How Much Does a Mauna Kea Tour Cost?

A summit sunset tour is the main reason most people book a guided night on Mauna Kea, and on GetYourGuide it costs from $255 to $345 per person. Below that, from $150, you are booking stargazing on the lower slopes: a guided hike, or a telescope session with cave and waterfall stops on the way. This guide sets out what each price gets you, what it leaves out, and which tour we’d compare first.

The tour we’d compare first

The Mauna Kea Summit, Sunset & Stargazing tour from Hawaii Island Holidays costs $34 more than the cheapest summit tour and $1 less than the next one up. For that, compared with the Hilo tour, you get pickup on the Kona side of the island, parkas and gloves, snacks and hot chocolate, a telescope session once you come down from the summit (weather permitting, its listing says), and night photos of you under the stars, emailed afterwards. It also has by far the longest review record of any Mauna Kea tour on the platform.

It makes most sense for a first visit from Kona or Waikoloa, for anyone aged 13 to 80. Dinner isn’t included, so eat before pickup or bring something; the tour takes five to seven and a half hours. Our review of this tour goes through the evening stop by stop.

The close second is the Hawaiian Eyes summit sunset tour with photos, from $290 and rated 4.8/5 from more than 300 reviews. For the extra dollar you get a BLT sandwich, ski pants as well as a parka, and a DSLR photo of you with the sunset and the stars. You meet the van at Target in Kailua-Kona or at Queens’ MarketPlace in Waikoloa, and the tour only takes guests aged 16 to 70. It is the better fit if a meal on the mountain matters more to you than pickup.

Other experiences you might enjoy

A night on Mauna Kea usually sits inside a longer Big Island stay. Other options include lava viewing in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park, the Kona coffee farms above Kailua-Kona, waterfall stops around Hilo, and snorkelling and sunset sails along the Kona and Kohala Coast.

Other tours worth a look

If you’re staying in Hilo

Arnott’s Hilo summit tour at sunset is the lowest-priced way up, from $255, with hotel pickup in Hilo or a meeting point at the Visitor Information Station. Groups are capped at 13 and it is rated 4.8/5 from 54 reviews. For the stargazing, the guide points out the sky with a handheld laser; no telescope is listed. Jackets are available on request, and dinner and drinks aren’t included, so pack food and your own warm layers.

If there are children under 13

The University of Hawaiʻi asks children under 13 not to go above the Visitor Information Station at 9,200 ft, and the summit tours follow that rule. KapohoKine’s Stellar Explorer tour from Hilo or Kona, from $189, is the family option: telescopes, jackets and entrance fees are included, the evening adds the Kaumana lava-tube caves and the Boiling Pots pools, and it finishes with Kona coffee or hot chocolate under the stars. It is rated 4.5/5 from 81 reviews. Its listing now offers pickup on both sides of the island, so check the price for your pickup point when you choose a date.

With a Native Hawaiian guide

The Mauna Kea hike and stargazing with a Native Hawaiian guide is the cheapest tour here, from $150, and is rated 4.9/5 from 41 reviews. It is a four-hour outing on the Humuʻula Trail for sunset, Hawaiian history and legends, and a star talk based on the constellations used in celestial navigation, with a celestial portrait included. Your group has the guide to itself, but the price is still per person, so two people pay $300. You make your own way to the trailhead parking, about six miles up the Mauna Kea Access Road, and meals aren’t included. Guests need to be at least 9. Our Humuʻula Trail guide covers the walk itself.

If dinner on the mountain matters

Hawaiʻi Forest & Trail’s summit, stargazing and dinner tour, from $345, is the dearest summit tour on GetYourGuide. For $56 more than our pick you get hotel pickup on the Kona side and a picnic dinner, Southwest chicken stew or vegan chili, plus hot chocolate and telescope viewing after sunset. It has only 19 reviews on GetYourGuide so far (4.8/5), so lean on the operator’s longer record on Viator, where its standard summit tour is rated 4.9/5 from more than 1,600 reviews.

