We try to arrive at the site just before sunset, so you can enjoy watching the sunset from the beach while we set up the telescope equipment.

We use an 8 inch diameter Meade telescope on a motorized mount that follows the sky. We can see the planets such as Saturn and Jupiter along with some of their moons. We see star clusters, galaxies, nebulae, and occasionally a comet. While observing, we often see satellites and shooting stars. We use a pointer to point out objects in the sky and the constellations.

The site is dark enough that you can see the Milky Way, and you can even see the Andromeda Galaxy with your naked eye. We spend about 2 hours looking through the telescope, and binoculars.

Then it’s about a 45 minute drive back to Waikiki since there’s no traffic at time.  We usually get back to Waikiki about 11pm. There are no facilities at the site on the beach, but we can make a stop in Haleiwa town to use the restroom before proceeding to the beach site.

The sunset time varies by over an hour throughout the year, so the pick-up time will vary based on that, so that we can arrive at the site just before sunset. We can provide a cooler with ice and bottled water.

Oh, and of course the weather is a factor.  We obviously can’t see the stars if there are too many clouds. The Moon is also a factor.  If the Moon is too full, we can’t see nebulae or galaxies. The best time is when the Moon is at least 3 days past Full Moon, until about 4 days past New Moon.