Reviewed by: Kara
The Mauna Kea volcano tour is a great balance of nature, science, and culture.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Posted on: | 2025/11/22 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/07/10 |
Reviewed by: Yoyo
Our guide was from Hawaii, born on Maui, and has been living on the Big Island for two years. He was handsome, had a great voice, and was genuinely kind. The weather wasn’t ideal — it was cloudy, though we did see the sea of clouds and a bit of sunlight breaking through. It still felt magical watching the sunset above the clouds, even without a clear sky. Unfortunately, we couldn’t see any stars that night, probably due to the season (I went in late October). But the next day, on another tour, I did see a sky full of stars — so it’s still possible! Be prepared for altitude sickness; I felt lightheaded at the summit and was glad we descended soon after sunset. Overall, it was a good experience despite the bumpy mountain road — and it felt great to have “checked off” the highest mountain in the world (from base to peak).
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Friends |
| Weather: | Cloudy |
| Posted on: | 2025/11/02 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/10/27 |
Reviewed by: KB
Our guide Wes was incredible! We learned so much and enjoyed the sunset and stargazing on Mauna Kea so much! Wes was knowledgeable, friendly, and patient. Thank you for an unforgettable experience!
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Cloudy |
| Posted on: | 2025/10/11 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/10/09 |
Reviewed by: Chuck
It was absolutely amazing. Our tour guide was so informative and polite it made the trip that much better.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/10/08 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/10/03 |
Reviewed by: Dave and Nancy
James, our guide, was very knowledgeable, funny and the added stories he told us were add treat. James made sure we got to see all the views on our way up the volcano. Seeing the views from the summit were amazing. And the star gazing after crazy. Again James showed us all the constellations that were in the sky. The tour also has a telescope were we got top see the moon up close. We even got to see Saturn
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/10/02 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/10/01 |
Reviewed by: Brenda San Diego
This was our first time doing this excursion. It did not disappoint. Wes, our guide was so knowledgeable and very impressive with explaining things in English and Japanese. The views were breathtaking.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Cloudy |
| Posted on: | 2025/09/24 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/09/18 |
Reviewed by: C. Foerg
An amazing experience watching the sun set into the clouds at the summit of Mauna Kea, breath taking. Followed up with an evening of incredible stargazing, to hard to explain the beauty of it. James was an excellent tour guide diving into Hawaiian history, culture, and his knowledge of the observatories, their work and the constellations that we could see during our star gazing experience made the evening even better.
Warm Jackets are provided but bring a sweater as well.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/09/16 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/09/15 |
Reviewed by: Song Z
We enjoyed a perfect sunset and stargazing was cold, but worth it. The tour guide and driver were very good, professional and enthusiastic.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Friends |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/09/04 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/08/29 |
Reviewed by: Mieli
Viel Zeit auf dem Gipfrl vor Sonnenuntergang, um alles anzuschauen, toller Sternenhimmel mit Erklärungen, sehr gute Organisation , super Guide, James
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/08/20 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/08/18 |
Reviewed by: TL
Tour guide was informative. Ride was comfortable. BLT bacon was really good. Veggie burger was more filling than the BLT. Stargazing was minimal due to full moon but fun. Best not to go during around full moon time. Download a star app like Night Sky to help enhance the experience. Dress for cold wind. You are going to want to take a lot of pictures so if if your hands get cold easily, bring mitts!
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/08/09 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/08/06 |
Reviewed by: L&H
No doubt of the beauty of Hawaii and God’s Creation. Tour Guide (Francis) was excellent…knowledgeable, fun and caring (we had one participant having trouble with altitude so had to return to welcome center taking about 1 hour of the group’s time to go back and travel back up, however, care extended by Francis is to be commended).
Disappointed in that part of the tour was to look through a telescope (explicitly listed as part of the tour) but that did not happen. Vans were “dated” but did the job. Overpriced in our opinion of what the experience provided.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/08/07 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/08/02 |
Reviewed by: MC
We had a fantastic time on the nighttime stargazing and sunset tour with James! We learned so much and had a memorable night - the sandwiches, sunset and stars were top notch!
