Koko Crater Botanical Garden

Oʻahu

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According to Hawaiian legend, Koko Crater is the imprint left by the magical flying vagina of Kapo, sent from the Big Island to lure the pig god Kamapuaʻa away from her sister Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes. Inside the crater today is a quiet, county-run botanical garden abloom with flowering aloe plants and wiliwili trees, fragrant plumeria, spiny cacti and other native and exotic dryland species. Connecting loop trails lead through the lonely garden.

To get here, turn mauka (inland) on Kealahou St off the Kalanianaʻole Hwy (Hwy 72), opposite Sandy Beach. After about 0.5 miles, turn left onto Kokonani St. From Waikiki, bus 23 stops every hour or so near the intersection of Kealahou and Kokonani Sts, just over 0.3 miles from the garden entrance.

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