Pearl Harbor question and who for surf lessons?

[Kebby]

We are Canadian, but would love to pay our respects at Pearl Harbor. Which tour is the one not to be missed? Arizona or Missouri?

Also, now that Hawaiian fire is out of business, who is the best best for surf lessons?

 

[Anal Annie]

The USS Arizona is the Pearl Harbor war memorial that is built over top of the sunken ship. That is the tour you're looking for. The USS Missouri which is also anchored there is a tour of the battleship where the surrender documents were signed with the Japanese that ended the war.

We used Uncle Bryan's sunset surrat surf school on the North Shore for our surf lessons. We booked a semi-private lesson that was just our family. Very glad we did that vs booking a group lesson. They had good reviews on Trip Advisor....

 

[lgpav1]

Last time we took a tour to see Pearl Harbor, we used http://www.homeofthebravetours.com/ and it went places that the normal tours do not go. The tours are limited in size (not a great big buss) and the drivers did a great job. If I were doing a tour - I would use them again.

 

[castle1]

The USS Arizona is the not to be missed tour. However, you can book a tour that includes both, which I would highly recommend.

 

[kruegeme]

I would highly recommend the Pearl Harbor / USS Missouri tour offered through Aulani. You can't tour the USS Missouri unless your with a tour group as it's accessed via an active military base. Both tours are awesome in their own right. The Arizona to honor those that sacrificed it all and the Big Mo to see this living history of such a historic battleship. My 5 year old son loved both and still talks about the tour.

 

[Anal Annie]

I would highly recommend the Pearl Harbor / USS Missouri tour offered through Aulani. You can't tour the USS Missouri unless your with a tour group as it's accessed via an active military base. Both tours are awesome in their own right. The Arizona to honor those that sacrificed it all and the Big Mo to see this living history of such a historic battleship. My 5 year old son loved both and still talks about the tour.

We have always booked both the USS Arizona and the USS Missouri tours on our own thru the NPS (National Park Service) gov.rec website. http://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm You do not have to be with a 'tour group" to go thru the Missouri. Since the Arizona itself is free but there is a fee for the Missouri we just book and go on our own. There is no need to pay an independent tour operator to take you to either.

 

[kruegeme]

We have always booked both the USS Arizona and the USS Missouri tours on our own thru the NPS (National Park Service) gov.rec website. http://www.nps.gov/valr/index.htm You do not have to be with a 'tour group" to go thru the Missouri. Since the Arizona itself is free but there is a fee for the Missouri we just book and go on our own. There is no need to pay an independent tour operator to take you to either.

Thanks for the clarification on the USS Missouri tour. It was communicated to use that we could not drive over to the tour area when we checked into it and were advised to use a tour. I thought I read this on their site as well at one time. Glad to know that this is not required as my DS (6) would have preferred to stay here most of the day.

 

[Anal Annie]

Thanks for the clarification on the USS Missouri tour. It was communicated to use that we could not drive over to the tour area when we checked into it and were advised to use a tour. I thought I read this on their site as well at one time. Glad to know that this is not required as my DS (6) would have preferred to stay here most of the day.

Well, it is true that you don't drive yourself over to the ship from the Arizona but it's not a fully guided tour that you have to follow either... You pay for the admission and have a ticket / receipt which you will have to present in order to ride bus over to the ship. We have always followed the maps that are provided of the ship and done a self guided "tour" of the ship itself at our own pace. I believe you can rent audio sets too if you wish - but we prefer to just wing it through. Make sure you each have a bottle of water with you. You can get pretty parched out in the sun on this hot chunk of floating metal!!

 

[kruegeme]

Well, it is true that you don't drive yourself over to the ship from the Arizona but it's not a fully guided tour that you have to follow either... You pay for the admission and have a ticket / receipt which you will have to present in order to ride bus over to the ship. We have always followed the maps that are provided of the ship and done a self guided "tour" of the ship itself at our own pace. I believe you can rent audio sets too if you wish - but we prefer to just wing it through. Make sure you each have a bottle of water with you. You can get pretty parched out in the sun on this hot chunk of floating metal!!

Ah, that makes sense on the bus thing. I think I was researching it from not being able to take the rental car across to Ford Island. We really did enjoy the quick guided tour as it gave a good background on the ship but really wouldn't need to do that again. My son enjoyed walking around and seeing all the different areas more anyway. Agree completely on the bottle of water. Last time we visited was in November so it wasn't as hot as it could be but was still pretty warm out on deck in the sun.