Mauna Kea

[Krisser22]

Has anyone visited the summit of Mauna Kea from Kona on their cruise stop? My husband and I (late 20's/early 30's), really want to make the drive to the top of Mauna Kea (we love to visit State High Points). I understand its closer to the Hilo side, but we really want to do hiking in VPN on our Hilo day, thus Kona is the only option for Mauna Kea. I recognize this will be an ALL day excursion and we will get a 4WD vehicle to make the trek.

 

My thoughts are as follows:

We are in port for 11 hours. Just to be cautious, lets say only 9 hours by the time we wait for a tender back and forth. The locals at Harpers say it will only take me 2 - 2.5 hrs to drive to the vistors center. I plan to spend 1 hr at the visitors center for acclimation. Then, I plan for 1 hr up from the vistors center to the top. Will spend minimal time at the top. Thus, if everything works according to plan:

5 hrs roundtrip to/from vistors center

1 hr acclimation at visitors center

2 hr roundtrip to/from vistor center to summit

0.5 hr max at top (its about the adventure for us, not the destination)

= 8.5 hours

 

Even if I budget in an extra hour, I am close to my conservative port time of 9 hours. I guess if things start to run long, I have to chalk it up as an fail and turn around early. I am just hoping for the fact, that things never seem to take as long as you would expect. Or worst case scenario, I miss the boat and have to fly to Kauai.....well I guess worst case would be falling of the mountain, but hopefully not an issue :).

 

Anyone's prior experience would be greatly appreciated - even if you went from the Hilo side...curious as to how long it took, any issues, if you really used Harper's, etc....

[DAGVBSB]

The last tender is listed as an hour before sailing.

 

 

Also, unless you are in a high end suite, AE or higher, then don't plan on getting off the ship right away. Those on NCL tours and those in the suites have the priority on tenders. Everyone else must wait in line and get a tender number and then wait on that tender to be called. Could be a couple hours.

 

And unless you book through the rental car company that is located at the King Kam hotel right by the pier, it takes longer to get the rental cars at Kona than in other points. (and longer to get back to the pier)

 

Being a tender port it makes Kona a worse choice for a long private tour. Just some things to think about.

[kapoho2]

What time of year will you be there? There can be weather issues during the winter months.

[Krisser22]

We will be there in 1 week and a half.

[beachchick]

And you must have a 4-wheel drive vehicle to drive from the Visitor's Center at 9,000 ft to the summit. It's not one of those "It's better to have 4-w/d" situations; it's absolutely necessary/required. You mention Harpers, so I'm guessing you're renting from them because they allow their 4-w/d vehicles to be taken to the summit. Excellent.

 

I think you are being very optimistic about timing. You're in port for 11 hours, so you've got maybe 9-1/2 hours on the island, including renting and returning the car. In Hawaii and especially on the roads that you'll be driving to Mauna Kea, you will not be driving fast most of the time and you may hit afternoon traffic back into Kona. That traffic can really slow you down. Sorry to say that in this case things will almost certainly take as long as you expect and possibly longer.

 

But I'm not saying don't go for it if that's what you really want to do. Just as long as you know and are fine with the fact that you'll be spending almost the entire day just driving because you will not have time for any other stops.

 

beachchick

[Krisser22]

Beachchick-

Thanks for the feedback. Did I see, from an earlier post, that you went up from the Hilo side? Do you remember how long it took for you to make it from the visitors center to the summit? I had heard people quoting as short as 30 minutes each way, but did not know if that was realistic...it seemed short....

 

Thanks!

[snaebyllej]

It's also a bit of a hike (in very thin air) from the summit parking lots to the actual summit, so if you want to get to the VERY top, you'll need to allow some more time.

[born2cruize]

Beachchick-

Thanks for the feedback. Did I see, from an earlier post, that you went up from the Hilo side? Do you remember how long it took for you to make it from the visitors center to the summit? I had heard people quoting as short as 30 minutes each way, but did not know if that was realistic...it seemed short....

 

Thanks!

I'm not beach chick but we did the trip (via tour) in February this year and 30 minutes is about right.

 

It's also a bit of a hike (in very thin air) from the summit parking lots to the actual summit, so if you want to get to the VERY top, you'll need to allow some more time.

 

And looking at my pictures it appears to be a very steep hike.

[beachchick]

Beachchick-

Thanks for the feedback. Did I see, from an earlier post, that you went up from the Hilo side? Do you remember how long it took for you to make it from the visitors center to the summit? I had heard people quoting as short as 30 minutes each way, but did not know if that was realistic...it seemed short....

 

Thanks!

 

Yes, we drove up from the Hilo side. We were with the University of Hawaii's weekend tour where you have to drive your own car in a caravan from the visitor's center to the summit with the university staff. Going up took a bit longer, partly because we were in the caravan. Leaving, we were on our own. I'd say 30-45 minutes is about right. But it's not a bad idea to allow for the upper end (say 45-50 minutes) simply because you can't know for sure what the conditions will be like the day you are there. It's unlikely to take a full hour, but you never know.

 

beachchick

[DonahCBrown]

It is about 30 minutes from the visitor's center, beachchick is right about the 4WD - it is critical. Sounds like you've done elevation stuff before, but the air is VERY thin and it can be cool up there even at this time of year so make sure you have a jacket or sweater. When I went on the winter solstice it was COLD and the tour provider we were with had oxygen for people - it really helps. Since you are not doing a tour, that won't be an option, so remember to move slowly and carefully and take your time. Have a great time!

[snaebyllej]

http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Astronomy.drive

[DonahCBrown]

http://www.instanthawaii.com/cgi-bin/hawaii?Astronomy.drive

 

Good site over all - only found a couple of minor quibbles with the writeup on Mauna Kea, but they haven't updated lately and still list Aloha Airlines as a way to get here - they've been out of business for quite a while now, so be sure and double check any information that might be impacted by business changes with a more up to date resource. That said - there is wonderful information here and it is very detailed and the scenic drives are well described with photos and pretty much turn by turn directions. I've bookmarked it to use when we have visitors.

[Krisser22]

All this help is wonderful! I greatly appreciate the replies! I cannot wait for our trip next week and hope to be back with a trip report showing pics from the top of Mauna Kea!