Volcanoes and stars in one day

Wasabi Tours’ Big Island volcano and stargazing tour with dinner, from $308, takes a whole 12-hour day: hotel pickup, a Kona coffee farm with a tasting, Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park with the entrance fee covered, dinner, and stargazing near Mauna Kea to finish. It doesn’t go to the summit, and it takes children from age 5. Rated 4.8/5 from 199 reviews, it suits a short stay where one day has to cover both volcanoes.

Mauna Kea tour prices compared

Prices checked October 2026. Operators use dynamic pricing, so these figures are a guide; check the booking page for the current price. Every tour links to its GetYourGuide page, with its rating and review count beside it; a low count is a reason to read the reviews first, not a verdict on the tour.

Every tour above has a live guide and free cancellation. Night-sky sessions on the coast, away from the mountain, aren’t included. Two of the summit operators, Mauna Kea Summit Adventures and Taikobo Hawaiʻi, don’t sell through GetYourGuide; our operator comparison covers them.

Where the extra money goes

Mostly the summit, then food and hotel pickup. The night sky changes much less than the price does: every summit tour does its stargazing on the way back down, because the summit closes to visitors 30 minutes after sunset.

Around $150 to $190: the lower slopes. A guided hike for sunset, or an evening of telescopes with cave and waterfall stops, at a lower altitude that suits younger children. The $189 Stellar Explorer includes pickup and telescopes, which the $150 hike doesn’t, and takes two to three hours longer.

Around $255 to $290: summit sunset tours. A 4WD van to the top for sunset, then stargazing lower down. Within this range you are choosing between pickup point and what you eat: our pick and the Hawaiian Eyes tour are a dollar apart and include much the same evening.

Around $300 to $345: a meal or a full day. Hawaiʻi Forest & Trail’s summit tour with dinner, or a 12-hour volcano-and-stars day such as the Wasabi tour. The extra money is mostly dinner, hotel pickup and, on the day tours, Volcanoes National Park.

Above that sits one outlier, the Volcanoes & Stars night-sky experience, from $560 for two hours with a smart telescope and Milky Way photos. It has only one review so far (5.0/5), so it is too early to say what the extra buys.

Tours that offer less for the price

The Epic Tours stargazing experience with photos costs from $299 for a two-hour session, with no hotel pickup, and is rated 4.0/5 from 34 reviews, the lowest rating here. Two or three photos are included; the higher-resolution versions cost $99 or $199 more. For $10 less, our pick gives you the summit sunset, pickup and a longer evening.

KapohoKine’s Stellar Explorer from Kona, from $239, costs $50 more than the same operator’s tour from Hilo or Kona and is rated lower, 4.3/5 from 88 reviews. The difference is dinner and daytime solar viewing; if neither matters to you, the $189 version is the better choice.

The Show You Hawaii deluxe volcano and stargazing tour, from $309, has “with meals” in its title, but meals are listed as not included; its highlights put dinner in the deluxe option, which can cost more than the starting price. With 4 reviews (5.0/5), it has much less behind it than the Wasabi volcano day at a dollar less.

What the starting price leaves out

• Tips. Most listings exclude gratuities, and Hawaiian Eyes notes that a tip is customary in Hawaiʻi.
• Dinner on the two lowest-priced summit tours. Neither our pick nor Arnott’s includes a meal, so eat before you set off.
• Getting to the start. The Humuʻula hike, the Epic Tours session and the Volcanoes & Stars experience don’t collect you, and the Hawaiian Eyes tour meets at a store or shopping center in Kailua-Kona or Waikoloa.
• Photo upgrades on the Epic Tours session, at $99 or $199.
• Your pickup option. The starting price is the cheapest date and pickup point on sale; the price on the booking screen can be higher for your hotel or date.

Should you pay more?

Pay for the summit if you are 13 or older and the sunset above the clouds is what you came for; $289 gets you there with pickup, warm gear and a telescope. Hawaiʻi Forest & Trail’s $345 tour is the one to look at if a hot meal on the mountain matters to you. With children under 13, or on a tight budget, the lower-slope tours at $150 and $189 give you a guided night under the stars without the summit drive.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and methodology