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Mauna Kea


TripAdvisor Traveler Rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
TripAdvisor Popularity Index: #2 of 274 attractions in Island of Hawaii
Traveler Description: Mauna Kea 28 miles (45.1 km) W of Hilo on Hawaii 200, then N on the access road to the Onizuka Center for International Astronomy (808) 961-2180... more »
Know about Mauna Kea? Share your expertise with other travelers. Add to this description now.
Attraction type: Volcano, Observatory/planetarium, Ski area, Mountain
Activities: Skiing, Watching sunrise/sunset, Hiking

Reviews you can trust

[ Date ] [ Rating ]
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4 of 5 stars
CADaveT   9 contributions
Placerville, CA
Dec 11, 2009

We just returned from the Mauna Kea where we stayed for 5 nights. We were in one of the spacious ocean-front rooms on floor 5 ($700+ range). It had many wonderful touches like a glass wall between your tub and the ocean; unique light wiring (one switch puts all lights either "on" or "off" or "bedtime mode". A walk in... more

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5 of 5 stars
ivanblossoms   7 contributions
Tacoma, Washington
Jun 3, 2009

My fellow reviewers have captured the experience very well but I'd like to add my tips. We first visited Mauna Kea several years back in the first part of April. Saddle Road was all it had been built up to be! Whoa, what a ride. There was still a fair amount of snow on the mountain which helped give contrast... more

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5 of 5 stars
fannibal   2 contributions
philadelphia, pa, usa
May 17, 2009
1
person found this review helpful

Before traveling to mauna kea, I extensively read the online forums here at tripadvisor and looked around at the various online web site with information regarding mauna kea. Some say that it is suicide to drive to the top without a 4 wheel drive vehicle, others say that a 2 wheel drive car can handle the drive to the summit... more

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4 of 5 stars
pjvasconcelos   5 contributions
Porto
Apr 8, 2009

You can do it by your own. This mountain trail fits perfectly a day hike adventure. It start in the Visitor Centre, where we should fill the form to the rangers, registering our leaving and then walk up, until the summit. It is an hard trail, that depends a lot on the weather conditions. In our day, it was perfect,... more

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5 of 5 stars
orangekitty   67 contributions
USA
Feb 7, 2009
2
people found this review helpful

We accessed Mauna Kea from the Kona side. This meant going on the infamous Saddle road. The road starts off in bad shape but it's legend isn't as bad as it's cracked up to be. In fact, the road is no worse than a poor surfaced city street. Keep the speed down and you'll be fine. There's a couple roller... more

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5 of 5 stars
jakethedrake   11 contributions
WDC
Aug 11, 2008
2
people found this review helpful

We rented a truck from Harper's and drove to the very top and watched the sunset, wrapped in blankets in the back of the truck. IT was a surreal experience to sit there high above the clouds with our family snuggled together and watched this hour long event. then after the sun was completely down and the stars came out....we... more

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4 of 5 stars
ciaohawaii   18 contributions
Jersey City, New Jersey
Aug 23, 2006
7
people found this review helpful

This was once in the life time experience.But you need to be aware of luck of oxygene. In fact, one gentleman in his 60's got quite sick and needed oxygen mask. I also felt light headed and nausea for a while. Besides that, it was fantastic. When you go to the top of the mountain(14000 feet above the sea level),... more

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5 of 5 stars
jamey   3 contributions
NC
Oct 18, 2004
40
people found this review helpful

Our sunset and stargazing trip up the 14,000ft mountain of Mauna Kea was breathtaking. Mauna Kea is snow capped year round, and even has ski/snowboard slopes, we could see the ski tracks as we ascended. The temperatures at altitude on our trip were about 5 degrees below freezing. Not to be worried, our outfitter had cozy down winter parkas and... more

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4 of 5 stars
miki222   54 contributions
千葉
Mar 20, 2009
1
person found this review helpful

富士山より高い山に登り、満天の星を見るという目的でハワイ島に行きました。 私達はツアーに参加して、バンで行ったのですが... more

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5 of 5 stars
LIRIO☆   4 contributions
東京
Mar 13, 2009

ハワイ島へ行った1番の目的がマナウケアのサンセット&星空鑑賞でした。 期待通り、とっても良かったです。 基本的に... more

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Island of Hawaii, HI