Anne-Charlotte PasseraThe experience of visiting Pearl Harbour with kids is one that you shouldn’t pass up.
Before heading to this Word War II site, you might want to talk about what happened there with your kids. This is a way for them to appreciate and understand it better.
There are different ways to go about it. You can read some books that are age appropriate for them, watch some movies or simply talk about it.
Blondie Bear was 8 at the time of the visit. We watched while eating popcorn, the movie Pearl Harbour with Ben Afleck to prepare for our visit. It’s the only one that came to mind.
Pearl Harbour and World War II, is what your kids will learn or have learned about in their history class. What better way for them to learn by visiting an actual site ? This opportunity shouldn’t be passed up. After all, how often will you be visiting Hawaii with your kids?
Personally, I’ve always been a history buff, I get that from my father and I have passed it on to my kids. Being French, knowing our history is part of our culture, it’s who we are.
Last Summer, Blondie Bear, Junior and I visited a World War I site and a concentration camp from World War II in France.
Visiting Pearl Harbour with kids – Access
Visiting Pearl Harbour was at the top of my to-do list on O’ahu and it really should be on yours as well. However, reading the guide books and going on the internet site of Pearl Harbour can be extremely confusing.
So this is what I finally understood once we got there.
There is a lot to visit on the site of Pearl Harbour. Part of it can be done for FREE and in half a day.
If you arrive by car, it is free to park. It’s the easiest way to get to Pearl Harbour. Otherwise, you can try to get there by bus. The bus fare is $2.50.
The Pearl Harbor site il located about 30 minutes away from the Honolulu Airport. If you have a closed off trunk you could stop there after landing or before taking off and leave your luggage in the trunk.
Visiting Pearl Harbour for free
To access the general site, visit the two museums near the visitor center and the Arizona Memorial it’s FREE.
However, to visit the Arizona Memorial you still have to pick up a FREE ticket at the ticket booth. It’s on the first come first serve basis and they only let 1300 people in to visit the Arizona Memorial.
Therefore, you need to arrive early if you want to visit it. We got there at 7:15 am! The ticket that will be issued to you will have a time on it indicating when your tour will be, so you can’t go and visit it as you please.
We got lucky and got the 9:15 am slot, so we didn’t have to wait long to go and visit it. You can, if you want to, reserve a ticket online and pay $1.50 as a handling fee for your FREE ticket. This might be the smart thing to do if you are planning on visiting the site during the High season.
Now, for all the other things on site you have to pay. You can get away with just doing the Arizona and the museums and be done before late morning with pretty much not paying a dime.
Pearl Harbour – the costs
Since we wanted to see it all, we got the Pearl Harbor Passport for 69$/adult and 49$/child which is not a bad deal.
Thus know that if you buy it online, you absolutely have to print it and show it at the ticket booth. You cannot show it on an electronic device. However, you can also buy it on site and skip the hassle of having to print it.
Based on our experience however, if you want to save some time and money, I would recommend visiting the following:
- The FREE part: including the 2 museums at the entrance and the Arizona Memorial;
- Missouri ($25) as a visit; and
- sharing an audioguide for the museums/Arizona Memorial ($7.50).
Practical information about visiting Pearl Harbour with kids
As I said before, parking is FREE. One of the reasons why it’s best to come by car is that you can leave a few things inside the car such as a picnic.
Backpacks, bags, purses aren’t allowed on site. There are lockers but the cost is $5 per bag. You’ll have to make sure to wear clothing that has deep pockets for your wallet, phone, camera and if necessary sunscreen.
You can check the website right HERE to know what exactly is and isn’t allowed on site.
For small children, a baby wrap carrier will be more practical than a stroller as they are not permitted onto the shuttle boats.
The various sites of Pearl Harbour
Since our Arizona Memorial visitwas scheduled for 9:15 am, we started off by grabbing our audio guides included in our Pearl Harbor Passports and checked out the museums.
You get to hear Jamie Lee Curtis’s voice for a good 2 hours along with those of Pearl Harbor survivors. The museums and audio guide are well done and explain how the attacks came about, took place and let’s not forget the aftermath.
There is nothing too graphic inside the museums so there shouldn’t be anything to worry about with your kids except for some loud noises. You might want to bring special sound-blocking ear-muffs for kids in that case, but it’s not really necessary.
We spent 9 hours visiting the Pearl Harbour sites and the time flew by.
Arizona Memorial
Prior on embarking on a boat to visit the Arizona Memorial, you’ll watch a 20 minutes movie about the attacks.
Luckily, we had watched Ben Affleck save the day the night before with Blondie Bear so that he would somewhat understand what we were seeing and where we were (fiction to facts).
The memorial in itself is quite beautiful and serene. Despite the fact that there are a lot of people there, everyone is quite respectful on site and kids are well behaved (a rare thing).
It is sad to know that down below lie more than 900 men who will never have a proper resting place and are forever trapped in the waters. Twenty-three pairs of brothers actually died that fateful 7th day of December of 1941.
No texting nor talking on your phone is allowed at the Arizona Memorial!
We finished off our audio guides after our visit to the memorial and grabbed a snack.
Submarine
Our next visit was the USS Bowfin submarine. It was putin service one year after the attack on Pearl Harbour and has been nicknamed the ‘Pearl Harbour Avenger’. During World War II it sank about 34 enemy ships.
I think the three of us liked it the least. It doesn’t suck, don’t get me wrong but it is small and we have seen bigger ones; however, it was part of our package. An audio guide is handed to you as you hop onto the submarine which was really helpful.
Children under the age of 4 are not allowed inside because of the steep stairs and what not.
Aviation Hangar Museum
To access the Aviation Hangar Museum you can do so via the free shuttle as it is located on Ford Island along with the Missouri.
Apparently you are supposed to visit the Missouri first and then the Aviation Hangar Museum…oops…
We were hungry and didn’t know we could get food at the Missouri (it wasn’t mentioned anywhere).
The Aviation Hangar Museum is a neat place. If you grab an aviation brochure at the ticket booth at the main entrance of Pearl Harbor, you can try a flight simulator for free instead of having to pay 10$ for it.
Blondie Bear tried it and it was hilarious to watch. I don’t think he will become a pilot anytime soon but he enjoyed it!
We had lunch at the Cafe that looked like we were back in the early 40s. It is a better option than the one close to the submarine and much less crowded. Otherwise, for food and to save money, you could go back to your car and eat your packed picnic.
Hangar 69 which is next to Hangar 37 where you arrive still bares the scars from the Japanese attack as you can still see the bullet holes on the hangar’s doors. The aviation museum is great for kids and is still expanding.
The Missouri
The last leg of our tour was the battleship Missouri. This is the boat on which Japan officially surrendered although the ship was actually anchored in Japan for that. There is a medallion that actually marks the spot where the treaty was signed. The Missouri is also perfectly aligned with the Arizona Memorial.
This is absolutely a must-see if you have to choose between the various paying options. You get a free 30 minutes guided tour of the top deck with a great view of the Arizona Memorial. If you pay careful attention, you’ll notice on the side of the boat towards the water a dent. That’s from the plane of a Japanese Kamikaze pilot crashing into the Missouri during an attack off the coast of Japan.
I think we hung out there for almost 2 hours exploring every nooks and cranny. We were actually the last ones to get off. Visiting the interior of the ship took some time as it is well done, left as is, and because we were also respectfully goofing around.
Needless to say we were exhausted by the end of the day and crashed when we got home.
Blondie Bear’s top picks: Aviation Hangar and Missouri
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