Heading to the Big Island in May and I'm looking for some overall advice as to how to see Mauna Kea.
First things first. I've been reading reports that rental car companies exclude driving the Saddle Rd. Is this the case?
If I can drive up there, is Onizuka Visitor Center interesting? Would you recommend going at sunset and then staying around for the stargazing program? Is driving down after dark difficult/dangerous? I don't particularly want to pay $100+ pp to take a night tour up there.
I don't feel any need to hike there but is the summit something I should see, or is the Visitor Ctr sufficient? I must say that seeing Moon Valley sounds neat but it sounds like you need a 4WD to get that far.
Thanks in advance
laurajoy
1
kchib
You would need a 4wh drive to get up to the summit. The visitor center is mildly interesting in and of itself. The post sunset telescope viewing, however, is worthwhile in my opinion. And the dark skies are impressive. You're not supposed to drive rentals over Saddle Rd, but you can. I say, just do it. The road from Hilo is perfectly fine, although very windy, so be careful. The road from Kona is full of potholes and narrow, but still easy enough to drive if you're careful. You shouldn't have any trouble driving back at night in either direction. If you go, you might want to check the weather beforehand. While the summit is usually clear, the visitor center can be in the clouds.
3
ejpiii
1 is totally right. An alternative with a similar view is to hike Mauna Loa in the park. The 4wd restriction is kind of bogus, as I've seen it done in an ancient Escort perfectly safely. The problem is you drive through the clouds-think HEAVY fog- and seeing anything at ll is tough for awhile. 4wd doesn't do squat for that. And even when it snows, it really doesn't help that much over a front wheel drive car like the aformentioned escort.
All the rental car outfits save 1 local one still say no to the Saddle road. But I've done it several times. Its perfectly safe and from the Hilo side to the Onizuka center is in fact a well maintained recently paved road. They are working on repaving the rest of it toward Kona as we write.
Ed
4
eenelfje
Yep the saddle road is just fine, its a paved road but just a road with a lot of curves. For going up the Manua Kea its better to have a 4wd. Then its ok.
The Onitzuka Visitors centre is very nice to visit and actually all the tours stop there for about an hour to get the people acclimatized to the high altitude !
On top of the Manua Kea its beautifull to see the sunset. But its very cold at the top !! I had a tshirt on, a long sleeve shirt, a fleece jacket and a normal jacket ! And on top of the Manua Kea we got a very thick wintercoat extra !! So put on a lot of layers !!
Going down when its dark it can be very tricky but just drive very slowly. When coming down again stop again at the visitors centre. There you can look through the huge telescopes by night and its soooo amazing !! There will be somebody from the Visitors Centre explaining which star or planet you are seeing.
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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