North America
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
Kohala Coast, Island of Hawaii, USA
DARK SKY INDEX
8.6
Rural Sky
BORTLE CLASS
Class 3 — Rural Sky
ELEVATION
20 ft
CLEAR NIGHTS
260 per year
BEST SEASON
Year-round; December through March brings the clearest, coolest nights and the Geminids
About
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel
Mauna Kea Beach Hotel opened in 1965 as Laurance Rockefeller's vision for the Kohala Coast, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill around open-air walkways and the crescent of Kaunaʻoa Bay. The collection of Asian and Pacific art and the Robert Trent Jones golf course made it the model for every resort that followed on the coast.
The resort takes its name from the mountain behind it. Maunakea's summit, at 13,800 feet, holds one of the largest collections of major telescopes on Earth, and the island's lighting ordinance limits outdoor light on the coast to protect the observatories' view. The resort runs its own stargazing sessions with a Celestron 11 telescope and laser-guided tours of the constellations, and guided summit stargazing tours run from the coast most evenings.
Worth knowing before booking: the beach faces west, which makes sunsets over the Pacific the evening ritual and leaves the dark eastern sky to the mountain. Summit trips involve high altitude and colder than you might expect weather.
STARGAZING AMENITIES: Resort stargazing sessions with a Celestron 11 telescope and laser-guided constellation tours, guided Maunakea summit stargazing tours from the Kohala Coast, open Pacific horizon from Kaunaʻoa Bay, manta ray night snorkeling nearby
Dark Sky Details
The Kohala Coast is dry and sparsely lit, and Hawaii County's lighting ordinance keeps fixtures shielded and low, so the sky over the resort reads as a Bortle Class 3. The leeward side of the island is one of the sunniest coastlines in Hawaii, with roughly 260 clear nights a year, just over the clear-nights bonus line.
At sea level the resort earns no elevation bonus, but the summit of Mauna Kea, about a 90-minute drive away, is among the finest observing sites on the planet. If you are serious about the sky, you can go up for the sunset and stay for the stars.
Ready to see it for yourself? Start planning your stay at Mauna Kea Beach Hotel.
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PLAN YOUR VISIT
8.6
Rural Sky
NEAREST AIRPORT
Ellison Onizuka Kona International (KOA), ~35-minute drive
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