Popular Pearl Harbor Tourist Attraction To Resume In March
The USS Arizona Memorial, one of the top tourism sites on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, has been closed since last May but may be reopening soon to visitors.
According to the National Park Service, which runs the historic memorial, it could re-open in March. It closed to do repairs to a ramp from the tender boat to the exhibit, which sits over the sunken WWII battleship that was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec, 7, 1941.
While the memorial is closed, people are being taken on a 30-minute narrated harbor tour of Battleship Row and the area around the USS Arizona Memorial. Tickets are still required. Visitors can get walk-in tickets at the visitor center on a first come, first served basis, or reserve tickets online at www.recreation.gov.
The tour is free, but you need a ticket to board the boat. These are done on a schedule on a first-come, first-serve basis. I recommend doing this in advance because if you just show up (as I have done on a couple of occasions; hey, advance planning is not my strong suit when I’m in Hawaii) you may have to wait a while, and may not even get to the memorial at all if it’s a busy day.
If you’re early or have to wait, there is a nice museum with a film about the Pearl Harbor attack. You just don’t want to be waiting around more than an hour to get on the memorial.
The Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, museums, and bookstore are still open as usual from 7 a.m.,- 5 p.m., seven days a week. The adjacent Battleship Missouri Memorial, the USS Bowfin Submarine Museum and Park, and the Pacific Aviation Museum Pearl Harbor, are also open as usual.
Here is the National Park Service’s USS Arizona Memorial website: www.nps.gov
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