Allerton Garden, Botanical garden in Lawai Valley, Kauai, United States

Allerton Garden, also called Lāwaʻi-kai, is an 80-acre botanical garden on Kauai's south shore, beside Lāwaʻi Bay in a valley cut by Lāwaʻi Stream. It is one of five gardens of the National Tropical Botanical Garden. Its garden rooms hold pools, miniature waterfalls, fountains, and statues, including a Diana statue with a pool and pavilion and a bronze mermaid fountain linked by a 126-foot water path.

The valley was home to Hawaiian Queen Emma before later use transformed it. In 1938 Robert and John Gregg Allerton purchased the land and developed it into the botanical garden seen today.

The garden's name Lāwaʻi-kai refers to the valley where ancient Hawaiians grew taro and kept fish ponds. Queen Emma of Hawaii lived above the valley for a short time; her modest house was later moved to the valley floor and renovated. The Diana Fountain, with a statue of the goddess, a pool and a pavilion, and the Mermaid Fountain, with two small bronze mermaids linked by a 126-foot water path, show the Allertons' taste for classical sculpture.

Guided tours from the visitor center offer the best way to explore the gardens at different times of day. Early morning or late afternoon walks offer the most comfortable temperatures and lighting.

The Moreton Bay fig trees planted in the 1940s appear in Jurassic Park. The garden also served as a set for South Pacific, Donovan's Reef, Pirates of the Caribbean, Starsky and Hutch and Magnum, P.I. The octagonal shingled structure in the photograph sits low among shrubs and palms, with no sign or inscription on it.