The dream center, part of Ocean Expo Park, is within walking distance of the Oceanic Culture Museum, Native Okinawan Village and the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium, which are all included in the park.

Pamphlets are available to help visitors go on a self-guided tour. The standard tour, which includes 14 exhibits, takes about an hour and the short tour, which includes 10 exhibits, takes about 30 minutes.

Exhibits include a 118-foot tall observatory, stained glass hall with glass panes depicting the oceans surrounding Okinawa, a lotus pond filled with water lilies and surrounded by patios, a fruit tree greenhouse and three orchid greenhouses.

Throughout the tour are information boards and restrooms. There is also a souvenir shop and caf» that overlook a Koi Fish pond.

A bus stop for the inner shuttle of the park is located at the entrance to the Tropical Dream Center to ease travel between attractions.

“We have come three times so far,” said Dr. Alam MA, who is visiting Okinawa from Bangladesh with his wife Lisa. “I love orchids very much, and I can see many kinds here as well as other tropical trees. This place is very well organized and easy to get around.”

Along the tour route are interactive exhibits that allow visitors to handle some fruits, view books about the displayed plants and fill out a tour card with stamps placed along the way.

“This is a great experience for people to interact with nature,” Alam said. “I especially recommend children and young people come since it is an interactive experience for them.”

From March 3 to Sept. 9, the center’s hours are 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. and for the rest of the year the hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

There is an entrance fee for the park. For more information, visit the Ocean Expo Park Management Center Web site at www.oki-park.jp/en/.

To get to the park take local bus number 20 Nago Nishi Line or number 120 Nago Nishi Kukou line. From the last stop, the Nago bus terminal, visitors take the number 70 bus line.