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Honolulu

USS Bowfin and the Submarine Museum

A Second World War submarine you can walk through, moored beside the Pearl Harbor visitor centre.

USS Bowfin and the Submarine Museum

Why go

Going down the hatch is the point. Nothing else at Pearl Harbor puts you inside the thing itself, and the scale of it is hard to credit until you are bent double in the passage.

The catch

Steep ladders, narrow hatches and no air conditioning inside the hull, so it is a real physical squeeze and there is a minimum age for boarding. It is a separate ticket from the Arizona Memorial.

How long
1.5-2 hours
With children
Yes
Effort
Moderate
Cost
Paid
Parking
Easy

Adding to a Pearl Harbor morning without a second shuttle

Before you go

  • Opening hours: Mo-Su 07:00-17:00; Nov Th[4] off; Dec 25 off; Jan 01 off

Getting there

Driving times on real roads, from the same data the trip planner routes on — not straight-line distance.

From Waikīkī23 min12.1 miles
From HNL airport24 min8.6 miles
From Downtown Honolulu17 min8.8 miles
From Ala Moana19 min10.1 miles

Add traffic. These are free-flowing times, and the H1 through town at eight in the morning is not free-flowing.

More on USS Bowfin and the Submarine Museum: Official site · Wikipedia · OpenStreetMap

Hours, fees and access rules have not been checked against a primary source for this entry yet. Confirm before you build a day around it.

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What else is close

Nearest by road, which is not the same as nearest on a map — and not the same as sharing a region either.

  • Pearl Harbor3 min awayThe memorial site for the 1941 attack that brought the US into WWII.
  • Aloha Stadium Swap Meet6 min awayA large open-air market in the ring road around Aloha Stadium.
  • Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum9 min awayHangars on Ford Island, still carrying bullet damage from the attack, filled with aircraft.
  • USS Arizona Memorial9 min awayA white memorial built over a sunken battleship. Over a thousand sailors are still below.
  • Kea'iwa Heiau12 min awayA healing heiau at the top of Aiea Heights, inside a state recreation area.
  • Bishop Museum13 min awayThe state museum of Hawaiian and Pacific culture and natural history, in a Victorian stone hall.