This tour was amazing and our tour guide Tery was so great, she had this infectious energy and enthusiasm, was so talkative and knowledgeable and just made the whole trip so awesome. The views and tour were incredible and the food was really good too.

The tour guide was great. He was very friendly and knowledgeable, but the trip overall wasn’t worth the amount we paid for it. All of the points of interest were places you can easily get to on your own without expert knowledge or equipment. Also, unfortunately for my group, the weather made the stargazing part impossible, which was the whole reason I booked the trip. I wouldn’t normally blame someone for weather issues, but, once again, the star gazing spots weren’t anything special. The spots they took us to were basically spots on the side of the main road my fiancé and I drove to get to the meet up location. Also, if they had any inclination that the weather might inhibit the stargazing, I wish they would have warned us. I would have cancelled had I known that was a possibility.

The tour was fantastic with our guide Victor. Super nice guy who is a wealth of information. We got the pleasure of meeting him through a Norwegian Cruise Line excursion and he truly gave us an amazing, memorable day.

It was awesome! 100% worth it. Wear comfortable and warm clothes. The provide a jacket because it gets really cold! Nate was our guide and he did an amazing job explaining everything.

Please read thoroughly because the description is very clear this does not go to the top of Mauna Kea. I saw a few not great reviews because it did not go to the summit. We had Rich as a guide he was amazing. So much knowledge about constellations and the Hawaiian islands. We have children who are teenagers and we would totally recommend this tour with Rich!

We had an excellent time. Andre our tour guide with Kapohokine Adventures was great and a wealth of volcano and Hawaiian knowledge. We loved the lava tube, the crater and all the dried lava fields. My son really loved the echo produced at the crater. Just wished we could have seen some lava at the end of the experience. But you can’t plan that. But besides that it couldn’t have been a better experience.

Short version: Do not spend your money or time on this tour. Cancel if you have already booked. Trust me. We booked this back in January for our Hawaii trip in July. We paid approximately 1100 USD for our family of 4. We are traveling with two kids aged 8 and 11 so we knew that we would not be going to the summit from the outset. We were picked up at 3:50 pm near Mauna Lani. Then drove 35 to 40 minutes to Kona to pick up the other six members of the party. We then went to Kona Harbor for dinner and honestly what we were served was probably 15 dollars per meal. Basic fish and chips and hamburgers. The price covers a soft drink but not even a single alcoholic drink for the adults. You are on your own nickel for that. We then began our drive to what we thought was Mauna Kea. On the way the tour guide told us we would be going to an elevation of about 8000 ft for viewing and that we would not be going to the summit because access is limited to companies with permits (apparentlu they do not have one) and there were children in the party. This was expected. He then also teased the possibility of viewing through the solar telescope to see solar flares. After about 50 minutes of driving, we pulled into a park just off of Saddle Road, which based on Google searching later that evening is "Gilbert Kahele Recreation Area." I checked my phone, the elevation was 6300 ft, leas than half of the total elevation of Mauna Kea. We then waited at a playground for 45 min to an hour for the sun to go down. The guide made it seem like they were eyeing cloud conditions during this time like we could move to higher elevation if need be. Eventually the clouds did begin to clear after sunset and we piled back into the van and drove.....across the street. Our viewing area for the evening was just off of Saddle Road with headlights from motorists shining into your face and lights from the bathroom at the park also providing nuisance lighting. Not at one point during this tour did I feel that I was on Mauna Kea or had climbed Mauna Kea. I know the actual location is on the slopes of Mauna Kea, but at less than half the.elevation and right next to Saddle Road you never felt that you were "on" the mountain if that makes any sense. At this point, the guide then began to setup the telescope. He pointed out some planets, constellations and stars with the laser pointer. The telescope was a complete and total letdown. All the bluster on their website about how great it is and you will see galaxies ane nebulas....Looking through the eyepiece I could see a slightly larger version of what I could see with the naked eye. Someone else wrote a review saying it was about the same magnification you could achieve with a good pair of binoculars. I totally agree. What we were told was a galaxy was a star with a glow around it. After this my kids totally lost interest. To make matters worse there was always some cloud cover throughout the evening. For the price we paid one would expect every attempt would be made to obtain a cloud free viewing, like maybe moving to higher elevation? This was not done or even hinted at. Regarding the solar telescope, I would guess that you will have a very low chance of being able to experience this since you must have no cloud interference. The guide indicated that the clouds begin to dissipate...after sunset. So you do the math on that one. We were then served the equivalent of Swiss Miss hot chocolate in a small paper cup and that wrapped up the evening. Note: we were not offered Kona coffee as a choice as the website indicated. The entire viewing experience lasted about 1.5 hours and we dedicated over 6 hours of our precious time in HI between pickup and drop-off to this tour. For the last 20 to 30 minutes of the viewing time, my kids and the other party of six were so bored they were back in the van being entertained by my kids telling them stories about their friends and which YouTube videos they think are funny. My wife and I were the only ones who viewed for the entire time determined to extract any possible value we could from the tour. Our guide was a nice guy but was not an expert in astronomy and admitted to looking up some of the knowledge from the internet. He is a college student studying marine sciences. There were two other vans from the same company that we met at the park and shared the viewing area together and he basically admitted they were more knowledgeable than him. I listened to some of their discussions and can confirm this. I certainly did not get the sense that any of the guides from this company designed the telescope or whatever claim they make on the website. Overall this was a completely waste of money and more importantly time in Hawaii. I cannot recommend this tour to anyone and would advise you to just go to the beach with your family and keep your ONE THOUSAND hard earned dollars in your pocket. If you really have the itch to look at stars just drive to the same spot I told you about and park next to them and keep your money. Or better yet..drive to the Mauna Kea visitor center at 8000 ft and actually be above the clouds. Final thoughts: My wife and I are from Michigan and remarked to each other that we have seen WAY better stars, I mean stars that will knock your socks off, in Northern Michigan in the summer. Am I saying MI stars are better than HI? No. But what I saw with partial cloud cover the whole time did not beat what I have seen in Michigan. Secondly, my 11 year old noticed as we walked into our rental near the beach that the stars were better here than where the tour took us. I am just heartbroken from this experience as I had been looking forward to it for 5 months with the expectation that it would be one of the highlights of our trip. I guess I should have done more research. Do not make the same mistake!!!! Do not book this and cancel if you already have...you still have time.

