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Thread: Pearl Harbor Tour

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    Default Pearl Harbor Tour

    I'm planning to head to Maui at the end of April. I noticed that a flight to Honolulu is under $200 and figured I could make a day of Pearl Harbor. Anyone done this? How is the site set up? Is there a bunch of stuff I can see for free and only pay for specific tours? Should I be looking to buy tickets ahead to entry for something, or a specific tour, or what?

    There are websites that do a trip direct from Maui, but they cost $500 USD for the day. I suspect I can do it a lot cheaper myself.

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    Its free entry to get into the site, and look around and what not. Spending a day there might be overkill, unless you do all the pay tours (I've never done them). There is a free tour that also takes you out to the memorial out in the water, but not to the ship, or submarine or anything.

    Also, when planning your day, they don't allow bags or backpacks into that area, so plan accordingly.

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    We went to Honolulu and did Pearl Harbor. The tickets are free. I woke up early the day before to log on to the website as soon as it opened (I believe its 7:00am), to get tickets for the next day.

    The free tour consists of a ~20 min video seen in a theatre, then a boat ride out to the memorial, and nice boat ride back of course.

    We felt that was more than sufficient to learn more about and see the site.

    Here is the link to the website, you must log on the day before @ 7:00 am to get the tickets
    https://www.recreation.gov/showPage....O&parkId=72369

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    We did the full meal deal and spent the day and did all the tours. If you are into military and ww2 stuff it’s worth the money. The sub is very cool and Arizona is worth it, air hanger is neat as they are actively rebuilding planes there. Depands what your into I guess.

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    I've done it.

    I definitely would not fly to that island just to see PH unless you are obsessed with it or a major WW2 buff. If you are going to Oahu anyway, then sure it makes a good way to kill a few hours.

    There is not a lot to do, mostly just walk around and look at a small museum and watch a short video. You can take a boat out to the memorial (floats over the sunken USS Arizona) which is probably long and boring for the average tourist, but if you have family that fought in the war or something I could see how it would be a much more meaningful experience. There is nothing inside the memorial except for a list of names, which again would probably be very different for people who had a connection to the war compared to the average tourist just checking it out. As you might imagine, some people are respectful, some are very much the opposite.

    There is a very small submarine you can go into nearby, and also the USS Missouri battleship you can tour part of.

    I'm pretty interested in all that stuff, I toured both ships as well and it was nowhere near a full day. I'm glad I saw it once but I wouldn't go back. I definitely would not fly to the island just to see it. YMMV.

    $500 USD would be insane, but it sounds like you already came to the same conclusion. You can fly all the way to Kauai and take a proper helicopter tour of the entire island for less than that which I can almost guarantee will be a far more memorable experience.
    Last edited by Mitsu3000gt; 03-12-2018 at 11:45 AM.

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    As Mitsu said, worth it if you are on Oahu for a day or 1/2 day trip.

    If you are not a military/history buff, not worth it.

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    There's enough to do on or around Maui. Do a snorkel trip to Molokini crater instead.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Manhattan View Post
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    There's enough to do on or around Maui. Do a snorkel trip to Molokini crater instead.
    That’s the worst trip you can do on Maui ... we did that trip. Too many people,not enough fish

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    Quote Originally Posted by Manhattan View Post
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    There's enough to do on or around Maui. Do a snorkel trip to Molokini crater instead.
    Quote Originally Posted by redline View Post
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    That’s the worst trip you can do on Maui ... we did that trip. Too many people,not enough fish
    Yup, the Molokini crater sucks. Do not waste your money on that trip. Tourists have destroyed it with their suncreen and complete disregard for the coral. Complete waste of money these days - they take out overcrowded boats and just dump everyone in. I did a dive there too and the only cool part about it was you could hear the whales.

    If you're looking for a good trip in Maui, take a proper whale tour on a Zodiac in Nov-March first thing in the morning. I tried 4 different boats/operators and I recommend Captain Steve's.
    Last edited by Mitsu3000gt; 03-13-2018 at 09:23 AM.

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    Thanks for the advice guys. Sadly I've been to Maui twice already and have done most of what you've recommended (except for Molokini as I found way better snorkeling spots on my own). I was looking for something different.

    Quote Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt View Post
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    $500 USD would be insane, but it sounds like you already came to the same conclusion. You can fly all the way to Kauai and take a proper helicopter tour of the entire island for less than that which I can almost guarantee will be a far more memorable experience.
    Yep, can't justify $500 USD when I can pay $180 CAD for a return flight pretty much any day and the airport in Honolulu is a 12 minute Uber ride to Pearl. Any advice as to what else I could do on Oahu if I had a full day there? I'd like to leave Kauai for a separate trip.

