Maui Stargazing — Local services in Maui

This is a review partly of Maui Stargazing, the company, and partly of Maui stargazing, the activity (for people wondering if they should splurge for it). Got an email from Jan a day or two before our tour confirming clothing sizes. We met Jan at the Kula Lodge and she had all our heavy clothing in individual baskets so she could hand it off to us pretty quickly. Both very impressive for someone organized like me! She showed us the weather map and live cam she used to determine weather conditions up the mountain; it was very cloudy and drizzling at the Lodge but she was pretty sure everything would clear out. Hoo boy--there was no visibility all the way up, and we parked at the top for the usual half hour, except instead of watching the sunset or looking into the crater, we were wrapped in cold gray windy rain, no visibility. Seemed silly to sit in the car and wait, but what else are you gonna do. (Her clothing is super effective--I get cold everywhere and I was extremely protected from the nasty conditions while tourists in shorts and flip flops ran to the bathroom miserably.) Anyway, we came a bit back down the mountain and found a parking lot for her telescope. She tried really really hard, and we did get to see a few things, but by and large, she'd find something cool and then a cloud would move over it while she focused the lens or after just a couple people got to see it. She was so busy always trying to find something that she actually forgot the hot chocolate/snacks and stuff--not a problem, really, but it's part of what you pay for I guess. Anyway, we eventually called it a night, and it was decent enough, but the same reason we're giving so many stars here (she tried so hard, really!) is actually the same reason we're not giving it a perfect 5: it would likely have been a better night for us if she just ruled it out based on weather. The stars worked out some but the sunset was a total bust, and it was a lot of driving (and a lot of money, haha) for a sky that turned out to be not so impressive. Beyond her control, we know, but if she'd said, "Hey, I'm looking at the clouds and it's really risky tonight, it may clear, but it totally may not," we'd have reclaimed a few hours of our lives. Plenty of pics online of fabulous sunsets, the clouds below you, the Milky Way above you, but what you don't see as much (at least, we didn't see as much before booking) is a field of gray blocking your vision of anything. If we had to do it again, we'd probably still go with Jan (you definitely benefit from having a guide, period), but I'm not sure we'd do it again knowing that you just can't tell what the weather will be like and by the time you do, your tour guide will have already gotten you up the mountain. Hopefully you'll have one like Jan who tries to make the best of it, but all the better if your guide just tells you to stay in and enjoy drinks on...

If you know your astronomy, this tour is for you. Otherwise, I would pass. The tour was off to a rocky start from the beginning. 3 people in our group were eating a snack (as you are not allowed to eat on the van and food is not provided) and were 3 minutes late getting onto the bus. The tour guide commented on this multiple times in that 3 minutes, telling us to call our remaining group members and get them there ASAP. Again, we only left 3 minutes later than we should have. The tour up the mountain was neat, but silent. There was no commentary or information as to what we were viewing on the hour long drive up the mountain. Same on the way down. The first pit stop was rushed. We were told we had 30 minutes to explore, and after 23 minutes, we were being corralled back to the van. If you need any gear from the van, get it before the sun goes down. Jan will not get any winter gear or hot drinks for you after this as it's all about the stars!!!! :) The actual stargazing itself was neat! Jan gave us a 10 minute talk about what we'd be seeing and provided chairs. This speech was slightly advanced even for me, so any children or teenagers may not understand everything being told to them. Don't walk around Jan as she's doing the speech or you'll be yelled at and told to sit down lol. You'll quickly get to take a look in the telescope before it's passed to the next person to quickly view, then, onto the next star or galaxy. In total, I believe we did around an hour of stargazing. It started once it got dark enough after the sun went down, and ended once the moon came up about an hour or so later. The constellations were extremely rushed. Extremely. Jan used her laser pointer to show you the different constellations that you could see, but went so fast that you were unable to process what image the constellation was actually supposed to be. Once the moon was up, you got a quick view of it, no explanation about the craters or things on the moon, before the telescope was quickly packed up and we were on our way down the mountain. OH, "a strong man" will also need to sit nearest the door of the van to open and close it!! Jan ensured to stress than women should not be sitting in that seat as the door is very heavy. Overall, our group found the tour guide very knowledgeable, but also rude in the way that she spoke to us. We went as a group of 10, and for that price point, I would have hoped for a better experience. As mentioned, if you know your stars/astronomy, you'll likely really enjoy this tour! If you have kids, I would NOT recommend this experience as it's...

"Oh Wow!" This was the phrase for the entire evening. Everyone on the tour with us kept saying this throughout the night, including myself. Jan is absolutely outstanding. She is by far the best tour guide I've had. The group she takes up to the mountain is a smaller group of about 11 people, which is much better than being on a tour bus full of people. Jan learned everyone's name and made an effort to call us by our names all night. I loved this because it felt so personal and welcoming. I expected this tour to be beautiful and like any other tour I've done. But I what we received was far more than I could have expected. Not only was this one of the most breathtaking and beautiful things I have ever experienced, but the information and knowledge Jan has about everything Space blew us away. She has so much information to offer about our planets, stars, galaxies, and more. The telescope she uses is also incredible. We were able to see Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and its rings, star clusters, the Andromeda galaxy, our own Milky-way Galaxy, and so much more! Jan knows the best spots to go on top of the mountain for the best views with no people around. She is buddy buddy with all the park rangers and is very pleasant to hold conversation with. She made me feel extremely comfortable and safe. She is also very organized and it shows that this is not her first time running this tour. She is very experienced and the knowledge she offers is far beyond what we could have asked for. Other tour companies in this category do not know as much as Jan does, and are not as experienced as she is. Her tour van is also very spacious, comfortable, and new. She provides very nice and new coats and snow pants, as well as hot drinks and snacks. I highly recommend going through Maui Stargazing to see the Haleakala Crater, the sunset above the clouds, and the best stargazing through a telescope...