The Okinawa Tropical Dream Center is a botanical garden for exotic plants. The center has three huge green houses, and a vast outdoor area. The primary attraction is the large collection of more than 2000 exotic orchids. The outdoor area includes an observation tower where one can see the entire park and the ocean just behind it.
Bus tour incl. Tropical Dream Center Hotels in Okinawa Car Rental Okinawa
Okinawa Tropical Dream Center is located within the Ocean Expo Park, an enormous complex, which contains cultural and recreational facilities, along with Churaumi Aquarium. The Tropical Dream Center requires it’s own entrance ticket, but after purchasing an entrance ticket you will be provided with a discount coupon for the aquarium.
The Tropical Dream Center is a very impressive, exotic botanical garden. The three greenhouses contain a large number of tropical and sub-tropical plants, flowers and trees. While the big attraction is the more than 2000 Orchids which are kept in one of the greenhouses, the entire park in it self is a big attraction too. Both the indoor and outdoor area, which together covers around 6 hectares, is an explosion of color and life. It is a great activity for a rainy day too, since a large portion of the exotic plants are indoors.
Other beautiful plants which can be seen here are the familiar tropical trees of Bougainvillea and Hibiscus, which can even be seen in the wild or in peoples gardens around the island. Some of the more exotic plants which can be seen here include Royal Water Lillies and five African Baobab trees, a tree which is fairly rare in this part of the world. The Tropical Dream Center was in fact the first place in Japan to successfully get a Baobab tree to set seeds, back in 1999.
The center also has a unique collection of Insectivorous Plants – plants which capture and digest insects! This collection of Carnivorous Plants especially attracts the attention of children due to their unusual and mystical behavior and strange appearances. While you shouldn’t touch the plants, you can rest assured the they will only eat insects, so no need to fear them.
Planning your visit
| Hours | 8:30 – 17:00 (oct-feb) 8:30 – 19:00 (mar-sep) Last admission 30 minutes before closing |
| Entrance fee | Adult: ¥760 Elementary school: free Under 6 years: free Reduced rates for large groups |
| Accommodation | Hotel Orion Motobu Resort & Spa ☆☆☆☆☆ Centurion Hotel Okinawa Churaumi ☆☆☆ Yukurina Resort Okinawa ☆☆☆ Chura Umi Coral Cabin ☆ Okinawa Motobu Guest House ☆ (backpackers choice) Find more hotels near Okinawa Tropical Dream Center… |
Getting there
By bus from Naha: from Naha Bus Terminal you can take the bus 117 to the stop “Kinen Koen mae“. This leaves you a 7 minute walk from the entrance of Okinawa Tropical Dream Center. The bus ride takes just over 2 hours, and costs ¥2440 (in 2021).
By bus from Nago: From Nago Bus Terminal catch bus 117, 65, 66 or YKB888 to the stop “Kinen Koen mae“. The bus ride takes between 30 and 40 minutes depending on which bus you get, and costs between ¥670 and ¥900 (in 2021).
🔗 Okinawa Bus website
🔗 Yanbaru Express website
🔗 Okinawa Airport Shuttle website
By car: From Naha, get on highway 58 north and stay on the highway until it ends. Then follow route 71/58/449 north/west along the coast until you arrive the the Tropical Dream Center Parking lot, which will be on your left side. The drive from Naha takes between 1h30 and 2h30 depending on traffic. Note that the highway is a toll road.
From Nago, catch route 449 along the coast, or route 84 across the peninsula.
Suggested Hotels in Naha, Okinawa
| Okinawa Hinode Resort and Hot Spring Hotel |
| ☆☆☆☆ |
| Find Prices |
| Hotel JAL City Naha |
| ☆☆☆☆ |
| Find Prices |
| Hotel Strata Naha |
| ☆☆☆ |
| Find Prices |