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/08/03 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/07/30 |
Reviewed by: Mama Bear
I was disappointed with this tour for lack of hospitality, communication and false advertising. The tour guide is not an astronomer or someone who writes articles for astronomy mazagines or even a local Hawaiian. They are very knowledgeable, patient and friendly guides but also lack communication with the tour company. For instance, we had 10 people in our tour and they were told only 6 so he wasn’t prepared with enough hot chocolate or parkas. It may also be the reason he didn’t offer snacks or water to anyone and tried to get more people to drink coffee at 9 pm! I was also disappointed that we didn’t go to the Kona coffee farm as advertised in the itinerary and confirmed when they called. You also have to select your meal prior to arrival or seeing the options which is undesirable. Finally, when they called to confirm they told me not to bring anything - no water, jacket, hiking boots etc since all would be provided and tennis shoes were enough. First off, I came prepared with everything in my luggage but since they said not to bring a big bag or too many items we were underprepared. My son was freezing because the parkas are huge and they were passed out but left for people to get when they were freezing. Our tennis were covered in dirt and sand because we stopped at a beach and walked the sand. I would have to be informed in advance that we’re going to a beach and not the coffee farm and to have proper attire. The stargazing was nice and we saw a lot of stars and constellations but it was not pleasant because of the lack of preparation. I do not recommend this tour. If you book, don’t listen to their advice and come prepared with attire, water and snacks on top of the exorbitant price you pay. Or you could ask to go with the tour that matches the advertisement but I tried that already. Heed the warning. I didn’t and while we don’t regret it we regret the company.
All of the above. Confirm, confirm, confirm!
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| Packages: | From Kona & Waikoloa - Solar Viewing & Stargazing with Dinner |
| Attended as: | Families with Young Children |
| Weather: | Rainy |
| Posted on: | 2025/08/01 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/07/31 |
Reviewed by: Johnsons
Such an amazing experience! Pictures don’t do justice of being up so high above the clouds. The sunset was gorgeous, the sandwich was good, the stars were incredible!
Shoyo was very kind and took great pictures!
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/07/30 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/07/28 |
Reviewed by: Steph
We are a family of 4 with 2 teenagers, we had a great time with our guide at the stargazing tour. Our highlights were the lava caves, watching the sunset as well as stargazing. The sky was unbelievable and we learned a ton with our very knowledgeable guide.
Highly recommend.
I would skip the boiling pots when water level is low as there is nothing to see.
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| Packages: | From Hilo - Rainbow Falls, Kaumana Caves, Solar Viewing & Stargazing with Dinner |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Cloudy |
| Posted on: | 2025/07/20 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/07/18 |
Reviewed by: Duncan Miller
Sam was fantastic - really gave us all an exceptional tour of the night sky and was very knowledgable and great with the kids too!
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| Packages: | From Kona & Waikoloa - Solar Viewing & Stargazing with Dinner |
| Attended as: | Families with Young Children |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/07/15 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/07/13 |
Reviewed by: Jonah
This was a great experience. Getting to see the observatories and look out over the clouds above everything on the Big Island was really amazing. Watching the sunset and then doing some star gazing was awesome. Very happy with everything.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Posted on: | 2025/06/22 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/06/20 |
Reviewed by: John & Leena Western Australia
We enjoyed a great day learning and exploring the Volcanos, Craters, Lava Tubes. The bus was clean and on time, the tour guide (Torrie) was really good and informative. The lunch was really good as was the dinner. Overall it was a great experience. I would definitively recommend this company and tour.
Good walking shoes and light jacket.
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| Packages: | Elite Volcano Hike from Hilo Hotels |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Cloudy |
| Posted on: | 2025/06/15 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/06/14 |
Reviewed by: Fei
The shuttle was late by 15min because of "an issue with some customers at the previous pickup location." I personally don't think the shuttle should wait if someone is late by more than 5min.
But James was a cool tour guide, told us a lot about the island and his personal experience/stories. A funny guy to talk to and helped take pictures, gave us sandwiches, served hot cocoa, and adjusted the telescope for us when someone wanted to look at a specific star
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Weather: | Cloudy |
| Posted on: | 2025/06/12 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/06/10 |
Reviewed by: BJJ
Francis was a very knowledgeable and talkative guide. Very much enjoyed our conversations!!
