Experiences · Pearl Harbor
How to Get to Pearl Harbor from Waikiki
Pearl Harbor is 11 miles from Waikiki. Here is every way to get there — bus, rideshare, rental car, and guided tour — with honest timing and cost for each.
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Pearl Harbor is about 11 miles from central Waikiki, which sounds straightforward until you factor in morning traffic on H-1. The drive can take anywhere from 20 minutes on a quiet day to well over an hour during rush hour. Plan for it.
There are four realistic ways to get there: public bus, rental car, rideshare, and guided tour. Each has a different tradeoff between cost, flexibility, and time. Here is what you actually need to know for each one.
Before you go
Pearl Harbor Visitor Center: What to Know
A few things that will save you time and frustration on the day of your visit.
Reserve the memorial ahead. The USS Arizona Memorial program is free, but the visitor center no longer hands out same-day tickets. Book a timed slot on Recreation.gov, which charges a $1 fee per ticket. Tickets release daily at 3 p.m. Hawaii time, 8 weeks ahead, and a second batch releases at 3 p.m. the day before. Programs run every 15 minutes from 8 a.m. to noon and 1 to 3:30 p.m., and the park asks you to arrive an hour before yours. No reservation? Sign up for the free Standby Callback list on the tablets at the visitor center and wait for a text. It is not guaranteed, and on a busy day the wait runs several hours.
Clear bags only. Purses, backpacks, camera bags and diaper bags are not allowed past security. Anything bigger than a small wallet has to be see-through. Paid bag storage is available near the entrance, or leave bags at your hotel.
Free admission. Entry to the Pearl Harbor visitor center and the USS Arizona Memorial program is free, apart from the $1 reservation fee. The Battleship Missouri, the USS Bowfin submarine and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum are run separately and need their own paid tickets. Budget extra time and money if you plan to see more than the memorial.
Book tours in advance. If you want a guided tour, book before you arrive on Oahu. The most popular programs sell out weeks ahead, especially in peak season (June to August, December to January).
Pearl Harbor USS Arizona Memorial & Battleship Missouri
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Ways to Get There
Photo: Pink 91119, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.TheBus (Route 42)
TheBus Route 42, signed Ewa Beach via Arizona Memorial, runs from Waikiki to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center. Get off at Kamehameha Highway and Kalaloa Street (stop 477), the stop the park now points riders to. Route 20 also uses that stop. The ride takes 60 to 90 minutes depending on traffic and time of day. A ride is $3.25 in exact cash, since drivers carry no change, or $3 on a HOLO card, which works as a 2-hour pass and caps at $7.50 a day. The main tradeoff is time. An hour each way adds up when you factor in a full morning at the site. If you are on a tight schedule or visiting in peak summer heat, the extra time in transit is worth considering. That said, for budget travelers or anyone who prefers not to deal with driving or parking, TheBus is a practical and well-run option.
Rental Car
Driving gives you the most control over your schedule. Take H-1 westbound from Waikiki and exit at Exit 15A toward Halawa and Pearl Harbor. Parking at the visitor center costs $7 for the day, paid by app or at the kiosk. Under normal traffic the drive takes about 30 minutes. During morning rush hour, budget 45 to 60 minutes. At $7 for the day, parking adds little if you are already renting for other parts of your trip. If you are planning to explore more of the island by car, the Oahu scenic drive map is a useful starting point for other routes worth adding to your day. If this is your only planned excursion and you do not otherwise need a car, the rental cost alone may not justify it. One practical note: the park asks you to arrive an hour before your memorial program, so for an 8:00 a.m. slot, leave Waikiki by 6:30 a.m.
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Pick up at HNL airport and drive yourself to Pearl Harbor on your own schedule. Parking at the visitor center is $7 a day.
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Photo: Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Uber, Lyft or holoholo
A rideshare from central Waikiki to Pearl Harbor runs between $50 and $70 each way depending on time of day and surge pricing. The ride takes about 30 minutes. No parking to deal with, no driving in unfamiliar traffic, no navigating H-1. You get dropped at the entrance and request a pickup when you are ready to leave. The obvious drawback is cost. A round trip runs $100 to $140, which is competitive with a guided tour once you factor in that tours include transportation, admission to multiple attractions, and a guide. For two or more people splitting the fare, rideshare becomes more viable. Solo travelers will usually find the math tips toward a tour or the bus.
To skip surge pricing, book with holoholo, Hawaii’s locally owned rideshare. The fare is fixed when you book and never surges, and you can schedule both legs ahead of time, including the pickup for the ride back.
