Oahu Day Trip from Kapalua Maui: WW II Start to End
Maui, United States of America
Fly from Maui to Oahu on a privately chartered small plane for a full-day tour. Start with an aerial tour of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu, followed by a guided land tour on Oahu, visiting Pearl Harbor’s historic sites with an expert guide. Step on board the USS Arizona Memorial, take a guided tour of the Battleship Missouri and USS Oklahoma Memorial, then see downtown Honolulu by coach before flying back to Maui.
In the morning, make your way to Kapalua Airport to meet your private charter plane for your flight to Maui. As you fly over the islands of Maui, Lanai, Molokai and Oahu, enjoy great views of the varied terrain and volcanic peaks on the islands. Your expert pilot describes the sights that you see below you as you take in the four islands.
After this breathtaking vista of Hawaii from the air, your plane lands on Oahu. Your guide meets you at the airport and takes you on a short ride by comfortable, air-conditioned minivan to the Pearl Harbor Visitor Center, the gateway for various historic sites in the Pearl Harbor area. You have the day to spend at Pearl Harbor with your expert local guide who shares informative facts about the history of Pearl Harbor as you visit different highlights. Visit the USS Arizona Memorial, a must-see part of Pearl Harbor. A short boat ride brings you to a long building that spans part of the submerged battleship USS Arizona, which sits under water and is clearly visible below. A 25-minute documentary film about the Pearl Harbor attacks is included in this part of the tour.
Then head to nearby Ford Island, where the USS Missouri and the USS Oklahoma Memorial are located. Take a 30-minute guided tour of the Battleship Missouri, aka ‘Mighty Mo,’ then look around the ship on your own. Afterward, your guide leads you to the USS Oklahoma Memorial, which stands on land near the USS Missouri. The memorial remembers the 429 people who died when the USS Oklahoma sank.
In the late afternoon, leave Pearl Harbor by coach and drive through downtown Honolulu to take in highlights such as the Iolani Palace, Ali'iolani Hale, King Kamehameha the Great’s statue and Kawaiahao Church. Then pass by Ala Moana Beach Park en route to National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, aka Punchbowl National Cemetery.
Your tour includes guava juice and a granola bar for a snack, with a provided sandwich option for lunch; hot dogs and additional food can be purchased at the visitor center. At the end of a fascinating day, return to Honolulu Airport to catch your private plane back to Maui.
It was a great tour. Pearl harbor is amazing and our guide and bus driver Keith was excellent with good information and humor. _br/_ But I must say I was mildy upset that the overview trip information was misleading. Flight and food aren't as advertised. Mokulele isn't a private chartered plane and just does a direct flight from Kapalua to Honolulu. We did get a good view of the Molokai sea cliffs and okay view of Oahu but doesn't offer much of a view of Maui, Lanai and even really Oahu. Also, lunch was just a voucher for a hot dog which was good but having to purchase my own drink does not count as lunch included and no snacks were provided either. Both of which are fine but the information and overview need to be adjusted to say the real experience which is what we got. Not sure who our fellew tourers booked through but one couple was told breakfast was incleded and the 2 other couples on the tour where more mislead. Because there flight got switched to have to fly out of Kahului and after having that extra drive they didn't even get windows on the plane and said they couldn't see anything. And there flight back to Maui was at 4 while ours was at 4:40 so we had to cut our tour short. I went for this tour becuase of the aerial view aspect and that it wasn't quite as long as others. But a straight flight not offering the views and others getting booked on the wrong flight and wrong seats cutting an hour off the tour made it a bit more rushed than it was supposed to be.
Review by: Susan S, February 2016
Setting up date was confusing because our original date was first ok'd then said was filled. We set a second date but kept getting info like we were going on first. On our final agreed upon date our flight was 1/2 hour late and when we finally arrived our tour had left. We felt very rushed, and even the original allotted time at Pearl Harbor would not have been enough. I must say our guide was very good though. Next time I wou.ld do it on my own.
Review by: Kevin H, August 2015
Great trip_br/_ An 8 seater plane took us from Maui to Honolulu. Don't take any luggage just bottled water. Great views of the Hawaiian islands from above._br/_ We were met by the coach which was air-conditioned and comfortable. There were only 4 of us on the tour but it felt very personal, which we all liked._br/_ We had a tour of the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Punchbowl Crater, Honolulu and the surrounding gardens. We stopped at the King Kamehameha Statue in front of Aliiolani Hale in Downtown Honolulu and then drove to Pearl Harbour while listening to facts about Honolulu and the areas we drove through._br/_ There was plenty of time to see all the exhibitions at Pearl Harbour including a boat trip to the USS Arizona memorial which was fascinating and emotional. There was time for a hot dog lunch and a spend up in the gift shop before getting on a coach to the Battleship USS Missouri._br/_ We had a very informative tour of the ship and then time to explore alone._br/_ We then had some time in the Pacific Aviation Museum before heading back to the airport._br/_ Our tour guide was knowledgeable and funny and we did not feel rushed_br/_ I would recommend this tour to anyone_br/_ Thanks for a great trip
Review by: ronb_radar, June 2015
Our guide, Will, was fantastic!! Very knowledgeable about Pearl Harbor and Honolulu. The Arizona Memorial was more touching than we expected. The plane rides to and from Maui Kapalua airport let us see areas otherwise unable to view. It was a great day!
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