Well you can leave from Pearl but you won't get there for what I was talking about but there are plenty of other battles and invasion fleets in that region very soon after.
If I'm not mistaken what you want is to find something to shoot at and if possible to find some big action like invasion fleets. The place to do that is near Java and the Philippines. Check out this site, it list all the battles of WWII, when and were.
Pacific War Maps | Nihon Kaigun
Check out the Java Campaign, Java Navel Battles, these happen in Feb 42
Magic