Travel Experience in Hawaii: Pearl Harbor

How to Visit Pearl Harbor on a Guided Tour

We purchased a sightseeing combo tour to Pearl Harbor based on a friend’s recommendation. Without the combo, getting there by trolley bus would have been quite inconvenient — the ride is long, with multiple stops, and costs around USD 25 per trip.

We opted for the Pearl Harbor tour through a travel agency. The trip began at exactly 7:30 a.m., with about nine passengers on board: the five of us, plus two elderly couples from Australia and Canada. The driver doubled as our tour guide, unlike in Vietnam or the Philippines, where you often have a separate guide. His English was a bit challenging to follow, as he was originally from Belgium but had decided to settle in Hawaii.

Our combo ticket included a light breakfast — a 500ml bottle of water and a sweet donut — served en route. The bus departed at 7:30 a.m., and by around 8:15 a.m., we arrived at Pearl Harbor. The site was already bustling with visitors; according to our guide, the place receives between 5,000 and 10,000 visitors daily.

Here are some tips for visiting Pearl Harbor:

No bags allowed inside — not even handbags or backpacks. All luggage must be checked in outside for a fee, and the queue can be quite long.
If you already have your ticket, head to the left to go directly to the documentary theatre. The cinema seats about 400 people, and the atmosphere felt somewhat like watching a performance back in Vietnam. The 20-minute film vividly recounts the attack on Pearl Harbor, where Japanese forces killed over 2,400 American soldiers in a single day without the 24-hour advance notice required under international law at the time — an act considered a grave violation. Several visitors behind me were moved to tears, while my friend was visibly upset by Japan’s tactics.
After the film, we boarded a boat to the USS Arizona Memorial. Three ships, including the Arizona, were raised from the depths, while others remain forever beneath the ocean. Remarkably, even after more than 85 years, oil still seeps to the surface from the sunken Arizona.
Following the memorial visit, the boat takes you to the museum, where a shuttle bus brings you to the historic submarine USS Bowfin. Most guides here are volunteers, many of them retirees. The submarine, designed in 1940, is surprisingly spacious and equipped with modern facilities for its time. The U.S. Navy still occasionally hosts small conferences aboard; during our visit, one such event was underway, so we couldn’t access that section, but the rest of the submarine was open for exploration.

Pearl Harbor Hawaii

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