Everything you need to know about visiting Pearl Harbor

Heading to Oahu? More than likely a trip to Pearl Harbor will be on your itinerary! If you’re like me though, you may find yourself a little confused with all the options available when purchasing your tickets. There are a variety of tours and attractions so it was hard to figure out what our family actually needed to purchase. Read on to see what’s available and how you can take a self-guided tour for free!

Pearl Harbor Attractions

Pearl Harbor has lots of exhibits and attractions you can visit.  Here is a rundown of what’s available as well as any costs associated with them.

USS Arizona Memorial (Free or $1/Person Reservation Fee)

If you just want to see the Memorial and pay your respect to those who served our country, you can do that, for free!

Standby Line: FREE

The USS Arizona Memorial was built over the sunken USS Arizona, which means that the only way to get to it is by a boat ride.  This boat ride is operated by the National Park Service in partnership with the US Navy.

The boat runs daily, every 15 minutes from 8am-12pm and 1pm-3:30pm.  Because each boat has a capacity of 145 people, you will need a ticket to view the memorial.  Each day, tickets are released for people who choose to wait in the Standby Line.  This is a first-come, first served way to visit the USS Arizona Memorial so it’s best to be in line as early as possible (around 7am).  However, there is no guarantee that you will get tickets by waiting in the Standby line, especially during peak times.

Reservations: $1/Person

If you’re set on going to visit the Arizona Memorial, your best bet is to make reservations.  We were able to bypass the standby line and chose our reservation date and time in advance.  Tickets can be reserved online at Recreation.gov.  Tickets are released 8-weeks in advance at 3pm HST.  They release additional tickets at 24-hours in advance too. This option does take a little planning since you’re booking them in advance, but I honestly feel that it’s your best option.

When you do book your tickets, just keep in mind that they are at 3pm HST and NOT your local time. Be sure to set your clocks for the right time! This gives you the best chance of getting both the date and time you’d like to visit.

Reserving tickets online does cost $1/person for the reservation fee, but it’s well worth the cost to not have to worry about whether or not you’ll get tickets!  You’ll need to create an account, but if you’ve ever visited a National Park and had to reserve an entrance time or signed up for one of their lotteries, you’ll use the same account.

Exhibits & Gift Shop (Free)

Several exhibits and the gift shop can also be accessed for free (with the exception of the parking fee).  We watched a short movie and learned about Pearl Harbor through the exhibits available.  These can be accessed either before or after your boat ride over to the USS Arizona Memorial.

Parking (Additional Cost)

Although the USS Arizona Memorial and the exhibits can be accessed for free, there is a $7 fee to park at Pearl Harbor. Just be sure to budget for this cost.

Audio Tour (Additional Cost)

You can purchase an audio tour that is narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis for an additional $7.99/person. There are markers at different locations both at the memorial as well as some of the free exhibits. You simply type the number into the audio phone and hear information about Pearl Harbor and that specific exhibit. 

TIP: We purchased the Go City Oahu Pass for our trip, so the audio tour was included with that pass. Just show the QR code in your Go City App and you’ll get this add-on for free.

Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum (Additional Cost)

You can tour the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum and World War II submarine Bowfin for an additional cost.  General admission for adults (13+) is $21.99 and Children (4-12) are $12.99.  If you’re traveling with children younger than four, please note that they are not permitted on the submarine for safety reasons.

TIP: This museum is also included in the Go City Pass.  Just show the QR code in your app and enter with no additional fee.  We skipped this attraction when we visited Pearl Harbor.

Battleship Missouri Memorial (Additional Cost)

The USS Missouri was the last U.S. battleship ever built and the last active battleship in the world.  To access the USS Missouri, you need to catch the free shuttle bus that takes you over to Ford Island.  Because this is an active Naval Base, you must take the shuttle bus—you can’t drive your car over.

The cost of this attraction is $34.99 for Adults (13+) and $17.49 for children (4-12). 

TIP:   This was another attraction that was included with the Go City Pass. Simply show the QR code, found in your Go City App, and you won’t pay anything additional to enter.

Our family has been on several battleships across the U.S. and always find them interesting to see.  If you have the time—and especially if you have the Go City Pass—take the time to check this attraction out!

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum (Additional Cost)

The Aviation Museum is also on Ford Island so in order to access it, you’ll need to take the free shuttle bus over.  If you plan to do both the aviation museum and the USS Missouri, you’ll get off at the USS Missouri first and then head to the Aviation Museum.  The shuttle does a loop so jumping around out of order will have you on a shuttle bus longer than you need to be.

The Aviation Museum is $25.99 for Adults (13+) and $14.99 for kids (4-12). 

TIP: This attraction is also part of the Go City Pass, so you can get in free by just showing the QR code on the app.

We all enjoy aviation museums, so this attraction was also cool to see.  If we weren’t getting in for free, we would probably skip this. The cost is a little steep for what you get, in my opinion.

Common Questions & Answers

Alright, now that you know what attractions are free and what you have to pay extra for, let’s answer some other common questions.

What is the Go City Pass?

The Go City Pass is an attraction pass that is purchased based on the number of days you plan to use it.  There are attractions all over Oahu that you can get into with this pass.  I highly recommend considering it because it saved us a ton of money.  If you’re planning to do attractions at Pearl Harbor that are extra, you’ll spend close to $100/person.  The Go City 3-day pass cost us around $187/person and let us visit so many extra attractions! 

When you purchase the pass, it’s good for the number of days you purchase.  These days do NOT have to be consecutive either—so you can use it one day, but then take a break and use it a few days later.  Here are some of the places we visited using the Go City Oahu Pass: Kualoa Ranch, Honolulu Snorkel Company – Snorkeling tour, Polynesian Cultural Center, Sea Life Park and Aloha Kai Luau.  You really can get a lot of value out of the pass if you use it! Here is our Hawaii post that gives a little more info on the tours we chose as well as how we planned and budgeted our entire trip to Hawaii.

All of the available attractions as well as your passes and log of where you visited are available right at your fingertips in the Go City App.

Do I need to purchase a tour to visit Pearl Harbor?

No.  If you only want to visit the USS Arizona Memorial, you can do that on your own for free (+ $7parking).  Or you can reserve your spot for $1/person, which is the best option (in my opinion).

There are lots of tour options available that bundle all of those added attractions; however, you can visit these on your own without a tour.

How much time should we plan to spend at Pearl Harbor?

Honestly, this really depends on you and your family.  Our family of 5 spent about 3.5-4 hours.  With 3 boys, who aren’t totally into history, we knew we’d spend a lot less time than some people.  In that time, we visited the USS Arizona Memorial, the free exhibits and gift shop and shuttled over to Ford Island to see the USS Missouri Battleship and the Aviation Museum.  We made our reservations for the 8am boat ride so we could do this first thing in the morning. We pared this attraction with Sea Life Park and the Luau (all included with our Go City Pass).

If you are really into museums and history, then you can easily spend much longer here.  We sort of breezed through some of the attractions because my kids just weren’t into everything.  As a mom, you probably know your family and can decide if you’ll spend ½ day or a full day at Pearl Harbor.

Can I bring a bag into Pearl Harbor?

Purses and bags are not allowed to be carried into Pearl Harbor.  You can, however, take in a clear stadium bag or keep things in your pocket.  I used this bag to carry my phone, wallet, etc.

Ready for your Visit?

Hopefully our guide helps you plan your own trip to Pearl Harbor.  It really is a place to visit while on Oahu.  Just hearing the stories and thinking about that day and all the lives lost, brought tears to my eyes.  I am so thankful for the brave men and women who have fought for and continue to fight for our freedom.

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