Kakanui

thumb|Kakanui Presbyterian Church was listed as a Category I heritage building in 2025

thumb|Topographic map of Kakanui

Kakanui is a coastal town in Otago, New Zealand, located approximately south of Oamaru. The Kakanui River divides the settlement in two. Kakanui was home to a small Maori population prior to European settlement. Prior to establishment of the township the area was used as run-hold land. The discovery of breccia up the river led to the creation of a harbour and port and a meat works was established in Kakanui, leading to a prosperous decade with a five-fold growth in the population. Competition with the port at Oamaru and the railway line avoiding Kakanui led to a decline in the port and it was eventually dismantled. Despite the loss of the port the town remained and in the 20th century it became a holiday destination.

Etymology

According to Ngai Tahu the name is a corruption of . and recorded 12 Maori living at Cats Eye Point. was granted and the following year John Bathgate laid out the township.

In 1905 Kakanui had a post office, a Presbyterian church, hotel, school, meatworks, and fellmongery. In the 1920s holiday homes started to crop up and Kakanui continues to be a popular holiday retreat.

Demographics

Kakanui has 24% of its residents working in agriculture and fisheries compared to 43% in neighbouring Maheno, with a large proportion of retirees and holiday homes.

Kakanui had 100 residents in 1870, 11 years later this had grown to 500. It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km². It is part of the larger Maheno statistical area.