Everything you need to know about visiting Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona
July 23, 2019
A must-visit while on the island of Oahu is Pearl Harbor National Memorial. On Sunday, December 7, 1941, Japanese forces bombed Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack, damaging 18 battleships and killing 2,403. A horrific event that brought the U.S. into WWII and as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt iconically said, will always be “…a date which will live in infamy.” Nearly 78 years after the brutal attack, Americans and visitors from all over, continue to stop and pay their respects to the fallen at Pearl Harbor.
Visiting this national park has always been on my bucket list, and I am very glad that I was able to finally visit. Like most Millennials, I grew up watching the movie, Pearl Harbor, which sparked my interest in learning about WWII and the tragedy that happened on Oahu.
Price
It may come as a pleasant surprise, but visiting the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is free. That’s right! FREE.
Really? What’s the catch?
Well, there is one catch to visiting Pearl Harbor. Although the tickets are free, you must have a timed ticket to enter, and only 1,300 tickets are available each day.
How to Get Your Golden Ticket
- Reserve Online (60 Day Window): You can reserve a limited amount of tickets online within 60 days of your intended visit date. This option is not the best, as the tickets go very quickly. If you can reserve your ticket online, there is a $1 reservation fee that must be paid by credit card. Tickets can be reserved here.
- Reserve Online (24 Hour Window):**BEST OPTION** This is the option I did and what I was recommended to do by my hosts. At 7 AM, the website will release a limited amount of tickets for select times for the following day. So if you want to visit on a Tuesday, make sure you go online Monday at 7 AM and reserve for Tuesday. You can do so here. When I reserved my ticket, they only had availability for the 11 AM, 1 PM, and 2 PM, 2:30 PM, and 2:45 PM tours. Also, when they say tickets will be released starting at 7 AM, it really means to make sure you are online at 6:59 AM ready to go, as the tickets go fast! I went online exactly at 7 AM, selected the 11 AM tour, but then had to create an account to proceed. Once I created an account the 11 AM tour was sold out, so I selected the 1 PM tour. Once I got to the payment page, the 1 PM tour was sold out, so I ended up with the 2 PM tour. By 7:15 AM the tickets will be gone so act fast! And I was only one person! If you are reserving for more people, then make sure you are quick! *Tip: seeing as creating an account caused me to miss my desired tour time, I recommend creating an account beforehand! This option also has a $1.00 reservation fee.
- Walk-In (Same Day): Everyday 1,300 walk-in tickets are available on a first-come-first-serve basis after they open at 7 AM. I was originally going to do this option but was easily persuaded by my hosts to do the 24-hour window. I will explain to you what they explained to me. To get a walk-in ticket, you have to physically go to the Pearl Harbor Memorial and wait in line. The entrance opens at 7 AM, but most people line up outside much earlier, as it is a first-come-first-serve basis. Also, since the tickets are timed, you could get a ticket at 7 AM, but then have to wait till 3 PM for your tour. So then you either have to stay there all day and wait or make a second trip. As someone relying on public transportation and is on a budget, this was not something I was willing to risk. Plus I wanted to sleep in! *An important note for this option, every person in your party must be present in the morning to reserve the tickets. So if you are visiting with your family and have youngsters with you, you will have to wake them up super early and bring them with you. Not exactly fun. (However: if the child is small enough to sit on your lap during the boat ride, they do not need a ticket!)
How to Get There
Car: If you have access to a car or are renting one, driving yourself is the easiest way. Parking is free, but you have to arrive early to make sure you can find a spot!
Bus: The #20 and #42 buses will drop you off near the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. I did not take the bus there only back, but the same buses take you back to Waikiki.
Ride-Share: Since I was running errands and behind schedule, I ended up taking an Uber to Pearl Harbor National Memorial. From the Chinatown area of Honolulu, it cost around $20 one way.
Admission Into the Memorial
Once you have secured your gold ticket to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, you can make your way there! It is recommended to arrive early to allow for parking, securing bags, passing through security, and collecting tickets.
Something I did not read carefully enough on the website was the prohibition of bags from the memorial grounds. All backpacks, purses, etc must be checked into the Bowfin building outside of security to the right. The cost is $5 per bag. I stored my backpack and was able to bring in my wallet clutch and water bottle.
