Longtime Lahaina gallery owner Donna Meistrich is showcasing a new brand of art these days: the twinkling astronomical wonders of West Maui’s nighttime sky
“I’ve always loved to look at the stars,” Meistrich said. “And on my tours, I try to give people facts they can love and remember — like that it rains diamonds on Saturn.”
Meistrich launched Stargazers Anonymous in January 2023, creating the West Maui activity for visiting vacationers as a part-time complement to her full-time work as co-owner of the Andrew Shoemaker Fine Art Photography gallery, located on Front Street in Lahaina.
“Then the fire happened, and the gallery burned down,” Meistrich said. “The whole town burned down.”
More than 2,200 Maui structures burned in the August 2023 wildfires that destroyed much of Lahaina while killing more than 100 people and causing $5.5 billion in damages, according to the U.S. Fire Administration
“So I was like, ‘What am I gonna do?’” Meistrich recalled. “I was so lost; I was devastated.”
Leaning into her love of astronomy, Meistrich is now pursuing a degree in the field and has since landed a job leading stargazing tours Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa. She has also expanded her Stargazers Anonymous tours to Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights while offering a free Stargazers Anonymous show on Thursdays for Kaanapali vacationers at Whalers Village.
Telescopes equipped with GPS tracking allow viewers to enjoy celestial objects as they move across the night sky.
Credit: 2026 Hawaii Tourism Authority/(HTA) Dana Edmunds“I chose the name because it's in the dark and nobody knows what anyone looks like, so it’s anonymous,” Meistrich said about the company’s origins with a chuckle. “But it's also an obsession, right? So it's like AA for stargazers.”
A Nearby Knockout
I joined a Stargazers Anonymous tour during a West Maui visit last fall, meeting Meistrich and a pair of vacationing couples just a 10-minute drive from my Kaanapali hotel.
Situated in a wide-open expanse of former farmland, we all enjoyed seats in wonderfully comfortable chairs while Meistrich kicked off the 90-minute tour with her powerful laser pointer and a discussion of the glittering sea of constellations overhead. She shared the Greek and Roman mythology linked to the stars, along with a wide range of ancient Hawaiian astronomical traditions.
“Then we look through the telescope,” Meistrich said, mentioning her company’s two 9.25" and 11" Celestron telescopes, which make use of GPS technology. “With my telescopes, people can look as long as they want, because these telescopes are tracking objects as they move across the sky.”
Each member of our tour had ample time to peer through the powerful telescopes at the collection of staggeringly distant globular star clusters, nebulae and galaxies that Meistrich dialed up that evening for us to enjoy. But the real showstopper was a chance to look at Saturn, showing off all its ringed glory as well as a couple of its wonderfully visible moons.
/Former-Lahaina-gallery-owner-Donna-Meistrich-start.jpg?tr=w-768%2Ch-432%2Cfo-auto "Former Lahaina gallery owner Donna Meistrich started the West Maui activity company Stargazers Anonymous in January of 2023.")
Former Lahaina gallery owner Donna Meistrich started the West Maui activity company Stargazers Anonymous in January of 2023.
Credit: 2026 Stargazers AnonymousAn excellent option for families traveling with children, couples and even older visitors, Stargazers Anonymous tours make terrific sense for West Maui vacationers, who are typically intrigued by the island’s gorgeous nighttime sky but not interested in the roughly 50-mile drive from Kaanapali up to locations near the dormant summit crater of Haleakala, where other stargazing tours have traditionally operated.
“And we’re handicap accessible,” Meistrich said. “I’ve had guests who joined in wheelchairs. I even had one fellow who was 98.”
West Maui Rising
Commissionable to travel advisors at 20%, Stargazers Anonymous group tours start at $125 for adults and $100 for children, and Meistrich offers a family rate of $375 for two adults and up to three children. The activity provider also operates private tours and will put together wedding and corporate options.
According to Meistrich, her company had an especially strong December, and bookings for the next few months look good. But just like so many in the West Maui travel business who I’ve spoken with in recent months, the Stargazers Anonymous founder was quick to encourage visitors to return.
"All the horror of the fire is gone,” she said. “Plants are growing. It’s green again. All these homes are being built.”
Meanwhile, the revenue that accompanies vacationers remains sorely needed.
“We want people to come back because that really helps,” Meistrich said. “When tourists come, and they spend some money, oh my gosh, we desperately need that.”
