Our 11,000 square foot Ocean Friendly Garden (OFG) is located across from the John A. Burns School of Medicine in Kakaʻako. Kamehameha Schools provides access to the space, which is cared for and maintained by our volunteers. OFGs use nature-based solutions to naturally filter stormwater runoff, which is the #1 source of ocean pollution in urban areas.
This garden has transformed from a trash-filled lot into a beautiful, thriving garden and a model for ocean protection and access to nature. We are currently transitioning into a Hawaiian native plant nursery that will provide biodiverse, culturally significant, and climate-resilient endemic and canoe plants to community residents and volunteer-driven restoration projects across the island. We also support local food security by growing trees and plants that produce healthy, organic food for our community, such as ʻulu (breadfruit), maiʻa (bananas), kalo (taro), and more.
2 Our garden is home to two storm drains. Our OFG helps to not only redirect stormwater runoff, but also cleans and filters it before it enters these storm drains that go directly into the ocean.
3 Through strong partnerships and our powerful activist network, the Kakaʻako OFG has grown from the keiki seedlings planted in 2019 to a thriving food forest today.
4 From medicinal plants and helpful herbs to delicious fruits and vegetables, our OFG grows a variety of edible organic produce available for our local community.
5 Our volunteers make this garden project possible and we are grateful for all the hands that a have helped to build out this space!
GARDEN WORKDAYS & WORKSHOPS
Our garden is located at 210 Coral Street in Kakaʻako. Check out our events calendar for future garden workdays and workshops. Please contact our Garden Coordinator at ofg@oahu.surfrider.org with questions on how to get more involved!
Searching for a suitable plot for our Ocean Friendly Garden in an urban area provide to be difficult at first. After community conceptualization and testing the soils at various sites in 2018, we broke ground on our OFG buildout in 2019. Since then, our OFG has evolved into the food forest you can see today in the heart of Urban Honolulu - an inviting green space open to all!
Ocean Friendly Gardens (OFG) revive our under-hydrated watersheds and polluted oceans by applying CPR – Conservation, Permeability, and Retention – to our landscapes and hardscapes:
C – Conserve water and wildlife habitats with native or climate-appropriate plants.
P – Permeable, living soil and hard surfaces that runoff to landscapes to filter pollutants, sponge up water for plants to tap into during dry months, and absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
R – Retain rain as the first source of irrigation.
GARDEN MURAL GETS A REFRESH
Brooklyn-born artist SashaLynnRoberts, who now resides on the North Shore, refreshed the aging garden mural in early 2026 with this colorful landscape of Diamond Head. Inspired by Surfrider’s mission of coastal protection, Sasha designed the piece as a visual gift to the community. A surrealist painter with a focus on portraits and landscapes, Sasha has exhibited her work throughout Hawaiʻi, as well as in galleries, museums and publications from California to New York.
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