telescope we used at the star gazing parking lot wasn't great. We have better at home (that was disappointing). We expected to be able to view on the top of Mauna Lau, with a higher end telescope. At least a professional model. By the time of the viewing, we were too cold to enjoy it. Again, having the option at the top would have been ideal, rather than drive down, set it up and wait it out. It turns out we paid for the drive to the top, in which case our driver/tour guide was terrific. I would have opted to drive ourselves (many did) with our rented jeep & save the $1200+ for our group.

We were lucky with a clear night and very little wind. The tour was extremely well organized, and our two guides were great. Jaime, our driver up the mountain also gave us a quick star gazing tour. The views atop Mauna Kea really were breathtaking. I highly recommend the tour, but do know there’s a good amount of driving involved to get to the mountain and back.

The tour is quite expensive, but you can get to the summit in a new four-wheel drive Mercedes Sprinter. The actual summit of Mauna Kea is closed because it is considered sacred in Hawaiian culture and by law only Hawaiians can access it. But there are Pu'us at the same height. After we were allowed to watch the sunset from 4200m altitude, it went down a bit again, where we learned more about the constellations with delicious snacks and complete darkness and could observe planets through a telescope. All in all it was well worth the money and a definite highlight of our 3 week trip to Hawaii. We ourselves didn't want to take the risk with our four-wheel drive rental car, since the road is not developed. Whether the vehicle has four-wheel drive is also checked by rangers before entering, as well as the temperature of the brakes when driving down again. Here some people have to wait again before they are allowed to continue.