Waimea Valley Audubon Center

Across from Waimea Bay Beach Park, this elegant center (a botanical garden by any other name) has more than 5000 species. There are sections of ginger, hibiscus, heliconia, native food plants and medicinal species, including many that are endangered. Waimea sits at the end of the main path through the garden, 0.8 miles from the entrance. The park has centuries-old stone platforms and terraces and replicas of early thatched buildings.

Bus 52 stops on the highway in front on the center, from where it's nearly a half-mile walk inland to the entrance. (From Hale'iwa town, you can catch the bus to the Audubon Center from the bus stop opposite Bank of Hawaii on Kamehameha Hwy.) There is no transportation inside the center.