Security will be reminding everyone about the no bags policy and will inspect everything you bring through. They also have you pass through metal detectors.
Amenities
Ticket Pick-up: Inside the National Memorial grounds, there is the ticket booth directly in front of you after security. Here is where you will collect your tickets.
Food: To the right of the information desk, near the Bowfin Submarine, is where the food stalls are located. There is also a small snack shop by the exhibits and towards the USS Arizona theater entrance.
Gift Shops: There are two gift shops on the premises. The first one is immediate to your left after security. The second is located by the Bowfin Submarine and food stalls.
Exhibits: There are two large exhibits to the left of the entrance showcasing the lead up, what happened during, and the aftermath of the attacks. These two areas were fascinating and great to walk through and learn about the history. However, there is no AC in these areas, just fans, making my walkthrough uncomfortable and quicker than desired.
USS Arizona Memorial
Visiting the USS Arizona Memorial is truly an honorable experience. Being able to pay my respects to the entombed soldiers and all those that lost their lives in the water on that fateful day was a somber experience. Nowadays, the harbor is just like any body of water, except for the memorials. It is difficult to imagine how it would have looked packed with battleships and naval vessels pre-attack. The harbor seems smaller in person than in the pictures and documentaries. But the highlight of the harbor is, of course, the USS Arizona Memorial.
To visit the memorial, you must arrive at the entrance to the theater 10 minutes before your timed ticket time. I do not recommend getting there too early, because there are tours every 15 minutes and you do not want to be in the wrong group.
When your time comes, you are led into an air-conditioned (yay!) theater to view a 20-minute video. The video does an amazing job of covering the history, background, time leading up to, during, and after the attacks.
Once the video is complete, you are escorted out of the front doors and outside to an awaiting boat. Two US Navy personnel drive you to the memorial and provide you with additional information about the USS Arizona.
For instance:
- Did you know that the USS Arizona had 37 sets of brothers on board? As well as a father and son who served and died on the ship?
- I also learned that the U.S. no longer has any battleships, only aircraft carriers. I guess that makes sense with the evolution of the airplane, but just never knew the battleship phased out.
- Also, there are over 900 servicemen entombed in the USS Arizona …and that number is growing!? Wait, what?! How can that be? Well, not all the servicemen assigned to the USS Arizona were on the ship that day and some 330 men survived the attack. All verified servicemen that were assigned to the USS Arizona on December 7, 1941, can have their cremated remains interred/placed in the ship. Since 1941, 39 veterans of USS Arizona have been interred to the sunken ship. As of now (September 2019), only 3 men are still alive who have the right to be laid to rest there (they are all over 95 years old! That is quite an accomplishment to reach that age!).
- Did you know that 15 of the 18 damaged ships at Pearl Harbor were resurfaced, repaired, and returned to duty?! Only 3 were damaged beyond repair: the USS Arizona, USS Utah, and the USS Oklahoma.
Unfortunately when I visited in July 2019, the actual USS Arizona Memorial was still off-limits and we were not able to disembark off the boat. This is due to repair needed at the unloading dock at the memorial …which has been ongoing since May of 2018. (I just read though that as of September 1, 2019, the USS Arizona Memorial has since reopened.)
We were able to view the spectacular white memorial from the boat and the beloved USS Arizona at rest below it. The memorial straddles the ship perpendicularly and does not touch it. Although the majority of the ship is below water, part of the mast is still visible above the water.
Spotted around the harbor are large markers indicating where the other ships were docked on December 7, 1941. This helps visualize how many ships were located in the harbor and where they were that fateful day.
We then made our way back to the dock and finalized our tour. Typically the tour lasts 75 minutes, but since we were not able to step foot on the actual memorial, my tour lasted only 45 minutes. Now that I know it has reopened, I would love to return!
Other Historic Sites
Besides the USS Arizona Memorial, there are also other historic sites to visit on the grounds. There is the USS Bowfin Submarine (additional cost of $15 and reservation), the Battleship Missouri Memorial (additional $29), and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (additional $25). I did not visit the other historic sites, but if I could, I would have definitely checked out the USS Bowfin Submarine!
For more information about visiting the Pearl Harbor National Memorial, visit the official National Parks Website here.
