Waihi Beach is a coastal town at the western end of the

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-larges ...

. It lies 10 kilometres to the east of the town of

Waihi Waihi is a town in Hauraki District in the North Island of New Zealand, especially notable for its history as a gold mine town. The town is at the foot of the Coromandel Peninsula, close to the western end of the Bay of Plenty. The nearby re ...

, at the foot of the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the ...

. The main beach is 10 kilometres long. The town had a permanent population of as of . At the northern end of Waihi Beach, the Orokawa Scenic Reserve offers several short walking tracks along the coast and to Orokawa Bay. While the main beach is backed by the residential area of the township of Waihi Beach, Orokawa Bay is undeveloped and surrounded by native bush including pohutukawa, puriri, and nikau palms. Anzac Bay from Bowentown

At the southern end of the beach is the small settlement of Bowentown and the northern side of the northern

Katikati Katikati is a town in New Zealand (North Island) located on the Uretara Stream near a tidal inlet towards the northern end of Tauranga Harbour, 28 kilometres south of Waihi and 40 kilometres northwest of Tauranga. State Highway 2 passes through ...

entrance to

Tauranga Harbour Tauranga Harbour is the natural tidal harbour that surrounds Tauranga CBD and the Mount Maunganui area of Tauranga, New Zealand, and which flows into the Pacific Ocean at Mount Maunganui. The harbour is effectively two flooded river systems se ...

History and culture

Early history

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

have lived in the region since pre-European times, with numerous

pā The word pā (; often spelled pa in English) can refer to any Māori village or defensive settlement, but often refers to hillforts – fortified settlements with palisades and defensive terraces – and also to fortified villages. Pā sites ...

sites within a few kilometres of Waihi Beach. There is still evidence of the old pā sites at the Bowentown end of Waihi Beach. The name ''Waihi'' ("Rising Water") is said to be named after a stream which flows into the beach, the later town of Waihi taking its name from the name for the beach.

Modern history

The Waihi Beach Hotel was built in 1967 and the Athenree mineral hot springs are located nearby. Nearby

is known for the gold and silver mining operation at

Martha Mine The Martha Mine is a gold mine in the New Zealand town of Waihi. Since July 2015 it has been owned by Australian-based OceanaGold. History William Nicholl marked out a claim, calling it "Martha" after a family member. Several smaller claims wer ...

and several underground mines.

Marae

Otāwhiwhi Marae, located in Bowentown, is a ''

marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

'' (tribal meeting ground) of the

Ngāi Te Rangi Ngāi Te Rangi or Ngāiterangi is a Māori people, Māori iwi, based in Tauranga, New Zealand. Its rohe (tribal area) extends to Mayor Island / Tuhua and Waihi Beach, Bowentown in the north, to the Kaimai Range in the west, south of Te Puke and to ...

tribe and Ngāi Tauwhao sub-tribe; it includes the Tamaoho ''

wharenui A wharenui (; literally "large house") is a communal house of the Māori people of New Zealand, generally situated as the focal point of a ''marae''. Wharenui are usually called meeting houses in New Zealand English, or simply called ''whare'' ( ...

'' (meeting house). In October 2020, the Government committed $500,000 from the

Provincial Growth Fund Shane Geoffrey Jones (born 3 September 1959) is a New Zealand politician. He served as a New Zealand First list MP from 2017 to 2020 and was previously a Labour list MP from 2005 to 2014. Jones was a cabinet minister in the Fifth Labour Gove ...

to upgrade the marae. The upgrade is expected to create 33 jobs.

Demographics

Waihi Beach-Bowentown covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². Waihi Beach-Bowentown had a population of 2,484 at the

2018 New Zealand census Eighteen or 18 may refer to: * 18 (number), the natural number following 17 and preceding 19 * one of the years 18 BC, AD 18, 1918, 2018 Film, television and entertainment * ''18'' (film), a 1993 Taiwanese experimental film based on the short ...

, an increase of 336 people (15.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 426 people (20.7%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,029 households, comprising 1,233 males and 1,251 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.99 males per female. The median age was 54.8 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 336 people (13.5%) aged under 15 years, 303 (12.2%) aged 15 to 29, 1,077 (43.4%) aged 30 to 64, and 765 (30.8%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 89.9% European/

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Z ...

, 14.6%

, 1.0% Pacific peoples, 2.5% Asian, and 1.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. The percentage of people born overseas was 13.9, compared with 27.1% nationally. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 54.1% had no religion, 34.2% were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

, 1.7% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.7% were

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, 0.4% were

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

and 1.6% had other religions. Of those at least 15 years old, 363 (16.9%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 369 (17.2%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $28,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. 378 people (17.6%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 837 (39.0%) people were employed full-time, 363 (16.9%) were part-time, and 57 (2.7%) were unemployed.

Education

Waihi Beach School is a co-educational state primary school for Year to 6 students, with a roll of as of . The school opened in 1924.

References

{{Authority control Western Bay of Plenty District Populated places in the Bay of Plenty Region Beaches of the Bay of Plenty Region Populated places around the Tauranga Harbour