Photo: Jskuya, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Guided Tour
A guided tour bundles hotel pickup, transportation, admission to the main attractions, and a knowledgeable guide into a single price. Half-day tours typically run $50 to $100 per person and cover the USS Arizona Memorial and Battleship Missouri. Full-day tours range from $100 to $250 and may include the Aviation Museum, Bowfin Submarine, and additional historical stops. Transportation is by air-conditioned minivan or coach with pickup at most Waikiki hotels. Most departures leave between 7:00 and 8:00am and return by midday. The guide handles all ticketing and queuing on arrival so you are not standing in line during the best part of the morning. We compared all 10 Pearl Harbor tours from Waikiki on price, length, rating and what each one actually includes.
See this tour on ViatorWorth a Stop Around Pearl Harbor
Most visitors treat Pearl Harbor as a single stop and head straight back to Waikiki. The area around it is worth more of your day, and most of it is reachable without a car. The stops below sit within a few miles of the visitor center, and each one says how you get there.
Aloha Stadium Swap Meet
An open-air market that has run at Aloha Stadium since 1979 and now sets up in the Upper Halawa parking lot. It runs Wednesday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Entry is $2 for ages 12 and up, $1 with a Hawaii ID or military ID, and free for children 11 and under. From Waikiki, TheBus Route 20 runs straight to the stadium and Route 42 passes nearby. Skyline rail stops at Halawa Aloha Stadium station, with a walk-in entrance on Salt Lake Boulevard. Drivers pay cash at the gate, and rideshare drops off at Gate 3. Check the stadium’s swap meet page for current hours before you go.
Photo: U.S. Navy, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.USS Bowfin Submarine Museum & Park
A World War II submarine you can walk through, with a museum beside it, next to the visitor center. It is open daily from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4:15. Adult tickets are $25.99 and children 4 to 12 are $14.99. Children under 4 are not permitted aboard, and no reservation is needed. It is the easiest add-on for every way of getting there, because it needs no shuttle. Sit-down food is close too: Restaurant 604 is a waterfront restaurant at Rainbow Bay Marina, beside the visitor center parking lot.
Photo: Robert Linsdell, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Battleship Missouri Memorial
The battleship where Japan signed the surrender in 1945 sits on Ford Island. A free shuttle from the visitor center runs about every 15 minutes. The ship is open daily from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Adult tickets are $44.99 and children are $19.99. No bags are allowed on the shuttle, so leave them at your hotel. Buy tickets ahead through the Pearl Harbor tickets guide.
Photo: runarut, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum
Aircraft and exhibits from the Pacific war, on Ford Island and reached by the same free shuttle. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Adult tickets are $29.99, children 4 to 12 are $17.99 and children 3 and under are free. The last shuttle back leaves the museum at 5 p.m. If you want the Missouri, the Bowfin and this museum in one go, the Passport to Pearl Harbor covers all three for $99.99 for adults and $49.99 for children. It is valid for one to two consecutive days and does not include the USS Arizona Memorial, which you reserve separately.
Shiro’s Saimin Haven
Saimin since 1969, on Kamehameha Highway in Waimalu, with 65 varieties on the menu and plate lunches beside them. Dine-in runs 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and takeout starts at 8. A Route 42 stop is a short walk from the door, which makes it the easiest real meal for bus riders, and it is a straightforward stop for anyone driving or taking a rideshare.
Photo: Musashi1600, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.Pearlridge Center
The practical lunch and errand stop, a two-part mall joined by the Skycab monorail. Leonard’s Malasadamobile sells malasadas here, and Anna Miller’s, the old-school diner known for its pies, is a short walk away on Kaonohi Street. The Kalauao Skyline station sits beside the mall, and buses 32, 40, 42 and 51 connect there.
Plan the day
Pick your stops by how you are getting there
On TheBus. Route 42 passes the memorial, the swap meet, Shiro’s, Pearlridge and Anna Miller’s, and a HOLO card caps at $7.50 a day, so hopping between them stays cheap. Route 20 also runs to the memorial stop and to Aloha Stadium.
By rental car. Parking at the visitor center is $7 for the day. The swap meet and Pearlridge are short drives, and each has its own parking. Swap meet gates take cash. The Oahu scenic drive map has more to add if you keep the car for the day.
By rideshare. Rideshare drops at the visitor center, and at Gate 3 for the swap meet. Book each leg as you go, or schedule both ahead with holoholo at a fixed fare.
On a guided tour. Full-day tours can include the Aviation Museum and the Bowfin, so you may not need to add anything. Compare them in our guide to Pearl Harbor tours from Waikiki.
