isikorsky

We are visiting Hawaii in July (staying in Kaui & Maui) and wanted to take the kids to Pearl Harbor. Since we will only be flying in for the day & read that it was crowded in the summer (they run out of tickets)- I thought I should book with a travel agent so we definitely get to see the site.

Is there anybody people recommend?

Thanks!

Mary2e

The tour is free.. travel agents/operators charge to pick you up from your hotel and bring you to Pearl Harbor. They may also have purchased tickets early in the day for their riders.

I think the largest operator is Roberts for the tours. They will sell you the entire package, including air. It may also include other Oahu sites.

cblaisd

Welcome to FlyerTalk and E komo mai to the Hawai`i forum!

I've merged your question into an overall thread about Pearl Harbor so that you can easily have the benefit of any mana`o (wisdom) upstream in the thread.

cblaisd
Co-Moderator, Hawai`i forum

legionnaire

I'll be in KOA between 11/20 and 11/25 (flying out on 25). I wanted to take my kids (8, 11) to the Pearl Harbor memorial. Considering flying KOA-HNL (the 0830 Mesa flight) and flying back HNL-KOA (the 1930 Mesa flight).
1. Should I take an earlier flight to get into HNL earlier?
2. Which day between 11/21, 22, 23, 24 should I consider visiting (crowd factor)?
3. Given that Thursday 11/24 is Thanksgiving - from the NPS site, i see its closed, so that probably rules 24th out.
4. If considering covering the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, the Battleship Missouri Memorial, and the Pacific Aviation Museum, do I need a rental car for the day?

KenfromDE

Hi legionnaire, I see why you picked the 2 flights, cost. Unfortunately, you should arrive at the Arizona Memorial as near the 7 am opening as possible to assure a timely entry. The evening flight looks good. You won't need a car. The 20 bus is a short ride to the memorial. Just be sure it shows Pearlridge and not Waikiki as the destination. There is a shuttle from the memorial to the air museum and Arizona. I would probably pick Monday as the day to go, but others may have a better suggestion. If you had a car you could probably pack in more like the National Memorial Cemetery or Waikiki, etc. Have fun Aloha, Ken ^

legionnaire

KenFromDE,
Thanks for the response. That's what I expected "get there as close to 7 am as possible". The choice of that outbound flight was more dictated by the ability to get the 7 and 10 year old at the airport on time. Let me go back to the drawing board. HA has a flight that gets in to HNL at 0655. That seems the earliest flight in. The alternative of flying in the previous night and staying over doesn't make sense as I'd be paying for my condo in KOA and a hotel room at HNL. Of course the alternative of dropping the HNL excursion is ever present.

KenfromDE

The 0655 flight would be fine. If you are coming from the main land and go to the Memorial the next day, you would still be on mainland time and getting up early should be easy. This could dictate which day you go.

rsoxtim

We land at HNL around 3pm and depart the next day at 3:30pm for KOA. The only thing we want to do is see Pearl Harbor. Is that possible to do early morning and have enough time for our flight?

slippahs

The only hotels near Pearl Harbor are the ones by the airport. It'll be about 10-15 minute drive assuming no accidents along the way. There's a pretty decent thread on this forum comparing the different airport hotels, and I defer to those threads on a suggestion.

You should have more than enough time for an early morning Pearl Harbor tour. You could probably also add in the Mighty Mo too. Interisland hops are fairly simple, and I normally suggest on getting to the airport 60-75* minutes prior to the flight.

jydop

Reposting after no responses on other thread.

We have an overnight stopover at HNL on Sat, arriving at 6:45 PM and leaving at 12:45 PM on sunday to Australia. We are flying American for inbound and Hawaiian for outbound flights. I would like to make most of our short layover at the island. Please help me plan. Below is the itin I have in mind.

6:45 PM Arrive at HNL
7:30 PM Pickup a rental car.
8:00 PM check-in to a hotel nearby ( Preferably booked by priceline)
9:00 PM drive to Waikiki beach for dinner and a walk
11:00 PM return to hotel near airport
7:00 AM Visit Arizona. I've reserved 8:00 AM tickets so should be done by 10:15 AM
10:30 AM - back to hotel at the airport.
11:00 AM - return rental car and check-in or go in
12:45 PM - Board the flight

Is this possible? Should we skip beach or arizona instead?

wharvey

I do not believe you are allowing enough time for your international flight to Australia. There will be traffic back to the airport and you need to allow more time for checking in for an international flight.

I most certainly would check out of the hotel before going to Pearl Harbor at a minimum.

KenfromDE

But, don't leave anything in sight while parked at Pearl Harbor. Thefts are notorious on the North shore but have also been reported at Pearl on this forum. Otherwise you're in paradise.

mile ho

The Arizona Memorial Tour can now be booked on-line. If one knows what time they will be there and want a specific time for a tour or think they might be sold out if one gets there later in the day this is a great option. Booking can be done at:

www.recreation.gov

It costs 1.50 per ticket for the booking fee. Tour is free.

Bearcat06

US Park Service has stepped up their patrols. They hired a private security company to walk/bike the area looking for riff-raff. If they see anything afoot, they call the Navy Cops and let them deal with it.

I still wouldn't take a ton of crap out there but at least its not as bad as it use to be and the Park Service/Navy are working on things...

davesam12

We went to USS Arizona memorial last month. We hadn't been since 97' So, lots of changes. The new complex,with museum, movie theater, ticketing, restrooms, snack shop etc. are very nicely done. If you're nervous about leaving valuables in the car, there is a bag check next to the complex main entrance. Bags, back packs, etc. of any type are not allowed inside USS Arizona complex. (exception is if you need to carry necessary medication in some type of bag/purse they will require an addtional security check) a la TSA. It is a Naval base, so security is tight. We also went over to Ford Island to tour the USS Missouri. Security tight there also. It was during RIMPAC, so they were even fussy about when and where you took pictures.