USS Arizona Memorial From The Outside

entrance sign for the USS Arizona visitors center

The USS Arizona Memorial is one of Honolulu's most popular attractions, so it helps to get there early to avoid the tour buses! The visitor center is open from 7:30 AM to 5 PM every day except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year, but the last program starts at 3 PM.

Tickets are free, parking is free and the ride out to the memorial itself is free.

The visit begins with a 20 minute long documentary about the attack, and you can explore the small museum which includes exhibits like this anchor recovered from the Arizona.

A boat then takes people across to the memorial, which straddles the hulk of the Arizona.

visitor launch leaving the USS Arizona memorial

It wasn't until 1950, nine years after the attack, that a wooden platform was first erected above the wreck of the Arizona, with a plaque and flagpole. The present structure wasn't built until 1962. The curved roof of the memorial is meant to represent the decline into war down to the lowest point and then the climb back up to victory.

USS Arizona memorial from the USS Missouri

The launch ties up at a pontoon connected to the memorial, and you can go straight in.

people entering the USS Arizona memorial

You can stay as long as you want at the memorial, and take the next launch back.