National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Punchbowl): Hours, Rules and What to See

Facts from the VA’s cemetery page (updated Sep 18, 2026), ABMC’s visitor page and TheBus schedule data, checked Oct 14, 2026.

The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific sits in an extinct volcano near the center of Honolulu, roughly midway between the airport and Waikīkī, and the Department of Veterans Affairs runs it (VA). The Army built it, and nearly 10,000 World War II dead were laid to rest here between January 4 and March 25, 1949. The public opening followed that July (NPS). The design fits the circular crater, with flat granite markers set in lawn under trees. The National Register of Historic Places listed it in 1976.

The in-ground capacity of 33,255 gravesites was reached in 1991, though spouses are still buried with loved ones (NPS registration form).

The Honolulu Memorial belongs to the American Battle Monuments Commission, and the NPS calls it the only ABMC memorial inside a national cemetery. A staircase about 346 feet long climbs from the lawns to the Memorial Court terrace (NPS form). Eight courts of the missing flank it, carved with the names of 18,095 Americans missing from the Pacific in World War II (the southwest Pacific is excluded) and more than 8,200 missing from the Korean War. Two half courts at the foot of the stairs hold 2,504 names from Vietnam (ABMC; ABMC brochure).

At the top, a chapel stands between two galleries of mosaic maps that trace the Pacific campaigns and Korea. Two pavilions added in 2012 hold an orientation map and two Vietnam War battle maps (VA). Above the chapel, Columbia, a figure more than 30 feet tall, stands on the prow of a Navy carrier with a laurel branch in her hand. The words beneath her come from Lincoln’s 1864 letter to Lydia Bixby, a widow thought to have lost five sons: “The solemn pride that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom” (NPS form). From the terrace the view runs over the graves to Makiki, Waikīkī and Diamond Head.

The VA lists notable burials by section and site on its cemetery page (VA), says a kiosk at the cemetery is available, and runs a gravesite locator for any grave. Chief Boatswain Edwin Hill cast the USS Nevada loose from her moorings on December 7, 1941, and was killed when a bomb struck the bow.

The Hawaiian name of the crater is Puowaina, which the military generally reads as “Hill of Sacrifice.” Oral tradition places heiau on its outer slopes and human sacrifices on its rim, though the NPS notes that the veracity of that account has been questioned in recent years. In 1816 John Young, an adviser to Kamehameha I, ordered eight heavy guns mounted on the rim to guard Honolulu (NPS form).

The same form describes a Memorial Walk to a terraced lookout on the rim, 461 feet above the sea, with views of Diamond Head, Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. The road to the summit closed to cars in 1986.

The cemetery is open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. (VA). Admission is free and needs no booking (ABMC). The office keeps shorter hours, Monday to Friday, 8 to 4:30, and is closed on federal holidays except Memorial Day, so on Veterans Day the grounds are open and the office is not.

The VA’s directions run H-1 East to exit 21A, the Pali Highway, then School Street, Lusitana Street and Puowaina Drive, which leads 0.7 miles to the cemetery gate. Neither the VA nor ABMC says where visitors park or whether it costs anything, so call 808-532-3720. A notice at the entrance sets a “Drive Thru Program” for Public Utilities Commission carriers, with no discharging or picking up of passengers (photo of the sign, 2012).

ABMC asks visitors to conduct themselves “with the utmost respect and solemnity” (ABMC). Neither agency publishes a dress code. The notice at the entrance, as photographed in 2012, lists these as prohibited (notice):

• No recreation: jogging, bicycling, skateboarding and picnicking, plus loud behavior and smoking.
• No food or drink: the notice bans eating and drinking inside the cemetery.
• No pets: the notice allows only seeing-eye dogs. VA rules now admit service animals but keep them out of open interment areas except to observe an interment (38 CFR 1.218).
• Flowers: fresh cut flowers in metal containers only. Glass, balloons, pinwheels, wind chimes, stuffed toys and permanent plantings are not allowed, and staff clear every flower each Friday (VA).
• Weapons: firearms are prohibited on VA property.
• Photography: photographs of headstones, markers and committal services are allowed if taken respectfully, and staff can halt any that interfere with operations or a family’s privacy. Commercial and entertainment filming needs advance permission and a VA agreement, and a drone needs a licensed operator and FAA clearance (VA guidance). The VA sets no rule for personal drones, so call the office first.
• Funerals: committal services take place here, and the VA posts a daily burial schedule.

By car: the gate is about 4 miles from Waikīkī by our OSRM calculation. By bus: only TheBus Route 123 (Papakolea-Pacific Heights) serves Puowaina Drive, every 30 minutes, daily, from the Alapai Transit Center. The stop is “Puowaina Dr + Opp 2025” outbound and “Puowaina Dr + 2025” toward Alapai. The last outbound trip that reaches Puowaina Drive leaves Alapai at 7:30 p.m., and the last one back passes at 8:10 p.m. (TheBus schedule data, feed from Aug 9, 2026; holiday schedules differ). From the stop it is about 0.3 mile to the gate and about a mile to the memorial terrace, by our calculation. Route 2 from Waikīkī has trips signed for Alapai; fares are in Getting Around Oahu.

Rideshare: a driver takes the same road. We found no official drop-off or pickup point.

Distances are our OSRM calculations, in free-flowing traffic. Pearl Harbor is the pairing city tours use. Start with the tickets guide and the visiting guide, then choose among the Battleship Missouri, the USS Bowfin and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. The December 7 anniversary has its own guide. More ideas are in our things to do on Oahu guide.

The Oʻahu Veterans Council and Oʻahu Veterans Center organize the official Veterans Day ceremony at Punchbowl and have for more than two decades (council). As of October 14, the council, the VA and the state had posted no 2026 time or place, and the council’s events calendar showed nothing upcoming. In 2025 the ceremony was not held at Punchbowl. During the federal shutdown a smaller one took place elsewhere, without the usual bands, gun salute or flyover (KITV; Hawaii News Now). Call the council at (808) 422-4000 to confirm the place. Our Veterans Day on Oahu guide covers the other ceremonies.