    Is there any point to going to Lanai via ferry? Looks like a lot of the stuff on that island would require a vehicle.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Feruk View Post
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    Thanks for the advice guys. Sadly I've been to Maui twice already and have done most of what you've recommended (except for Molokini as I found way better snorkeling spots on my own). I was looking for something different.


    Yep, can't justify $500 USD when I can pay $180 CAD for a return flight pretty much any day and the airport in Honolulu is a 12 minute Uber ride to Pearl. Any advice as to what else I could do on Oahu if I had a full day there? I'd like to leave Kauai for a separate trip.

    Is there any point to going to Lanai via ferry? Looks like a lot of the stuff on that island would require a vehicle.
    Oahu has a Zoo, Diamond Head Crater, Hanauma Bay (like Molokini - probably want to avoid), Waikiki beach (avoid that whole area if you can), some hikes, etc. It's the most developed island by far and also my least favorite of all the islands.

    We did this shark excursion on Oahu and it was a pretty cool experience. You drive to the North shore and then I think the tour is only 2hr so it doesn't eat up too much of the day.

    http://hawaiisharkencounters.com/

    Lanai is pretty boring, I probably wouldn't use up a day there unless you really want to add another island to your list. Usually the only way to get around is with a tour company and I think public transportation is nonexistent. There is a port, a public beach, a school, and some small villages. I think there is 1 stop light on the whole island. There is a huge Dole plantation there, and most tours are focused on the history of the little island. The tours take you to shops too for locals to try and sell you stuff. I don't think you can rent a car there, and if you did there is really very little to see or do. We did a paid tour of the island (arrived via catamaran then a van for a ground tour) and other than one Four Seasons resort, I think there is just one other hotel there and a hostel or two.

    I don't know how long that ferry would be either because Lanai is right by Maui (there is a ferry for that) but its probably around 70-100km away from South Shore Oahu which isn't a small distance on a ferry. Last I heard they weren't running a ferry from Oahu - Lanai either, but that may have changed.
    Last edited by Mitsu3000gt; 03-13-2018 at 03:32 PM.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Feruk View Post
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    Any advice as to what else I could do on Oahu if I had a full day there?
    PH was a great experience. I would suggest booking through a tour if you can instead of taking the free route. It was only $40 or so when we did it, they picked us up from the hotel, took us to Leanard's bakery (highly recommended), gave us tips on how to be most efficient while there, then drove us around for more sight seeing afterwards including the old palace and their big memorial graveyard.

    Besides PH, i'd suggest Kualoa Ranch if you want something fun to do.

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    Wow has Molokini really gone downhill that quickly? I was there 3 years ago and had a blast. Visibility was endless. OP how do you know Molokini is not as good as where you've been snorkeling if you haven't tried it? Which snorkeling spots have you found?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Manhattan View Post
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    Wow has Molokini really gone downhill that quickly? I was there 3 years ago and had a blast. Visibility was endless. OP how do you know Molokini is not as good as where you've been snorkeling if you haven't tried it? Which snorkeling spots have you found?
    Molokini has been bad for a lot more than 3 years. Visibility is fine because there is very little runoff or sediment around the crater there but coral and sea life is a fraction of what it used to be. It has been decimated by selfish tourists having complete disregard for the coral and bathing in spray-on sunscreen. I dove it in 2016 and snorkeled it several years before that and it was very average compared to what I have seen elsewhere. If you enjoyed it though that's all that matters. Exact same thing happened to Hanauma bay on Oahu - they even make you take a short class on how not to destroy the coral when you go there, and all everyone does is walk on the coral or destroy it with their flippers the entire time they are out snorkeling. I was there as far back as 2005 and most of the coral looked dead.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt View Post
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    Lanai is pretty boring, I probably wouldn't use up a day there unless you really want to add another island to your list. Usually the only way to get around is with a tour company and I think public transportation is nonexistent. There is a port, a public beach, a school, and some small villages. I think there is 1 stop light on the whole island. There is a huge Dole plantation there, and most tours are focused on the history of the little island. The tours take you to shops too for locals to try and sell you stuff. I don't think you can rent a car there, and if you did there is really very little to see or do. We did a paid tour of the island (arrived via catamaran then a van for a ground tour) and other than one Four Seasons resort, I think there is just one other hotel there and a hostel or two.

    .
    We had a great day on lanai, we were the only tourist boat there that day and 3 people from the resort came down to beach so we had a giant beach to ourselves and we snorkeled the day away. 100x better then that dumb crater. I would go there again to relax. We had great whale watching just from the snorkeling trips we took.

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    Quote Originally Posted by redline View Post
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    We had a great day on lanai, we were the only tourist boat there that day and 3 people from the resort came down to beach so we had a giant beach to ourselves and we snorkeled the day away. 100x better then that dumb crater. I would go there again to relax. We had great whale watching just from the snorkeling trips we took.
    Yup if you just want to hang out it's a fine place to do so. Just not a lot to do there in terms of exploring and activities different from other islands.

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