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/06/09 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/06/07 |
Reviewed by: Abdul
Exceptional experience , Wes was a great tour guide
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Solo Travelers |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/05/31 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/05/29 |
Reviewed by: Mags
Awesome tour! James, our guide, was excellent! Appreciated his knowledge and enthusiasm! Highly recommend!
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/05/29 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/05/27 |
Reviewed by: The relaxing and exciting way to see Big Island
Shawn is super polite and well educated in many topics regarding the lava, plant life, history and sites on the islands. He was particularly helpful in suggesting to us to change the itinerary so we could see the active eruption and we are so happy he made the suggestion. 100% well worth the private tour. We changed things up and kinda called audibles throughout the day and Shawn was all about it. We had a great dinner and the day was a total success. Thank you.
If you don’t want to be herded in a tour bus and would like the ability to customize, book this!!
Aloha Monika,
Mahalo for taking the time to share your experience with us! One of my favorite parts of just doing private tours is the ability to call those audibles and customize our itinerary based on our guests desires, or in this case the Volcano. Happy that we were able to get to the Volcanoes NP, see the eruption before it stopped, still be able to take you to the other locations we had planned, and enjoy a great dinner! Thanks again!!
Mahalo,
Shawn
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| Packages: | 12-Hour Private Tour with Lunch & Dinner |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Rainy |
| Posted on: | 2025/05/18 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/05/16 |
Reviewed by: Kara
As older folks we were nervous about elevation, but this tour makes sure your comfortable and taken care of.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Posted on: | 2025/05/07 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/05/01 |
Reviewed by: Jennifer
My husband and I had a tour with James through Hawaiian Eyes Tours and absolutely loved it!! The sunset was beautiful and the star gazing was such an eye opening experience! James was very knowledgeable about the sights and Hawaiian culture. Highly recommend!
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/04/27 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/04/23 |
Reviewed by: Paule965
The tour guide was great. We really enjoyed ourselves
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| Packages: | Standard Tour |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Cloudy |
| Posted on: | 2025/04/25 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/04/22 |
Reviewed by: Kara
A great tour, worth the money as the staff details the conditions of the sky during your viewing.
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| Packages: | From Kona & Waikoloa - Solar Viewing & Stargazing with Dinner |
| Attended as: | Friends |
| Posted on: | 2025/03/27 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/03/16 |
Reviewed by: The Bushnell family
One of the highlights of our trip! Sam was fantastic - incredibly knowledgeable and friendly. Not only were we awed by the universe, Sam helped us understand Hawaii as well. Keep up the great work.
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| Packages: | From Kona & Waikoloa - Solar Viewing & Stargazing with Dinner |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Posted on: | 2025/03/26 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/03/24 |
Reviewed by: Quinn
Great experience overall, our guide James is very nice, he is knowledgeable and funny, definitely would recommend it to my friends
The mic connection be having issues sometimes.
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| Packages: | Standard Package |
| Attended as: | Couples |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/02/27 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/02/25 |
Reviewed by: Laura J
In general, my family and I had a good experience. Dexter was a fantastic driver and tour guide.
The only thing we did not like is that we had to drop and pick-up people at the airport 3 times, I'd rather spend more time in the rainbow falls than going over and over to the airport.
Be prepare for cook weather, rain, slippery trails, etc.
Aloha and mahalo for your review!
We’re so glad to hear that you and your family had a good experience and that Dexter made a great impression as your driver and guide—he’ll be happy to hear your kind words!
We also appreciate your feedback about the multiple airport stops. We understand how this can affect the flow of the tour, and we’ll be sure to share your comments with our operations team as we continuously look for ways to improve our guest experience.
Thank you for choosing Polynesian Adventure, and we hope to welcome you back again for another island adventure!
Warmest aloha,
The Polynesian Adventure ʻOhana
| Rating: | |
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| Packages: | Volcano Adventure Tour |
| Attended as: | Families |
| Weather: | Sunny |
| Posted on: | 2025/02/26 |
| Activity Date: | 2025/02/19 |
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The only recommendation if you want to see the stars schedule your trip when the moon is near the ne