Hotels near Pearl Harbor / WW II Valor in the Pacific National Monument, Kalauao

My son loved this place! He's the usual teen that can't get his head out of his phone for more than 5 seconds without getting withdrawal symptoms, but Pearl Harbour weaved some kind of magic upon him. For both of us the USS Missouri was fabulous. The free tour was an unexpected bonus - it was interesting and delivered really well by the young member of staff. It also taught me some things I didn't know, especially the bit about the dent that's still there on the ship's side from the kamikaze, and the story behind that. We were also really impressed by the museum and the submarine. The whole area, as you might expect, is clean, tidy and respectful, as were all the visitors. The staff were also all friendly and helpful. It was a pleasure to be there. You have to pay for each individual attraction and it can become quite expensive, but given we were nearly 8,000 miles from home it seemed silly not to see as much as possible while we were there. The only thing we missed out on was access to the Arizona memorial. Despite looking out for the newly-released tickets at the correct time, they were all gone like a flash of lightning. A bit of a shame as I'd have liked to have seen it. Apart from that though, it was brilliant.

This one can be confusing. There are two totally separate things here. The USS Arizona is a memorial, you buy a $1 ticket via the government website and you turn up to your allocated booking time. If you miss your time for any reason you can join a stand by line. Not so busy times appear to be easy to get on another boat. But I have heard in peak times, it can be a challenge. Then you have Pearl Harbour with three separate attractions. The submarine on site and then you take a shuttle to a warship and aviation museum. All are worth doing, you can get the best deal with what is called a Pearl Harbour Passport. You can take a public bus, 42 or 20, 'The Bus' and it takes over an hour and costs just $3. You can uber or you can book a tour/taxi. We found the bus to be quite fun, we planned an entire day around this particular item on our itinerary and we napped on the bus on the way home :-)

Ensure you book an inclusive tour which fast tracks your entry to all areas, including Ford Island. We had booked a guided tour which picked us up from our hotel, and also our tour guide was brilliant sharing much history. We had a small coach too, only 8 people. Wear sunscreen as you’re outdoors mostly.

Great museum, we were lucky as there were only 8 people on our bus and there were no crowds, but as Post-Covid travel increases this will change .. I suggest you book well in advance as this is the first time I have been able to go to Pearl Harbour as other time pre-covid I could never get on a tour and was trying to book when I was there

You're not allowed bags & they charge $6 to store a small bag - watch out! If you can, bring only your phone and purse and a water bottle. Also try and book the Pearl Harbor ticket in advance (it's free) otherwise you could end up spending a while in the queues.

The Tour - the Bus Transportation and all the people that worked in and around the Nat'l Monument were just wonderful. Had been to Hawaii many times before (in the Military) but had not yet seen the USS MISSOURI - - That alone is worth the trip, but just allow enough TIME. Definitely cannot see everything in just a couple hours.