Pearl Harbor tickets: Passport, Missouri, aviation museum

The short answer

Choose between one ticket that covers four Pearl Harbor sites in a day and two single-site tickets. The Passport to Pearl Harbor bundles the Arizona Memorial audio tour, the Battleship Missouri Memorial, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum and the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum.[1] The Battleship Missouri Memorial Ticket and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Ticket each admit you to one site.[3][2]

One thing none of them names is a reservation for the USS Arizona Memorial programme. The National Park Service runs Pearl Harbor National Memorial, says its museums and grounds are free, and handles the USS Arizona programme through recreation.gov and a standby system.[4] Its visitor information page says reservations are strongly recommended and standby tickets are limited.[5] Plan that separately, whichever product you buy.

Passport to Pearl Harbor: four sites in one day

The Passport to Pearl Harbor has a single option, valid for one day. SkyGate's option lists an audio tour of the Arizona Memorial and Visitor Centre, a guided or self-guided tour of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, and admission to the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum and the Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum.[1] The Arizona Memorial part is a stop with an audio tour, not a paid admission: the NPS says the memorial's grounds and museums are free.[4]

SkyGate's page gives 1 Arizona Memorial Place as the address, the same address the NPS gives for the memorial.[4] The ticket types are adult (13 and over), child (4 to 12) and infant (0 to 3), and the page says children under 4 go free.[1] Families with toddlers should know that the submarine museum says children under 4 are not permitted on the submarine itself. The submarine museum describes itself as adjacent to the visitor center.[8]

This is the product for a first visit that wants the battleship, the aircraft and the submarine on the same day. See the Pearl Harbor National Memorial and Pacific Fleet Submarine Museum pages on XTOUR.

Battleship Missouri Memorial Ticket: the battleship only

The Battleship Missouri Memorial Ticket has one option, "Battleship Missouri Memorial - Admission". It includes motor coach transfers to and from the Missouri Pier and a Mighty Mo guided tour in English, Japanese or Chinese, according to the option. You make your own way to the Pearl Harbor visitor centre and board the shuttle in front of the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum, which crosses the Ford Island Bridge to the pier.[2]

The ticket types are adult (13 and over) and child (4 to 12); the page says children under 4 go free, and the option sells no infant ticket.[2] The USS Missouri Memorial Association, which runs the ship, listed it as open daily from 8:00am to 4:00pm and closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year's Day on the day XTOUR read its site.[6] See the Battleship Missouri Memorial page on XTOUR.

Choose this over the Passport when the battleship is the one site you want with a guide, and the aircraft and submarine museums are not on your list.

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Ticket: aircraft and an audio guide

The Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Ticket has one option, admission with an audio guide in English, Japanese, Spanish, Korean, Cantonese or Mandarin. The option names the hangars, the outdoor exhibits and the Raytheon Pavilion. SkyGate's description names Hangar 37, with artefacts from the attack to the Battle of Midway, and Hangar 79, which carries the story on to the Gulf Wars.[3]

The museum is on Historic Ford Island at 319 Lexington Boulevard, and the museum says the public reaches it by shuttle buses from the visitor center every 15 minutes. It listed its hours as 9am to 5pm HST on the day XTOUR read the site.[7] The ticket types are adult (13 and over), child (4 to 12) and infant (0 to 3), and the page says children under 4 go free.[3]

The Ford Island Control Tower is a separate question. SkyGate's page gives a minimum height of 107 cm for the tower but its option does not name the tower, and the museum's own site presents the tower through a Top of the Tower Tour.[7][3] XTOUR therefore does not say the tower is included. See the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum page on XTOUR.

How to choose

• For the battleship, the aircraft and the submarine on one day, the Passport to Pearl Harbor.
• For the battleship alone, with the pier shuttle and a guided tour, the Battleship Missouri Memorial Ticket.
• For the aviation museum alone, with a multilingual audio guide, the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum Ticket.
• For the USS Arizona Memorial programme, a reservation with the National Park Service through recreation.gov, whichever ticket you choose.[4]

The NPS itself says tickets for the USS Bowfin submarine, the Battleship Missouri and the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum are sold separately, at the visitor center or online.[5] XTOUR's reading is that the Passport bundles those partner sites with the NPS audio tour, and adds nothing that the NPS itself reserves.

Before you book

• Leave bags behind: the NPS says backpacks, purses and camera bags are not permitted in the memorial or visitor center, and storage near the entrance charges a fee.[5]
• Reserve the USS Arizona Memorial programme with the NPS if you want it; none of these options names it.[4]
• Children under 4 are not permitted on the submarine, according to its museum.[8]
• Check each site's hours on the day; the visitor center listed 7 am to 5 pm daily, except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, when XTOUR read the NPS page.[5]