Visiting Pearl Harbor, the USS Arizona, USS Bowfin, and Ford Island
I am going to be honest. Several people I know have “visited Pearl Harbor” and come back saying there wasn't much to see. Those people did NOT do their research ahead of time.
NOTE: The on site snack options aren’t great, in my opinion. Think sandwiches and chips. There’s also a no-bag policy, so you can’t bring in snacks and drinks with you. I would have a substantial meal before heading in!
The museum and grounds at Pearl Harbor are free. That includes the Pearl Harbor Memorial Theater and the two exhibit galleries. (The Research and Education Center isn’t an exhibit space.)
The USS Arizona Memorial is a significant feature that requires a ticket, purchased through the National Parks Service.
Tickets are released every day at 3pm. Some of them are for 8 weeks in advance, and some are for the next day. IE on Wednesday at 3pm, a supply of “8 weeks from now Thursday” as well as “tomorrow Thursday” tickets is made available.
Tickets are only $1, it is just a way of managing the flow of traffic and enforcing timed entry. The time on your ticket is the time the boat leaves the dock. You must arrive an hour prior to that time.
Feel like taking a chance? Show up and sign up for standby tickets, then explore the exhibits but keep your phone’s alerts on. They’ll text you when it is time to line up.
Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum, which you access within the Pearl Harbor complex, is home to the USS Bowfin - a submarine you can go in! Tickets are under $30 per person. Be sure to grab an audio tour device.
Something that deserves much more hype than it gets is the Ford Island bus tour. Ford Island is not open to the public. This 90 minute bus trip allows you to visit the USS Oklahoma and USS Utah Memorials with extended commentary from the ranger guides. It is only offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The $1 tickets are managed through the National Park Service, with the same schedule as noted above. The bus tour does not include a stop at the aviation museum.
Ford Island is home to Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. Tickets are abut $30 per person. If you have access to military bases (IE a military retiree ID) and a rental car, you can get yourself there easily. If not, you have to take a shuttle bus from Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. The buses leave every 15 minutes from 9am-4pm. Note: if you do not have base access / military ID, you are not allowed to walk around Ford Island. It is an active military facility.
