private tour of pearl harbor

Good morning everyone. My time is getting near for my Hawaiian cruise and I am so excited. I am looking for anyone that might have done a private tour of Pearl Harbor to give me an idea of the cost pp. and if it is worth it.

Thanks

Are you asking about a totally private tour...just 2 or 4 of you, and a driver and/or guide? Or about a bigger group?

The bigger groups can be easily found by a little reading on the board for recommendations, and a little Google searching. Roberts, for example.

"Worth it" is a totally vague, and subjective personal opinion only you can arrive at. We have toured Pearl twice, extensively. The only guide we had was on the Missouri, which was excellent. No real need for a guide, otherwise.

I can't imagine that it would be worth it. It's a very easy park to navigate & appreciate. It's free to get in. You may need to spend $4 for a locker to store your belongings because you can't bring bags into the park. You can book tickets to the Arizona on line in advance for a small fee, about $2. Check out this website from the national parks service: https://www.nps.gov/valr/planyourvisit/fees.htm You may be closed out of tickets if you wait until the day of because they are on a first come first serve basis.

The cost of a private tour is hundreds of dollars. It seems like a rip off to me.

We got the audio tour when we went and it was like having your own personal guide :) I highly recommend spending the money for it.

We got the audio tour when we went and it was like having your own personal guide :) I highly recommend spending the money for it.

Ditto, well worth the $7.50 pp.

We got the audio tour when we went and it was like having your own personal guide :) I highly recommend spending the money for it.

We did the same. We actually took a car service from our hotel to Pearl Harbor early in the am and were picked up at 5pm. We wanted to spend as much time as possible at all the sites in the park (besides the Arizona Memorial and museums and Battleship Missouri, we toured the Bowfin sub and the Pacific Aviation Museum. There is a free shuttle near the Bowfin to take you over to and back from Ford's Island to tour the Missouri and the Pacific Aviation Museum).

We had the recorded audio tours for the Arizona and Bowfin. It was well worth both the time and small amount of money to get the most out of our visit to both sites (actually, the Bowfin audio tour was included with the paid admission). As our time was growing short, we took the approx. 30 minute guided tour of the highlights of the Missouri and watched the short introductory film and wandered around on our own at the Pacific Aviation Museum (although I believe audio tours were available).

We were very happy we chose to tour Pearl Harbor on our own in this way!

Does anyone know if you can get a tour off the ship in Hawaii like in the Caribbean?

Hawaii is nothing like the Caribbean. Was just in Lahaina a week ago when the Westerdam was in port. Yes, there were a couple of cabs standing by, but not thinking they were giving tours. Just rides. You could catch a cab to Pearl Harbor very easily.

The other thing to note is that the State of Hawaii has an unemployment rate very close to 2%. Every place we went, they had "Help Wanted" signs out. So what does that suggest to you about the quality and history of that person selling their services at the pier, given that Hawaii is so dependent on the tourist business?

On our Hawaii cruise in 2012 we were delayed getting off the ship in Hilo and missed our tour with Ricky's Tours by 10 minutes. There was a large van on the pier and the driver was advertising the same locations (Volcano park, lava tube, rainbow falls, black sand beach, Lili’uokalani Gardens) and for $10 cheaper than what it would have been with Ricky. Other than listening to the driver grouse about his boss the tour was good. So sometime they can be found at that pier. I just would not rely on it. (BTW that is my wife, not the driver). :)

Thank you everyone. The information is very helpful and appreciated