Oahu
You can't stay in Honolulu without seeing this magnificent tribute to the fallen military men and women of WWII. After attending a short film that told of December 7, 1941, we were then shuttled by boat to the Arizona. The sunken battleship still has oil that is leaking out of the tanks of the ship which you can actually smell. After this part of the tour, we went by bus to the USS Missouri where the treaty was signed with Japan. This was also very moving. As we headed back to Waikiki, we went by the Punchbowl Cemetery, China Town and got to see the State Building where the statue of King Kamehameha stands in front. This is the first thing that you see in the Hawaii 5 0 show when it starts. This is a great tour, and has all the must sees!
My husband is a history buff so he was able to expand on the information provided by the tour guide and my children learned a lot. Very informative and interesting. I would recommend this to anybody wanted to learn more about American history! Enjoy!
P.S. Make sure to wear good walking shoes.
If you go on this tour, ask for bus 738. Patrick was our driver and guide and he was awesome. He was very knowledgable and showed us a lot of interesting things and explained to us what we were being shown. When it came time for the tour Patrick had a handle on the process and made sure we knew what was expected during the actual memorial tour. Great job Royal Star!
This tour is "Spectacular". It was way beyond expectation. The views from above are really breathtaking, and well worth the cost. You will not be disappointed!! This was my first helicopter tour and I couldn't be happier with it:)
This was very educational and fun. We had a great time and highly suggest getting the audio guide. It is worth it.
A really fantastic morning spent at Pearl Harbour and sightseeing around Honolulu. Our driver was fantastic and very informative.
The Arizona memorial is truly thought provoking and really brings home the horror of war
The whole experience was great. Nice bus. Good guide. The actual park was very patriotic and humbling. Informative. Well done. Our kids enjoyed it.
My wife and I went to Hawaii for our anniversary and as a history buff, I was really looking forward to seeing the Arizona Memorial and this tour seemed like a great opportunity to get the visit in on our limited time in Oahu.
However it was not to be, I was at the stop to board the coach on time. When the coach arrived (The tour was run by Robert's Hawaii), I was informed that the bus would be returning to the hotel between 1 and 1:30 PM; over an hour later than the itinerary on either website lists. Because of this, I could not make the trip which is the biggest disappointment I had on my vacation.
The ugly business out of the way, the staff at Veltra/Hawaii Activities and Roberts were extremely friendly helpful and went out of their way to make it right. I was given a refund despite it being well past the cancellation window and the agent I spoke with was very apologetic about the tour.
If I could rate just the staff, I would give them 5 stars, but the tour information still shows a 12-12:30 return to the hotels, so I would caution anyone that plans to take this tour to verify the return before and/or plan for a later return or risk being disappointed as I was.
It was the wright trip at the wright time. Even so it was sad. It was very important historic memory. Thanks.
This tour did not disappoint! My folks used to live in Mililani Town so I have been to Oahu many times. I didn't really think I could learn more than I already knew but I was wrong. Our driver/guide was phenomenal - I wish I could remember his name - and he was on the mic literally the entire time. He was funny and engaging, and shared island/culture stories and hilarious anecdotes. He answered the same boring questions I'm sure he's been asked a million times as though he was being asked for the first time. He spoke not only about the obvious "touristy" stuff, but shared "local" tidbits as well.
Pearl Harbor and the Arizona Memorial...haunting and beautiful. This was my 8th visit the Memorial and I learn something new each time. A very noticeable change is how quiet the Memorial itself is. During previous visits I was sad to hear the disrespectful chatter and laughter by some tourists. The staff does an excellent job of reminding everyone of respectful behavior and I could definitely hear the difference. The Visitor's Center has changed quite a bit since my last visit and many new exhibits/experiences have been added. I recommend it highly, even if you've been before.
A side note about courtesy and consideration. There is always one family/group who doesn't seem to care if they keep others waiting and we certainly had one on this tour. If you are directed to be back to the bus at a certain time, please plan accordingly. Nothing sours the mood faster than being made to wait more than 25 minutes for people we had seen in the gift shop on our way to the bus.
The journey back to Waikiki was just as lively and informative as the morning trip. I can't express enough what a pleasure our driver/guide was. He made the tour for us!
This is an excellent way to see the island. The pilot was friendly and informative. The crew to include the bus driver were great people and very helpful. I would recommend this tour to anyone.
It was such a beautiful and memorable tour! I highly recommend you take this tour! They will make sure you have tickets for that day.... If you go on your own, you are not guaranteed tickets for the day. I recommend you take this tour... The tour around downtown was also so informative. The bus driver was very knowledgeable and funny!
Our bus driver kept us on track and shared great information about the entire Honolulu area. We returned to the bus early and he pulled out a ukulele and started singing. It was very entertaining! The AZ Memorial was impressive and our driver was great!
