Pearl Harbor - Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii
Pearl Harbor has a lot to offer. The main area has a walking tour museum where you can learn all about Pearl Harbor’s history and the attack that unfolded, leading to the US getting directly involved in World War II. From the main park, you can catch a ferry ride to the USS Arizona Memorial. Here, you can take in the solemn nature of the events of December 7, 1941: the lives lost, the chaos, and the heroics of those who survived. To the side of the main park, you can take a self-guided tour of the submarine Bowfin. Jump on the shuttle bus to take in the Air Museum or enjoy a deep dive into one of the battleships that fought in World War II, the USS Missouri.
Hours of Operation
Daily 7 AM - 5 PM
Pearl Harbor is closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Day.
Admission (For a complete list of tours and options, visit their website)
Self-Guided Tours: $89.99/person
Guided Tours vary based on starting location and number of locations they will visit.
Equipment
*Consult the FAQ for additional details and information.
Sunscreen
Comfortable shoes or sandals
Dress for the weather
Water Bottle
Approach
Pearl Harbor is central to Honolulu. Taking the H1 towards Pearl Harbor and the Aloha Stadium, you’ll Follow I-H-1 E to Moanalua Rd in Halawa. Take the exit toward Stadium/Aiea from HI-78 W/I-H-201. Use the right lane to take exit 13 A for Interstate H3/HI-78 E/HI-78 toward Kaneohe/Honolulu/Aiea. There is a slight right onto the Hawaii 78 W ramp to Aiea. Merge onto HI-78 W/I-H-201 W. Take the exit toward Stadium/Aiea. Take Aiea Access Rd and HI-99 E to your destination. Continue onto Moanalua Rd. Turn left onto Aiea Access Rd. Slight right onto HI-99 E. Turn right onto Arizona Memorial Pl. Turn right to stay on Arizona Memorial Pl. Turn left into the Pearl Harbor parking lot.
Do NOT stop to let people out in front of the main walkway to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. Security does not allow this, and they will swiftly correct the situation.
USS Arizona Memorial Tour
I’m addressing this tour first for two reasons. First, it is the preeminent purpose for the National Memorial’s existence. Second, before you do anything else, you should secure a time slot for this tour. Like most activities in Hawaii, you’ll want to get your tickets and reserve your time slots as soon as possible.
The USS Arizona Memorial Tour takes you on a ferry across the bay to the memorial built above the sunken USS Arizona Battleship. Upon arrival, the captain of the ferry will provide some instructions. Please listen to and follow these instructions. This is a memorial and should be treated solemnly. Please be respectful as you tour the memorial and imagine the sacrifice of those who lost their lives on that tragic day.
The memorial has several impressive points of view. The most impressive is the wall of names that memorializes those who died. The sanctity of this room can be felt when you enter. It can be a moving experience to stand in a place filled with such tragedy. Take your time to allow yourself to feel what you need to feel, and let those emotions graft themselves to your memory of this experience.
Pearl Harbor National Memorial
The National Memorial offers several open buildings that make up the museum. Just after you enter the memorial's main entrance, you can pick up an audio tour device from the building in front of you. The audio tour will walk you through each museum section in the covered areas. You can explore the museum at your own pace. Playing the sections in order works the best, but you can go out of order.
You can also walk around the path and see the USS Arizona Anchor, the Lone Ailor Statue, the Marine Corps Memorial, and the Waterfront Memorial. On the park's northern side are the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum and the Bowfin Submarine, where you can walk through an actual submarine. The ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial is at the park's southern end.
Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
You can catch a shuttle bus from the National Memorial to the Aviation Museum and the USS Missouri. The Aviation Museum has two parts: the main hangar and a secondary hangar, Hangar 79. We reached the museum near lunchtime, and after touring the main hangar, we were hungry and decided to get lunch rather than visit Hangar 79. This choice was also based on having an air museum near our home where we could see many of the same classic planes we would have seen in Hangar 79.
It was fantastic to tour the main hangar and see one of the bombers my wife’s grandpa flew in during World War II. Because of his smaller stature, he was made a tailgunner. The video gives a sense of what that must have been like. The Apple TV series Masters of the Air gives you a pretty good feel for what these airmen went through during their service. The main hangar also has a few variations of the fighter jets and a motorcycle from that same time period.
If you are up for an adventure, you can hop in the simulator for an additional fee and get in on a dog fight.
USS Missouri Battleship
This location probably took the most time to explore. It is a massive battleship with room after room of interesting history, technology, and information. Starting on the deck, there are a few guides who will provide information on the main guns, the Japanese surrender ceremony that took place on the deck of this battleship, and much more. A fascinating story of the battleship is the damage that can still be seen from a kamikaze plane strike along one side. The explosives the plane carried failed to detonate, sparing the ship and saving the crew. With the plane’s wreckage, they found a body, and since no crewmen were killed, it was determined it must be the kamikaze pilot. The captain had the crew stow the body for a short period as they made plans to give a full military burial to this enemy soldier. Some crewmen even made a Japanese flag from scraps of material they gathered. When all the preparations were made, the soldier’s body was committed to the deep with full military honors. When asked, the captain explained that a man who was dead was no longer an enemy, just another casualty of war.
After touring the deck, you can go below and experience what it must have been like for the crew to live on this battleship for months. Some of the most interesting information I found were details on the amounts of coffee and bread consumed every day. The sleeping quarters, eating quarters, and everything else were very compact. If you get claustrophobic, this may be a difficult tour to manage in some cases. I loved that in the mess area, they piped in smells of fresh bread and sounds of bacon frying. It made the experience fun in a quirky way. Around just about every corner were more displays, signs, or plaques. It was a massive amount of information and difficult to absorb in its entirety. The entire self-guided tour took more than an hour, and we did not have as much time as we could have. Ultimately, it was my favorite experience of our trip to Pearl Harbor. The immersive and informative nature of this particular museum was masterfully done.
Summary
Pearl Harbor is a must-do experience when visiting Honolulu, Hawaii. I suggest taking in all the events. I would schedule the USS Arizona for the afternoon, see the Missouri and Aviation Museum in the morning, and then return to the National Memorial to tour the grounds and the Submarine Museum. I would try to conclude the day with the ferry to the USS Arizona Memorial. The entire experience can be done in a day, but it makes for a slightly hectic day. I recommend knowing what locations are your priority so that you can adjust your plans slightly during the day. Be prepared to make adjustments to ensure you can reach all the locations you want to see. As long as you are prepared, you should have a wonderful experience.
The video below is a bit long, but it should give you a good sense of each location and its offerings.
