Please give me all of your tips about visiting Pearl Harbor

[fairytalelover]

this is our first time and we would appreciate some advice
What time should we get there? What should we do and in what order ? We will have the Go Oahu Card so we will be visiting everything they have there from the submarines, museums, guided tours etc.
How long will it take if we do everything?
Can we do a tour then go to the swap meet at the football arena then go back to Pearl Harbor to pick up where we left off or once we go in we can't go in and out?

 

[frank808]

To go onto the arizona memorial you will meed to get a ticket. You can get some online from the website ofnthe us park service. If it is all booked donot fret as they reserve about half of them for walk in visitors on the day of visitation. If you cannot secure tickets i would recommend getting there no more than an hour after park opening to secure a ticket for the boat ride to the memorial. If you donot get one even the day of visitation there is still the arizona visitor center which has a ton of exhibits to see.
Since you have access to the go card with bowfin admission, uss missouri and avaiation musuem it will be at least an 6 hour stay to do all of these things. Just park at the arizona visitors center and there is a shuttle to take you to the aviation musuem and uss missouri exhibit on ford island.
Also no bags are allowed in the arizona visitors center and the ford island exhibits. There is a bag check but there is a small charge to use it.
Would not recommend you going to the swap meet at the stadium and then coming back to the visitors center. They are close but you will lose about an hour or two having to travel back and forth and then having to look for parking again. Also stadium swap meet is only on Wednesday, Saturday and Sundays. The Wed swap meet is a lot less vendors than on the weekends.

 

[scrappydew]

I have read that you want to get there early in the morning, as occasionally the winds will kick up later in the day, and they will not run the boats to the memorial. We got our tickets reserved on the official website for a small fee.

We did the museums, the memorial, checked out the gift shop; I'm thinking a little over two hours for that. You can pick up snacks and drinks.

At the swap meet, there are also snacks, but we really didn't see any drinks, and no real food. Just to keep in mind. And my kids got bored after a while- it takes forever to walk around.

 

[fairytalelover]

How long will it take to drive from aulani to Pearl Harbor on a weekday?

 

[frank808]

We did the museums, the memorial, checked out the gift shop; I'm thinking a little over two hours for that. You can pick up snacks and drinks.

At the swap meet, there are also snacks, but we really didn't see any drinks, and no real food. Just to keep in mind. And my kids got bored after a while- it takes forever to walk around.

You went to the arizona visitors center, arizona memorial, bowfin museum and submarine, pacific aviation museum and uss missouri battleship in two hours? To do the arizona museum, watch the film and go out to the memorial and back was about 1.5 hours last time i was there.

 

[scrappydew]

You went to the arizona visitors center, arizona memorial, bowfin museum and submarine, pacific aviation museum and uss missouri battleship in two hours? To do the arizona museum, watch the film and go out to the memorial and back was about 1.5 hours last time i was there.

No, we just did the aviation museum and memorial and film. Sorry for the confusion! I would have gladly spent more time, but the family was ready to go.

 

[fairytalelover]

whats the best way to go over to the swap meet. We will have our car parked at Pearl Harbor.

 

[GeneralTso]

#1 piece of advice---GO EARLY!
It gets so crowded the later it gets.
We heard staff there tell folks it takes about 5 hours to do everything.
We didn't do all of it, so we were in and out in 2 hours.

Also, be prepared to have some emotions. It's really moving.

 

[Elima2015]

whats the best way to go over to the swap meet. We will have our car parked at Pearl Harbor.

I would drive. There is no restriction on returning to Pearl Harbor parking - and IIRC, parking was free. I would probably plan to see what you want to see at Pearl Harbor and then head over to the swap meet before heading back to the resort. The drive is about 25 minutes from Aulani with no traffic...but traffic is very bad in the early weekday mornings so just allow for that (maybe allow an hour, I haven't made that drive at that time, so don't know for sure).

 

[SpaceEngTM]

My advice is get tickets in advance for the first boat to the Arizona memorial. The boats were cancelled for all but the first boat on the day we went to Pearl Harbor. It was disappointing, but still an amazing experience. If you have children, the Junior Ranger program is great. This is the first place we've had to buy the booklet and badge ourselves but it was still worth it.

 

[ddebruy]

You can not take any food on the tour, only water. If you buy any snacks while you are waiting, be sure to finish them.
If you are waiting for your scheduled tour time, there is a standby line. . About 8 people joined our group and got to tour before their ticketed time slot.

 

[Ljbadfan]

Key word is go early. My father wanted to go so we went after 11 am and all parking lots were full. We had to drive around to find one. I then got out of the car while wife drove then a car was leaving so I stood in middle of spot till my wife pulled in. She was waiting and some lady passed by I. A truck to try to steal the spot and I told shook my head no and wouldn't let her pull in spot. Kinda pissed offed the lady. There is no reason why she couldn't wait to get spot
like we did and drive around to find one

 

[Kaleea]

Go early and get your ticket for the Arizona. If you have time while waiting do the Bowfin. One thing with the Bowfin is it is a recorded tour and it has different types. I personally prefer the kids tour as it speaks more to the people on the sub than how it was run. I also prefer to drive to the Mississippi. We then take a drive around to the USS Utah and USS Oklahoma memorials. I try to go every time we go to Hawaii.

 

[buffettgirl]

Go early and get your ticket for the Arizona. If you have time while waiting do the Bowfin. One thing with the Bowfin is it is a recorded tour and it has different types. I personally prefer the kids tour as it speaks more to the people on the sub than how it was run. I also prefer to drive to the Mississippi. We then take a drive around to the USS Utah and USS Oklahoma memorials. I try to go every time we go to Hawaii.

I just want to clarify the above: that you need base access to get onto ford island if you're going to drive yourself to the Missouri, and the only access to the Utah / Oklahoma is by driving onto ford island. It's not part of the normal tour. Didn't want anyone to think they could just drive over themselves.

 

[Kaleea]

I just want to clarify the above: that you need base access to get onto ford island if you're going to drive yourself to the Missouri, and the only access to the Utah / Oklahoma is by driving onto ford island. It's not part of the normal tour. Didn't want anyone to think they could just drive over themselves.

Gotcha. I haven't been in a few years and couldn't remember if there was general access to the Utah and Oklahoma or not. Sorry for the mis-info