Starting on Feb 1, 2017, Sunrise viewing reservations at Haleakala National Park are required.
Haleakala National Park, “House of the Sun” in Hawaiian language, is surely a sacred place and a popular place for stargazing, sunrise view, and sunset view. Elevated at 10.023 feet (3055 meters), freezing temperature at mountain peak after sunset and before sunrise will surely surprises you, even though Maui’s tropical climate at sea level averages around 75 to 85 degrees year round. Prepare enough warm clothe and wind breaker if you plan to be there in the dark. High elevation and no light pollution also makes Haleakala good for stargazing. Haleakala Observatory is just nearby but not open to the public.
I originally thought of stargazing at the summit either after sunset or before sunrise. But either we had to stay late after sunset in cold, or we had to wake up pretty early (2:00 AM, National Park opens at 3:00 AM). Both solutions wasn’t really appealing. Our compromise solution was trying to arrive summit before 5:00 AM. If we could see stars on the road or event at the summit, that is bonus. So we headed out from our cruise around 3:40 AM following an hour drove to national park. Not so lucky. we neither saw many stars on the road nor at the summit (sky started showing light blue). We could only hope for good sunrise then. Per my mom’s comment, Haleakala is the best sunrise she’s ever seen. Below are sunrise in timing sequence.
No Responses