Is it safe to visit Pearl Harbor during Coronavirus Pandemic?
Already in Hawaii and want to explore some of the sights? Is it safe to visit Pearl Harbor during Coronavirus Pandemic? The Coronavirus has certainly spread around the world. A lot of people cancelled their flights to Hawaii. Cruises to Hawaii have also mostly stopped. Thousands of tourists will not visit Hawaii and stay home instead. What if you are already on the island of Oahu or plan on coming? ALOHA, we are happy to have you!
Is it safe to visit Pearl Harbor during Coronavirus Pandemic?
You are in Hawaii and also plan to visit Pearl Harbor? The media and experts tell you to avoid large crowds. So you’re asking yourself “Is it safe to visit Pearl Harbor during Coronavirus Pandemic?”
The following article will help you to figure out if it is safe to visit Pearl Harbor during Coronavirus Pandemic:
1. Pearl Harbor Premises
Pearl Harbor is about 30-45 minutes from Waikiki by Taxi / Uber / Bus. It is more than just a museum. Pearl Harbor is about 10 square miles big. The visitor center and the museums are a small part of it. However, to see all the different museums you probably need about 6-7 hours.
Pearl Harbor Hours
The Pearl Harbor Visitor Center is open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The visitor center is free and no tickets are required to see the museums and grounds, but the visitor center is CLOSED on Thanksgiving Day, December 25, and January 1. For every other day, including all other holidays, we are open from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with no shortened hours.
Recommendation: To avoid large crowds at Pearl Harbor get there very early in the morning. Before 7am or in the afternoon after 2pm.
2. Pearl Harbor Museums & Audio Guide
There are two free museums at Pearl Harbor. The “Road to War” and the “Attack Museum” are free. You do not need tickets to enter. The two museums at Pearl Harbor have an open design with good air circulation. During most of the day you will have enough space to not bump into anybody during your walk through the museum. However, it can get busy during peak hours, ~830am-12pm. Please remember not to bring any bags to Pearl Harbor.
Is the Audio Guide Worth It?
Pearl Harbor offers an Audio Guide in seven different languages. Is the Audio guide worth the money? Check our YouTube Video about the Pearl Harbor Audio Guide to learn more.
Maybe you brought wipes to disinfect the audio guide device? Even though the audio guide devices are being cleaned regularly by the Pearl Harbor staff, most likely the devices change hands and ears multiple times during the day.
There are more museums around Pearl Harbor. If you are interested in visiting a real WWII battleship, this is your chance. The USS Missouri was used in the first and second war in Iraq and the Japanese signed the Instrument of Surrender on the deck of this US battleship. A truly historic vessel and worth a visit.
Recommendation: Try to avoid peak hours in the museum. If you end up at Pearl Harbor during peak hours (~830am-12pm) and you see that the museum is full of people, just wait a couple minutes at the entrance of the museum and enter when it seems less busy.
The audio guide devices are being cleaned regularly by the Pearl Harbor staff, but please be aware that the devices change hands and ears multiple times per day.
Or you can learn something by yourself:
3. Transportation
Getting to Pearl Harbor is easy. You can take a taxi or an Uber for example. One way costs around $40, depending on the traffic. And traffic in Honolulu is unfortunately really bad!
Another way to get to Pearl Harbor are our private or semi-private small group tours with Daniels Hawaii. Our luxury vans are spacious, clean and we only carry small groups of max 14 people. Daniels Hawaii offers special deals during the Coronavirus Pandemic to make private and small group tours affordable for everybody. Go to our website and use the Discount Code “CoronaFree” to get a HUGE discount on our private and semi-private tours on Oahu.
Transportation to the USS Missouri and to the Aviation Museum is free – the museums are not. Tickets to the USS Missouri cost $29.99 for an adult and $13.99 for children. Tickets to the Aviation Museum cost $25 for an adult and $12 for children.
Recommendation: The ride with up to 50 people in a motor coach over to the USS Missouri and the Aviation Museum is probably not one of the highly recommended things to do during the Coronavirus Pandemic. However, this is your only way over to these two museums if you are visiting as a tourist. We talked to the staff on site and they told us that they keep the busses clean at all times.
We hope these information about Pearl Harbor and the facilities will help you to decide if it is safe to visit Pearl Harbor during the Coronavirus Pandemic.
Disclaimer: This article was not written by a doctor or Coronavirus expert. Some of the medical information in this article might not be accurate. The knowledge about the Coronavirus reflected in this article is based on online research and news. Of course we are not liable by any means if you read this article, take part in an activity and (God forbid) catch the virus somehow. We think this is common sense… but then again, during a time of an international pandemic people sometimes lose common sense 🙂 Stay Healthy! Much Aloha, Daniels Hawaii