Tour operator was of a high standard and very professional.The various areas of the Pearl Harbour area were well organised. Especially the USS Missouri tour and artifacts. The Pearl Harbour audio self tour was well organised too, however insufficient time was allowed to seriously view all stations of the tour. The Arizona Memorial pre film of the events was very real and looked at from all sides. The actual memorial was moving and somber. again a little more time would have been benifical. The tour concluded with a drive through the Punchbowl Cemetry. The only disappointing part of the day was the poor and very limited options for food and drinks. As the tour was a full day it would have been more enjoyable if a larger range of foodstuff was available. Finally the tour could have been more enjoyable with an extra hour at the Pearl Harbour and Aviation Muesum. Well done to our tour operators driver. A memorable day.
Driver polite, punctual. Memorial moving experience. Unfortunate stops are no longer allowed at Punchbowl Cemetery.
Driver Marlon, was most welcoming & told a lot of interesting information about Pearl Harbour & Honolulu in particular. He drove in a safe & professional manner. I am a Community Bus Driver in Sydney (Seniors).
Was very interesting. Learned a lot about the AZ & the MO. Great experience. Was fun to go inside the MO and see how they lived on the ships, equipment used etc. Would highly recommend for all ages! Great tour and staff.
Nice service. Bus was so comfortable. Recommended!
Good time had by all. Was extremely informative and tour guide was entertaining with all his trivia facts. 6am was WAY to early to travel there and I felt rushed during the whole experience.
First class service, excellent friendly driver. Highly recommended
Great time - only drawback was it starts so early in the morning - hard everyone - not just the kids. But it was an amazing day!
The museums and displays at Pearl Harbor were way more than we expected. My teens aren't always enthusiastic about history but they were very engaged with these activities and when we went out to the Arizona Memorial, it was clear they understood the import of this place in American history. Very moving. The Missouri was well worth the time and investment.
Fantastic tour to awesome sites. Great commentary from our guide Robert. Mahalo!
The company was very professional. The pilot was very knowledgeable and personable and provided a great narration. We saw 2/3rds of the island and had some exciting moments flying over cliffs and through valleys. Unfortunately, the hull-mounted video camera quit working just 5 minutes into the 45 minute ride. We were certain we wanted to buy the video of our flight and the accompanying narration so we were disappointed that it wasn't going to be possible. The company provided us with a sales DVD that included many of the same sights we experienced, however, the special nature of the video of our flight was lost.
Our first activity of our week on Oahu, and our favorite. Pricey...yes, but exciting. And, it gave perspective to all the things we did later in the week. Our pilot pointed out, as we flew over, where the President usually vacations, where Gilligan's Island was filmed, where Jurrasic Park was filmed, the Marine base, the closed, dangerous falls, the plantations, the North shore and Sunset Beach, the Polynesian Cultural Center, and flew us on the same approach the Japanese took in 1941 across Hickam and Wheeler Fields and down onto Pearl Harbor. Brodie, our pilot is a former Marine stationed on Oahu. He was friendly and very knowledgeable. Brodie spotted two Grey Whales off the North shore, flew out a bit and did some orbits over them so we could all see them. My wife forgot her light jacket, so a ground employee lent his hoodie to her. Absolutely magnificent!
Mr. Hayek,
Thank you very much for your kind words. We're happy that you enjoyed your Doors Off tour and were able to see whales. I hope you managed to get some good pictures while you flew and plan to return to Hawaii soon. Mahalo and aloha,
P.J. O'Reilley,
Makani Kai Helicopters
We returned from our excursion yesterday and had "Guy" as our tour guide. I must say this gentleman was polite, kind, and KNOWLEDGABLE!!!!! We had a great time and was well organized. I wouldn't worry about paying for the GOLD package. You can go to the Arizona Memorial and rent the headphone set for $7.50. Lunch there is very cheap, $2.50 for soup(which was good), HotDog@$3, Nachos@$4. LOVED IT!!
LOVED THE DO IT YOURSELF TOUR AND THE EMOTION WE EXPERIENCED IS UNDESCRIBALE.
Because we have 5-year old son, we wanted to see everything important on one day and without standing in lines. This trip was perfect for that. We spent enough time in each place and had time for lunch (in Pacific Aviation). Our guide was great, funny and informative. Worth recommending!
My 2nd time to Pearl Harbor. 1st time touring Bowfin!
We chose the trip with the tour because we had nothing else scheduled for the day, and I'm glad we did! After visiting the memorial, we were able to go aboard the USS Missouri and spent a good amount of time there. Afterwards, our super nice guide took us around town showing us all of the main attractions and was able to answer all of our questions! We were picked up and dropped off at the hotel which made this really convenient. I would recommend this to everyone! We were back by early afternoon so still had plenty of time left to do our own thing for the rest of the day. Great experience!