Visiting Perl Harbor From Aulani

[maurobecerra]

Does someone has any advice of the best options to visit Pearl Harbor from Aulani

i see options are: pay a tour listed at the Aulani website
take a tour advertised in the Pearl Harbor website

last option is to go on your own ( I will have car) and adventure on your own, including looking for parking.

if someone has any feedback or knows a better option, I will appreciated.

 

[J-Dog]

Does someone has any advice of the best options to visit Pearl Harbor from Aulani

i see options are: pay a tour listed at the Aulani website
take a tour advertised in the Pearl Harbor website

last option is to go on your own ( I will have car) and adventure on your own, including looking for parking.

if someone has any feedback or knows a better option, I will appreciated.

I am in no way an expert and have never been there, but I will say that I have asked that same question in preparation for our upcoming trip. And, on 4 different forums and FB groups, all the replies have been 100% unanimous in recommending that you should go on your own.

 

[3monkeys4me]

It has been several years since we went but we drove ourselves and did the free tickets out to the USS Arizona which we did the advance reservations for (I think it was a couple of dollars to reserve)

 

[jimmytammy]

We have been to PH twice, once from Aulani with a rental car, once from Waikiki with a taxi who picked us up later. My observations are this...from Aulani, not near as much traffic, so it was easy to navigate, especially with a GPS. From Waikiki with a taxi, no issues since he navigated the streets. But driving from Waikiki to PH with lots of traffic, I'm not to keen on. I wouldn't hesitate to drive from Aulani again to PH

 

[newdeal]

There is no doubt you should just go on your own. No tour is needed and likely any tour would just be transportation any way. Parking is easy, the Arizona memorial is a movie and then a boat ride to the memorial which is small and quiet. Then if you want to do the Missouri there are tour guide who do tours for free right as you get on the ship. The bowfin is an audio tour and the pacific aviation museum has tours also that I am not sure if they cost extra but I know for a fact you can just walk around with the tour guide and listen to him because we did that and never paid for a tour there just the cost of admission

 

[monsterkitty]

We've done Pearl Harbor with a guided tour and without. We prefer not using a tour because we can wander around at our own pace, not worrying about missing the bus back to the resort.

If you do the Missouri, I highly suggest you pay for the private tour on the ship as they take you places the free tours do not go.

Do not leave anything in your car at Pearl Harbor. If you do you have a very high chance of it not being there when you get back. You can't take bags or purses into Pearl Harbor but you can rent a locker and your items will be safe.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Go on your own.

Be sure to book your Arizona tickets 56 days in advance of visit (8 weeks). The Missouri Captain's Tour is great but requires mobility and is not great for Pooh size.

 

[MichelleCanada]

How long should we schedule ourselves to be at PH?

 

[EllieBride]

Go on your own.

Be sure to book your Arizona tickets 56 days in advance of visit (8 weeks). The Missouri Captain's Tour is great but requires mobility and is not great for Pooh size.

Agreed. We found it really easy to drive from Aulani (left around 7am, was there by 7:30am). The first parking lot had just filled, but we easily parked in the next lot over.

The free tickets for the Arizona are all you need (book online 8 weeks in advance, $1 service fee). We added the audio guides/headsets after we arrived, but you don't necessarily need them. Plenty of signage to read and videos to watch.

We also really enjoyed touring the USS Missouri. The general admission ticket includes a docent-led tour. We did the Captain's Tour, as well, which is very interesting, but includes a lot of climbing and small spaces. Not sure if we needed both, but we enjoyed it. You must buy the general admission ticket in order to buy the Captain's Tour add-on.

 

[Nagle]

How long should we schedule ourselves to be at PH?

We spent 5 or 6 hours there on our first visit. Unfortunately, the launch to the Arizona could not dock at the memorial at that time or we would have been even longer. We booked way in advance for the other tours and enjoyed it very much. Our package included lunch as well as the Bowfin and Missouri.
We drove in from Aulani and got a parking spot about 40 minutes before opening. There were approximately 100 people in line before us. I enjoyed the self guided, go at your own pace option.

