Almost everyone who comes to Motobu comes for the Churaumi Aquarium. Fair enough — it’s remarkable.
But inside the same park there is Churashima Botanical Garden, also known as the Tropical Dream Center, and it deserves more of your time than most people give it.
When our child was in elementary school, they kept asking to go back to the garden rather than the aquarium. I didn’t understand it then. After walking through it myself, I do.
The quiet half of the park
The aquarium gets busy. Depending on the hour, it can get very busy.
The garden doesn’t, or at least not in the same way. I was there on a weekday morning in early June and it was close to empty. No queue behind me, no one waiting for me to move on. I walked at my own pace.
Step into the greenhouse and the air changes. There are more than 2,000 orchids in bloom at any time, along with tropical and subtropical plants, and the whole space smells like it.
Butterflies, everywhere
It isn’t only the plants.
There are butterflies throughout the garden. You don’t go looking for them. You’re walking, and one crosses in front of you, and then you notice there are several more around you.
If you have children with you, this alone will justify the visit.
A ruin under the vines
The part that stayed with me was the stone structure near the back.
Vines have grown over it, and the whole thing looks less like a garden feature than something left behind. It reminded me of a Studio Ghibli film. There are a lot of places here where you’ll stop to take a photo, and that’s part of why the visit took longer than I planned.
Climb the 36-metre observation tower and you can see the garden below and the sea beyond it. From up there you get a sense of how large the park actually is.
How long it takes
About an hour, walking slowly and stopping to look at things.
There’s a cafe inside if you want to sit down, so allow a little more if you plan to stop. It’s an easy visit even when you’re already tired from the aquarium.
The paths are wide and mostly level. Strollers and wheelchairs should have no trouble.
Three things worth knowing first
The garden now closes on Wednesdays. As of 1 July 2026, it is closed every Wednesday. If Wednesday falls on a public holiday, it closes the following weekday instead. It used to be open every day of the year, so older information will send you there on a day it’s shut.
The aquarium ticket discount no longer exists. Several travel sites still say you get half price by showing your Churaumi Aquarium ticket. That ended in 2021. The half-price rate now applies only to holders of the aquarium’s annual passport.
Park at P8. Ocean Expo Park has a number of separate car parks. “P8 — Tropical Dream Center” puts you directly outside the entrance. It’s a long walk from the aquarium car parks, so it’s worth moving the car.
Churashima Botanical Garden (Tropical Dream Center)
424 Ishikawa, Motobu-cho, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa — inside Ocean Expo Park
Opening hours March–September: 8:30–19:00 October–February: 8:30–17:30 Last admission is 30 minutes before closing.
Admission Adults (high school age and above) ¥760 — Junior high school age and under, free
Closed Wednesdays (the following weekday if Wednesday is a public holiday)
Parking P8 “Tropical Dream Center” is the nearest car park
Prices and hours are subject to change. Please check the official website before visiting.
Getting there from our houses
About 10 minutes by car from Uncle’s House, about 20 minutes from Grandma’s House.
It’s in the same park as the aquarium, so the two are easy to combine. What I’d suggest: go to the aquarium early in the morning, then spend the rest of the visit here at a slower pace.
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