Pearl Harbor, Diamond Head, Hanauma Bay and the North Shore Around a Honolulu Cruise

Read the middle column against your sailing date before anything else — the drive times barely matter by comparison.

Hanauma Bay is shut Monday and Tuesday, and the Polynesian Cultural Center is shut Sunday and most Wednesdays — a two-day stay can miss one of them entirely.

Diamond Head is the stop that turns people away at the gate — non-residents without a reservation don’t get in, however early they come.

No bags inside the memorial or visitor center (backpacks, purses, camera bags); paid storage is nearby.

That one rule decides the timing. On embarkation day, a car full of suitcases means either paying for storage or leaving the bags in a parked car — a risk we can’t price.

USS Arizona Memorial program tickets go on recreation.gov 56 days ahead at 3 PM Hawaii time, with more released the day before; the service charge is $1.

Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum: daily 9 to 5, adults $29.99, kids 4 to 12 $17.99; you park at the visitor center and ride the free Ford Island shuttle, and rideshare can’t drop at the museum.

The memorial is about 8 miles from Pier 2, our estimate — close enough that the car competes with the bus here, not with a tour.

Two of you, a $50 car, parking and two museum tickets: about $130, our arithmetic. The bus and the same tickets come to $72.

Four people narrow it to about $190 by car and $144 by bus. The bus still wins.

TheBus’s route list names a Route 42 that runs Ewa Beach, the Arizona Memorial and Waikiki. We didn’t read its timetable — check the time of the last bus back before you count on it.

Open 6 AM to 6 PM, last entry 4:30; non-residents need a reservation, up to 30 days ahead, at $5 a person and $10 a car; without one you’re turned away.

Open Wednesday to Sunday (closed Monday and Tuesday), entry 6:45 AM to 1:30 PM; non-residents 13 and older pay $25 plus an online fee, and parking is $3 a car.

Reservations open two days ahead at 7 AM Hawaii time, and about a quarter of capacity is held for walk-ins from 6:45 AM.

Put together, the crater and the bay make one loop of about 25 miles from Pier 2 by our estimate. Two of you pay about $137, our arithmetic. That’s a $50 car, fuel, both parking fees and both entries, before Hanauma’s online fee.

Hanauma’s entry window closes at 1:30 PM, so the order is bay first, crater after — the crater takes its last entry at 4:30.

We didn’t price a bus or tour for either one — that isn’t proof there’s none, only that we can’t put a number next to it.

Kualoa Ranch is open daily 7:30 to 6; its 1.5-hour tours start at $59.95, and it runs a Waikiki hotel pick-up for $30 a person round trip, plus tax.

The Polynesian Cultural Center opens noon to 9, closed Sundays and most Wednesdays; admission from $94.95, the lu‘au package $138.95; parking is free and it allows 60 to 75 minutes from Waikiki.

Haleiwa, the North Shore’s town, is about 31 miles from Pier 2 by our estimate. We found no official parking rule or fee page for Haleiwa town or Aliʻi Beach Park, so we can’t tell you what parking there costs.

The loop is where a car earns its place — Kualoa’s van covers Kualoa, not the coast beyond it.

At two people, a $50 car plus two Kualoa tours is about $196, our arithmetic, against $180 on Kualoa’s van before its tax — close enough to call even.

At four, the car runs about $316 and the van $360 — and only the car goes on to Haleiwa.

The center’s allowance of 60 to 75 minutes from Waikiki, plus a noon opening, makes it an afternoon stop, not a morning one. Kualoa first, then the center, then the drive back.

Sailing day is the one with the suitcases — plan the sights for the day before or the day after, and keep the car for whichever of those has the longer drive.

Not sure a car belongs in the plan at all? Four questions sort it out.

Book the Arizona program, Diamond Head and the Kualoa tour as soon as their windows open — then Hanauma two days ahead.

Rent last, and only for the day that leaves town. A Waikiki or Ala Moana desk keeps the airport’s charges off the bill, but several close at noon, so check the return time first.