Extremely informative. Tour picked us up from our resort in the Waikoloa are. During initial drive to the Volcano National Park area, our tour guide Mel(anie) gave us the history of the 5 volcanoes that make up the Big Island. We then toured a lava cave on a piece of private property owned by the tour company, with a detailed explanation of how lava tubes are made and the ecosystem they become. We then went to the national park, got to see steam vents, a view of the crater of Kilauea from the rim, and hiked down into it to see the floor of the crater. During the entire trip, Mel provided nonstop fascinating information about the island. My daughters and I throughly enjoyed it!

In May 2024, I attended the Hawaii Forest Trail, Maunakea Summit & Stars Adventure. Knowing I would experience altitude sickness led me to signing up. The guide was very knowledgeable about local history, culture, geology, astronomy, physics, climate, and ecosystem. He picked us up in Kona and for the entire ride to the top of the mountain explained everything we were seeing along the way. Upon arrival, we ate, then drove up to the viewing point, watched the sunset, and came down to a better viewing altitude for star gazing. I knew very little about astronomy; the guide was very knowledge and really good at explaining the solar system. Images were taken with their equipment that night and the guide promptly sent them out the next day. After this experience I will sign up of other Hawaii Forest and Trail guided tours and make guided tours apart of my future travel experiences where ever I travel.

I had heard from a few people how much they loved this tour and it did not disappoint! The views from Mauna Kea are incredible and the stargazing was epic. Everyone at this company is incredibly nice and professional. We had a great time and would recommend for anyone healthy enough to participate.

This experience was all around top notch, from amazing vistas to the friendly, knowledgeable guide to the provided meal to the comfortable transportation. I highly recommend.

Such a refreshing dip under waterfalls after great hike with great leader!!!!! I will return to this hike with family! And I will schedule BIRD WATCHING ALL DAY ADVENTURE later in2024!!

Absolutely the most exhilarating experience of our Hawaii trip. Our tour guide Jeff made this trip so worth it with his knowledge and love for the island and the stars. Seeing the Milky Way like this was spectacular. A bucket list item checked off! The vegetarian chili was delicious and the hot chocolate and yummy cookie were a perfect addition to the star filled skies. A definite must do for all who visit the Big Island!

This excursion was absolutely one of the best excursions I've ever done. Our tour guide was Jason who was so knowledgeable about the area and history. We began our ascent up Mauna Kea and stopped at the visitors center where we ate a very nice meal of chicken stew and a roll. We continued on after that to the observatory and saw a spectacular sunset at about 13,000 feet. It was chilly and we used the provided parkas. Be on the lookout for some interesting characters there. After this, we descended to a lookout area for stargazing. I have never seen a night sky so full of stars. I saw several shooting stars and Jason pointed out constellations and talked about history. We sipped hot chocolate and ate a delicious cookie from a local bakery. Jason set up a telescope and a machine to take photographs that are emailed out to you later. What a special evening. Then, after the stargazing we headed back to kona. Do this tour is my recommendation!!

The whole tour is amazing, and Eugene is a great guide! The only think i would say is that would be better to offer 2 different kinds of tour, one with people that can do more long walks and hikes, and other one that is planned for people that cant walk so much. I think that way everybody will have a better experience!

Awesome experience on the summit of Maunakea. Weather was ideal. We enjoyed stargazing and learning of the cultural and astronomical significance of the mountain from our guide, Jack.

Wow - so awesome! Our guide was Jon and our trip to the summit of Maunakea was the best thing we did during our trip to the Big Island! Jon was a fantastic guide who made everyone feel welcome and taught us so much. This was my 2nd trip to the summit of Maunakea. I had gone with a different company the first time years ago and I had a great time with them, but this time I chose Hawaii Forest and Trail mainly because I liked the idea of having photos that they take with their telescope during the star party of things we viewed (the other company did not offer this). I thought my prior trip was great, but this one exceeded it! I liked this trip with Hawaii Forest and Trail better because I got to see more of the telescopes up close (Keck & Subaru) and saw more of the summit with this tour. I love astronomy, so this meant a lot to me. We spent more time at the summit before sunset and Jon was showing us things to look for, like Maunakea's shadow opposite the sunset as it falls across the island. I felt our star party afterwards was longer and I saw more stars, galaxies, nebulas than I had seen on my prior trip. Jon emailed us photos of what we had seen through his telescope. I appreciated that there was a porta potty at our star party location. It was an experience I'll remember always - great night!

An experience of a lifetime! John was such a knowledgeable and fun guide. I learned so much about the history and geography of the island and the views were out of this world, literally!

From our pick up to our drop off this tour did not disappoint. We had an incredible 7 hours with Brett our guide, he was so knowledgeable both on the facts and legends .We enjoyed the views ,great picture opportunities and sunset above the clouds at the summit .Then stargazing to finish the tour. Memories were certainly made.

Our family of 4 did the Mauna Kea tour on August 6 during a weeklong vacation to the Big Island. This tour with Jon was certainly a highlight. Here is the review as written by our 13-yr old son: “Our family had a really awesome experience when on the Mauna Kea Sunset and Stargazing tour. Our tour guide Jon was really responsive and kept the ride to the summit very entertaining. He had an answer to every question we had and was very knowledgeable. Jon got us to the summit swiftly and in time to have us admire all of the views before the sunset. Then when the sunset he got us to the spot where we stargaze very quickly so we could have the best spot to look up at the sky without other tours in our way. So overall this was a very cool tour would highly recommend trying this tour because it is a once in a lifetime experience.”

Loved the volcano tour! Magical experience in a private lava tune as well as in the Park! Many thanks to Mel for providing such great insight into the splendor of Hawaii and volcanos in general. A great introduction into an amazing world. I appreciate how well this company operates. I wouldn't hesitate to utilize the many experiences when we return to this magical island.

A great trip! This was for us a once in a lifetime visit to the top of the mountain. Jason learned our names quickly and made sure each individual had a positive experience. He was well-informed and knew about astronomy and Hawaiian history and culture. We loved the food and the stops along the way to make sure we were adjusting to the altitude. I was very pleased with the experience and recommend this tour group to anyone.