 

[NashvilleMama]

Do not leave anything in your car at Pearl Harbor. If you do you have a very high chance of it not being there when you get back. You can't take bags or purses into Pearl Harbor but you can rent a locker and your items will be safe.

I keep seeing this advice and it's just crazy to me - is this REALLY a constant issue, like odds are good on any given day? We're likely coming straight from the airport, and if we put everything in the trunk at the airport and leave ZERO things in sight when parking at PH (nor go anywhere near the trunk when we get out so as not to indicate there are things in there...) are the break-ins just such a high risk that we really need to make alternate plans? This seems nuts to me that it's such a high frequency thing and nothing is being done about it?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I keep seeing this advice and it's just crazy to me - is this REALLY a constant issue, like odds are good on any given day? We're likely coming straight from the airport, and if we put everything in the trunk at the airport and leave ZERO things in sight when parking at PH (nor go anywhere near the trunk when we get out so as not to indicate there are things in there...) are the break-ins just such a high risk that we really need to make alternate plans? This seems nuts to me that it's such a high frequency thing and nothing is being done about it?

Yes. Frankly, any tourist area on O'ahu or Maui, do NOT leave stuff in your car. High risk. They know people leave luggage in trunks.

 

[lilsonicfan]

I keep seeing this advice and it's just crazy to me - is this REALLY a constant issue, like odds are good on any given day? We're likely coming straight from the airport, and if we put everything in the trunk at the airport and leave ZERO things in sight when parking at PH (nor go anywhere near the trunk when we get out so as not to indicate there are things in there...) are the break-ins just such a high risk that we really need to make alternate plans? This seems nuts to me that it's such a high frequency thing and nothing is being done about it?

The problem is that no one could predict with any certainty what might happen when you are there. We had a minivan and went to PH with some things in the trunk, including small backpacks (nothing valuable inside), in fact, we opened the trunk while parked and placed things inside so ostensibly someone could have seen. Nothing happened to our car, but was that just luck? It's hard to say. We also went to Costco with all of our luggage in the trunk and nothing happened. I was willing to take the risk, figuring that most people at Costco are just locals trying to get their 20lb jar of pickles or whatever. If you are able to avoid the risk entirely, it might be wise.

 

[monsterkitty]

I keep seeing this advice and it's just crazy to me - is this REALLY a constant issue, like odds are good on any given day? We're likely coming straight from the airport, and if we put everything in the trunk at the airport and leave ZERO things in sight when parking at PH (nor go anywhere near the trunk when we get out so as not to indicate there are things in there...) are the break-ins just such a high risk that we really need to make alternate plans? This seems nuts to me that it's such a high frequency thing and nothing is being done about it?

Last time we went to Oahu, March 2021, every touristy place we went had broken window glass laying on the ground. If you can get into the car through a window, you can pop a trunk open in seconds.

My sister and I went to the Big Island last September. Same thing - broken glass in many tourist areas.

Heck, I had a student and his family who stayed at CBR. They went to check in and when they came out, someone had popped open their trunk and stole all their luggage. The mom said they were in the building maybe 15-20 minutes tops because no one was checking in at the time except them a few other guests.

 

[J-Dog]

I keep seeing this advice and it's just crazy to me - is this REALLY a constant issue, like odds are good on any given day? We're likely coming straight from the airport, and if we put everything in the trunk at the airport and leave ZERO things in sight when parking at PH (nor go anywhere near the trunk when we get out so as not to indicate there are things in there...) are the break-ins just such a high risk that we really need to make alternate plans? This seems nuts to me that it's such a high frequency thing and nothing is being done about it?

It's my understanding that it's only like a 30-45 minute drive to PH from Aulani, so it seems to me to be well worth the added 60-90 minutes to drive to Aulani to drop your bags and then drive back to PH.

 

[maurobecerra]

All, thank you so much for the advice, reading the PH and Aulani websites, they have the wrong message that you will not survive on your own in PH. Reading all of you makes clear of what to expect and what to do, again thank you. That’s what I love this dis boards.