The Arizona Memorial tour is solemn and serious, since it is literally a trip to a graveyard.  It is a place of relection, respect and education. If you are looking for an exciting adventure, this tour is not for you.  The tour is operated by the Department of Interior National Park Service. The shuttle boats are operated by the US Navy.  It is free.

Tours run every 15 minutes from the 2-theaters, they seat 150 per program. It can get crowded and depending on when you arrive, you could have a two to three hour wait in the hot sun. You can spend time in the mustem or at one of the other historic sites (Bowfin, Missouri, Aviation Museum) while you wait. Get there as early as possible.  It opens at 0730 and lines start forming about 0630, they operate year round, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years days.

The tour starts with a mandatory 23 minute documentary including actual footage of the Pearl Harbor attack of 1941. Following the movie, which sets the tone for the visit and educates visitors, you take a 5 minute boat ride out to the Memorial, which spans the USS Arizona, a sunken WWII battleship which is the final resting place for 1,177 Sailors and Marines. The memorial sits cross ways directly over the center of the ship.  You can see very little of the ship - the sea has claimed it as a home for marine life under the memorial hall.

On the wall is a listing of all 1200 servicemen who died aboard the USS Arizona and in the shrine room you find another small marble wall that lists the names of USS Arizona Survivors who have since passed and been interred back into the ship with their shipmates.