How to Visit Pearl Harbor for Free (No Tour Needed)

WWII memorials and museums are some of the most commonly visited sites on the island of Oahu, even for folks that aren’t ‘into history’. And it irritates me to see predatory tour companies take advantage of people and charge outrageous prices when you can absolutely visit Pearl Harbor for free!

I met a lady who told me that she priced tours for her family of 4, and they were between $400 and $1500! We’ve been to Pearl Harbor multiple times since moving to Oahu and never paid more than $5.

There are museums and sites that do charge entry fees that we haven’t been to yet, but if you just want to see the USS Arizona Memorial and the Pearl Harbor Memorials, it can cost you nothing.

Here’s how to visit Pearl Harbor for free.

Transportation

A rental car would be the easiest way to access the memorial. It is a 45-minute drive from Waikiki.

There is parking available for $7 per vehicle. However, it is usually full. We usually end up parking further down the road across the street from Restaurant 604.

The address to use in your GPS to avoid being directed to the military base is:

Pearl Harbor National Memorial
1 Arizona Memorial Place
Honolulu, HI 96818

You can also ride The Bus. From Waikiki, it is a 1-hour and 15-minute bus ride to the memorial. Bus fares cap out at $7.50 per day. To get to Pearl Harbor, you would want:

Route 42

What is Free (or $1)

Once you’re there, entry to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial is free. You can walk the grounds, ‘get in’ the standby line for the USS Arizona, take the Ford Island Bus Tour (reservation required), look through the bookstore, and see the exhibits.

Exhibit Galleries

There are two exhibit galleries at the memorial: “Road to War” and “Attack”.

The Road to War gallery takes you through the events that led up to the attack and gives you background information on what life was like on Oahu at that time. The Attack gallery shows what happened during the attack and its aftermath.

Both galleries feature photos, personal memorabilia, and battle artifacts. There are several interactive displays and videos throughout.

The Bookstore

Obviously, the items inside the bookstore aren’t free. However, you can go inside an look around for free.

They sell books, videos, posters, and momentos related not just to the Pearl Harbor attack, but all of the Pacific War effort. One of the books I’ve read from the bookstore is “All This Hell: U.S. Nurses Imprisoned by the Japanese” written by military nurses that were captured by the Japanese in the Philippines. They spent years in POW camps and this book is their incredible story.

All the Gallant Men: An American Sailor’s Firsthand Account of Pearl HarborAll This Hell: U.S. Nurses Imprisoned by the Japanese

 

Walking the Grounds

While waiting standby for the USS Arizona, we’ve spent a lot of time wandering the grounds at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. There are several memorials scattered throughout, such as the Remembrance Circle, the USS Arizona anchor, and the Waterfront Memorial.

USS Arizona Memorial

A visit to the USS Arizona Memorial includes a safety orientation, a short boat ride, time on the memorial, and a short boat ride back to the Pearl Harbor National Memorial. The boats run daily every 15 minutes from 8:00 am to 3:30 pm with an hour break from 12:00-1:00.

Technically, if you make reservations for the USS Arizona Memorial, it costs $1 per person. (I wrote a whole post about how to get reservations.)

If you don’t have reservations for the USS Arizona Memorial, go straight to the audio booth tour and sign up for standby. You scan the QR code with your phone, provide your name, phone number, and number of people in your party. Then they send you a text when it’s time to line up to get on the boat.

We’ve done standby twice. Once we waited a little over an hour. The second time we waited less than 30 minutes. It wasn’t bad, though, because we walked around and looked at the exhibits. So the time passed pretty quickly.

Ford Island Bus Tour

If you visit Pearl Harbor for free, you can do the Ford Island Bus Tour, a 75-minute round-trip tour on a motor coach. You board the bus at the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center and travel to Ford Island. There you will get off to see different sites, including USS Oklahoma and USS Utah Memorials.

Reservations for the Ford Island Bus Tour are required (there is no standby line) and cost $1 per person. The tours are only available Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays from 3:15 to 4:45.

**Note: If you have a Active Duty Military ID and a car, you can visit Ford Island (an active military base) on your own and don’t need the tour. This is what we’ve done.**

(There are several small memorials near the site of the Arizona on Ford Island.)

What is Not Free

Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum

There is a museum at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial that is not free. The Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum is not part of the National Park service and charges an entry fee. This gives you access to not only the interactive museum galleries, but also to the USS Bowfin submarine. Prices are:

Walk Up Adult General: $25.99
Walk Up Children (4-12 years): $14.99
Adult (Military and Kamaʻāina): $18.99
Child (Military and Kamaʻāina): $9.99

Battleship Missouri

The Battleship Missouri Memorial is located in the harbor. In fact, you can see it from the USS Arizona Memorial. However, you can only access it from Ford Island, which is an active-duty Navy base. So, unless you have an active-duty military ID, you must ride the complimentary shuttle from the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.

General admission allows you to explore the battleship, above and below deck and also includes a 35-minute guided tour. General admission tickets are:

Adult: $39.99
Child (Ages 4-12): $19.99

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum

The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum is also located on Ford Island. So, you will need to park at the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and take the shuttle (unless you have an active-duty military ID).

General Admission tickets give full access to see 50+ aircraft and all of the exhibits in Hangar 37 and Hangar 79, the outdoor exhibits, and the Rooftop Terrace of the Operations Building. They cost:

Adult: $29.99
Child (Ages 4-12): $17.99
Kamaʻaina and Military Adult: $20.99
Kamaʻaina and Military Child (Ages 4-12): $10.99

Package Deal

There is a package deal called Passport to Pearl Harbor that allows you to see all of the sites, free and paid, over the course of two days. Prices are:

Adult: $99.99
Child (Ages 4-12): $49.99
Kamaʻaina and Military Adult: $72.99
Kamaʻaina and Military Child (Ages 4-12): $39.99

I highly recommend a visit to the Pearl Harbor Memorial Visitor’s Center and USS Arizona to anyone visiting Oahu. Even if you’re not that interested in history, it is still a very moving experience.

And if you’re a history buff, especially for the WWII-era, then spring for the package deal and see all of the museums. Or pick and choose the ones that you’re most interested in, but you don’t have to pay for a crazy expensive tour!

As you can see, it is very possible to visit Pearl Harbor for free and be completely satisfied with your experience. All of our friends and family members have loved it!