Our guide was amazing. My husband and I did the waterfall by kayak tour and we had the most perfect day. Thank you team

Disappointing. Went to the shop inside the Hilton Naniloa to rent a paddle board. They said they were all broken, but there were kayaks available. We went an hour later to rent kayaks, and they said they were all broken despite a dozen sitting on the outside rack. Hilton should choose a new outfitter for rentals if Kapohokine can’t handle the business during the summer season. Hilo Ocean Adventures did have rentals available, and is just down the road.

Our guide was Brandon Williamson who was the best tour guide ever. He is well versed in botany a former teacher who knows history and facts about the island. While it was a long day (12 hours), Brandon made it fun as well as educational.

This was an excellent adventure. We were really pleased by our tour guide, Kyle and another gentleman whose name escapes me. They were both very knowledgeable, highly professional and very approachable. The only (minor) suggestion I have is related to serving guest meals. We had a few young children in our tour and they kept asking their parents when the food will be served, which was eventually served but closer to the end of the tour. If the lunch is served earlier on, guests will have more energy and interest in continuing the tour. Maybe, provide a snack earlier?! Thank you.

Thank you to Montana who talked us through what the tour would cover. We booked the evening Volcano tour with Andre and it was a very special tour. We got up close and personal with the lava flow beach, walked through the lava tube, explored the craters from earlier volcanic activity, and got some the best views over the erupting volcano both in daylight and at night. Andre's commentary was enthusiastic and informative. It was a great afternoon/evening and we couldn't recommend this tour more. It's the highlight of our time in Hilo.

We enjoyed our full day Secrets of Hamakua tour with our guide Cary, with Kapohokine Adventures. We booked this tour through Celebrity Cruises who contracts with Kapohokine when they are in port in Hilo. We visited Akaka Falls - super lush! We ate a picnic style lunch at beautiful Valley of the Kings, Waipio, but sadly there was quite a bit of fog so the stunning cliffs were only visible in glimpses - but this happens, Hilo is apparently the rainiest town in all of America! Laupahoehoe was amazing - the surf that crashes over the lava formations, up and down the coast for as far as the eye can see, is incredible. Made a stop at beautiful Rainbow Falls. We could have stayed here for hours! We stopped at the Hilton Grand Naniloa Hotel to swim, lovely hotel - though for us, the rain and chill was a bit too much that day. Can't control weather, but you can choose your activities, and we had a terrific day with Kapohokine Adventures. And I have to mention our stop at Tex Drive In, in Honokaa - wow! Delicious malasadas, fresh, hot made to order, best donuts you'll ever have! Get them filled with banana cream - my personal fave.

Courtney was very knowledgeable. She made sure all her guests had a safe and fun adventure. She is a wealth of information!

Diego was super nice, and I feel bad for giving a bad review as he was great, but this tour was just not what we expected. We were hoping to go higher on the mountain, have more telescopes to look through, and have a bigger dinner experience. This tour was probably more worth $100 or less not the price we paid..