Visiting Pearl Harbor is a meaningful highlight for many travelers experiencing Hawaii. Stepping aboard the boat to the USS Arizona Memorial and standing within the memorial’s quiet, white walls is both a privilege and a powerful reminder of the lives lost on that day. The solemn atmosphere leaves a lasting impression, making the experience one that stays with you long after you’ve returned home. It its definitely worth the time and effort to visit.
Where is Pearl Harbor and how far is it from the other islands?
Pearl Harbor is located in Honolulu on the south part of island of Oahu. From the other major islands-Kauai, Maui, and Hawaii’s Big Island–a flight to Oahu typically takes around 30 minutes, which makes a day trip very feasible.
Should you plan a day trip on your own or take a packaged tour?
We’ve taken two different day trips to tour Pearl Harbor from Maui. The first time, we took a organized tour with Polynesian Adventures. The second time, we did all the planning ourselves. We had very memorable days with each of those island hops.
Each method has its pros and cons. While like some of the independence of doing it ourselves, the biggest advantage of the organized tour was that it’s stress free. And, who wants stress on their vacation? Not me!
Why is a packaged tour to Pearl Harbor the better option?
Planning a day trip to Pearl Harbor used to be easier, until the USS Arizona Memorial program reservation system was implemented several years ago. That threw a monkey wrench into the DIY planning process. The reservation system makes it challenging to secure a ticket, especially for a time that fits neatly into a day trip from another island. As such, we no longer recommend independent planning.
The reservation system limits the number of tickets per time slot and around holidays and summer months, there can be far more demand than the ticket supply. Overall, it’s much more complicated to get tickets for the USS Arizona Memorial Program and plan around it for flights and other Oahu exploration as well.
By taking a day trip guided tour to Oahu from other the other islands, the tour company does all the ticketing, time management, navigation, and driving for you. It’s not cheap , but it is truly a time and stress saver.
We’ve created three new pages with more details about planning day trip, island hops to tour Pearl Harbor on Oahu. Here are links to those pages:
- Day trip from Kauai including USS Arizona Memorial
- Day trip from Big Island to Oahu, including USS Arizona Memorial
- Day trip from Maui to Oahu, including USS Arizona Memorial
Have you taken a day trip to Oahu from one of the other islands to see Pearl Harbor? Which method did you use? How was your visit?
Sheila Beal
