Pearl Harbor: USS Arizona & Battleship Missouri with Boat Ride

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.51 (173 reviews) 77% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/10

Duration6h

GroupUp to 24

LanguagesEN

PickupAt your hotel

Where Japan Signed Its Surrender: Pearl Harbor's Two Warships Tell the Whole Story

You're picked up from Waikiki and spend six hours moving through Pearl Harbor's two defining ships: the USS Arizona, resting place of 1,177 sailors, and the USS Missouri, where Japan signed its surrender. You get a briefing, a boat ride to the memorial, admission to both ships, and a stop at Punchbowl Cemetery. Transport and all entry fees are included, so you show up and the logistics are handled.

Step-by-step itinerary

Visit Pearl Harbor and USS Missouri

Learn about USS Arizona Memorial
Watch WWII exhibit galleries
Watch short film on Pearl Harbor
Boat ride to USS Arizona Memorial
Visit battleship USS Missouri
Explore life aboard battleship
Pass by Punchbowl Crater memorial

The Experience

"So we're actually going to stand on the deck where they signed?" That's the question most people ask when they realize the USS Missouri isn't just a museum — it's the exact spot where Japan's surrender documents were signed in 1945. The tour picks you up from Waikiki and takes you straight into the heart of Pearl Harbor, where you'll spend the morning moving between two ships that bookend the entire Pacific War. The USS Arizona sits underwater as a memorial to the 1,177 crewmen who went down with her on December 7, 1941. The Missouri, launched from Brooklyn in 1944, fought through the final year against Japan and then became the stage for surrender itself.

You start at the Pearl Harbor Visitor's Center with an in-person briefing and short film that walks you through what happened that morning and why it mattered. The "Road to War" and "Attack" galleries show recovered items and photographs — the kind of objects that make the date feel less like history and more like something that happened to real people. Then comes the boat ride out to the USS Arizona Memorial, a white structure floating above the wreck. It's quiet there, and deliberate. After that, you move to the Battleship Missouri, where you can actually walk the decks, see the gun turrets, and get a sense of what life aboard a battleship was like — the cramped quarters, the scale of the machinery, the weight of 51 years of service through three wars.

The tour also includes a stop at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, built inside Punchbowl Crater, an extinct volcanic cone in Honolulu that now honors those who served and died. It's a different kind of memorial — open air, with rows of white markers and a view across the city. The whole thing runs six hours from pickup to drop-off, and the travel time is built into that, so you're not sitting in a van for hours. Small bags are allowed (nothing bigger than 1.5" × 2.25" × 5.5"), and if you have mobility concerns, call right after booking to confirm your vehicle can accommodate you — not all of them can handle wheelchairs or scooters. One thing to know: if the US Navy suspends boat operations on the day you go, you still get the full tour of the visitor center, museums, and the Battleship Missouri, and your tickets stay valid for seven days if you want to come back and try the boat ride again.

What’s included

Your day includes round-trip transport from Waikiki, an in-person briefing at the Pearl Harbor Visitor's Center, admission to the USS Battleship Missouri, a boat ride to the USS Arizona Memorial, entry to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific at Punchbowl Crater, and access to the "Road to War" and "Attack" exhibit galleries.
A short film explaining the events of December 7, 1941 is also part of the experience.
Travel time is counted within the six-hour duration.

Good to know

Easy physical levelStroller friendlyInfant seats available

Operated by Pearl Harbor Tour

Is this one for you?Book this if you want to see both the beginning and end of America's Pacific War in one morning without arranging separate transport and tickets — the fixed schedule and included boat ride are what make it possible to move between three memorials in a single tour.