Pearl Harbor - Ship Tour vs private vs on-your-own

[sailaway5]

Please share your experiences of Pearl Harbor. We will be there from 7:00 am to 11 pm... Ship tour? Private tour? or On-your-own (maybe rent a car). How long did you spend at the memorial and see everything.

 

Thanks for whatever info you can share.

Cheers,

Carol

[Middleager]

This is another one of the most asked questions around. Do a search and you'll find lots of info.

 

It's easy to rent a car. There are several companies with shuttles (Thrifty, Alamo) that'll pick you up. Also a Hertz within walking distance. With a car you can go at your own pace.

 

You can book a ticket for the tender to Arizona Memorial now, costs $1.5/p. Set aside at least 2 hr, as you'll want to spend time at the museum with lots of displays/videos, etc. If you add on the Missori tour and Bowfin submarine, maybe the Pacific Aviation Museum, that'll be at least 1/2 day, the entire morning.

 

After that you can go to the nearby Aloha Stadium swap meet. Or drive to other place, the Punchbowl Cemetery, Roundtop drive, downtown Honolulu with Iolani Palace and nearby Chinatown. Maybe to Manoa Falls. Can also go to Waikiki for the rest of the day, maybe including Diamond Head.

[Astro Flyer]

The only suggestion I could add is that you can take The Bus for $2.50 to easily get to Pearl Harbor or just about any other place on O'ahu.

[Keith1010]

We did a ships tour and really enjoyed it.

 

Keith

[mellowrose]

Looking forward to this too so thanks for asking the question.

[Thrak]

Princess tour: $89 per person

 

Self tour: Free

 

We're renting a car and will drive to the memorial and then drive other places as well. I spent $1.50 per person to reserve tickets online. As long as we arrive an hour before our tour time we will have guaranteed tickets. If we're late, they will give the tickets to someone else and we will have to wait our turn as it's first-come first-served.

[Disney1992]

I think the answer depends on how much you want to see and do at Pearl Harbor. We took a cab from our hotel, made arrangements with the driver to pick us back up, as there are no "standing" cabs at Pearl Harbor. We spent 5 hours and didn't get to see everything. If you're on a tour, your time might be restricted. If you take a cab or have a rental car, you can set your own schedule. There appeared to be plenty of parking. Our cab driver told us to call him a half hour before we were ready to leave. He was pulling in as we were walking out.

[OneLove2012]

My Dad visited a few years ago and went on his own. He said he much prefered it to seeing the group tours, because he could move at his own pace. It was also considerably less expensive.

 

On a side note, my Grandfather was a Pearl Harbor survivor. I grew up hearing stories about the attack, and the aftermath. I have not made it to Hawaii yet, but it is deffinately on my bucket list. Someday soon, I hope!

[Middleager]

Pearl Harbour is definitely one place where it doesn't make sense to join a tour. Many people who pay for a tour, do not realize there is no fee to go into the Pearl Harbour Visitor Center, no fee take the tender to the Arizona Memorial (unless you want to book ticket in advance at $1.5/p), no fee to visit the museum and walk the grounds there.

 

So if wanting to take a tour bus to Pearl Harbour, might as well take the city bus at $2.5. You can then go at your own pace, and leave when you want to, rather than be tied down by the tour bus schedule.

[Zeno]

We took The Bus (local transit). Very easy to do and cheap. It does take a bit of time to get there (about 45 minutes). I would NOT take a tour. It's so much better to do things at your own pace.

 

The Arizona Memorial is FREE (unless you book a time in advance - not really necessary if you get there early enough). We went on a weekday (apparently weekends are a not busier). We arrived at about 8:45 and were able to get tickets for the 9:30 launch).

 

We decided that we really wanted to do the Missouri and paid extra to do that - well worth it - we spent a lot of time wandering around the ship. If you do the Missouri, DO NOT miss going below-decks where the crew lived - fascinating.

 

So my recommendation is either take The Bus or rent a car and do it on your own time.

[Keith1010]

The Missouri is a wonderful ship to visit. So much history.

 

You have Pearl Harbor where the war began and the Missouri where the Japanese surrendered.

 

Keith

[Appygirl]

If you rent a car and drive there are no parking fees. There are several parking lots. The later in the day you show up you might have to park in a lot further away and walk a bit.