Comprehensive information regarding health, safety, lodging, meals, staff, and daily life at camp.
Camper safety is our top priority.
Staff are trained in First Aid, CPR, AED use, and Wilderness First Aid. The camp nurse and overseeing physician are on call while camp is in session. Staff have many years of experience working with teens.
Click here to see our Camper Health and Safety information.
Your instructors at Science Camp have many years of experience teaching science in the classroom and in the field.
Click here to learn about our Organization and Leadership Team
Science Camp is held at Pāhala Plantation Cottages located in Pāhala, Hawaiʻi. Campers and counselors stay at the Plantation House and adjacent cottages. The Plantation House is our home base and where we meet, spend our free time, and have most of our meals. The maximum number of campers for any given session is 22. Campers share a bedroom with 1–3 others, and typically share a bathroom with about 5 or 6 of their housemates.
Linens are provided at the start of each session. Washers and dryers are available in each cottage at no charge.
Meals are included with registration and are prepared by the camp cook. Most dietary considerations can be accommodated, including vegetarian and gluten-free meals. Please contact us to ask about specific diet or allergy requests or concerns. Box lunches are provided for field trips.
Part of the camp experience is to develop understanding and responsibility for the environment on different levels. As part of the camp program, campers, under staff direction, will have chores which include set up and clean up for meals and personal laundry.
The Camp Director and the Counselors provide supervision. The camper to counselor ratio is no greater than 5 to 1. Annual background checks are conducted as is training to help monitor and ensure campers' physical and mental health.
Campers flying into Hilo or Kona airport will be met by camp staff and driven to camp in one of the camp vans. Campers flying out of Hilo or Kona are taken to the airport and accompanied by camp staff until they have checked in and passed through security. Campers may also be dropped off and picked up at camp.
Camp vans driven by camp staff are used for field trips during camp. Staff who drive vans are required to have annual driver license record checks.
The registration fee for each of the ten-day sessions is $2,955. This cost includes meals, lodging, instruction, supervision, transportation during camp, field trips, entry fees, program activities and materials, and airport transfers (Hilo and Kona).
A $375 deposit is required upon registration, with the balance due on May 25th.
A camper's registration may be cancelled at any time up to May 25th and payment will be refunded in full. If at any time up to the start of the session the session is cancelled due to official public health advisories, payment will be refunded in full. Campers canceling after May 25th due to illness, with written doctor's orders, the amount paid minus a $350 cancellation fee will be refunded.
For more answers, please view our FAQ page, Refund Policy, and Liability Policy or schedule a call with the camp director.
Above all, don't fear difficult moments. The best comes from them.
— Rita Levi-Montalcini —
Science Camps of America