Lake Ōkataina (also spelled Okataina; or ) is the northernmost and largest of four smaller lakes lying between Lake Rotorua and Lake Tarawera in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The others are Lake Rotokākahi (Green Lake), Lake Tikitapu (Blue Lake), and Lake Ōkareka. All lie within the Ōkataina caldera, along its western edge.
Geography
Unlike many other lakes in the region, Lake Ōkataina is completely encircled by native forest. Over the past 30 years, the level of the lake has risen and fallen in a range of about 5 metres. The mean autumn lake level is . The rest of the lake catchment has rhyolite formations from Ōkataina eruptions.
Culture
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "place of laughter" for Ōkataina. According to traditional accounts the name was given by the rangatira Te Rangitakaroro, who lived at Te Koutu, since he was once paralysed with laughter at a joke while sitting on a rock near the lake. The lake and surrounds were occupied by the Ngāti Tarāwhai iwi.
Te Koutu Pā was located on the north-east shore of Lake Ōkataina. The carved entrance gate, is to be found in the Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Because of war raids before 1886,
The area around the Okataina Lodge is heavily populated by tammar wallabies introduced from Australia in the 19th century. It is known that these have impacted on the seedling layer of the forest, drastically reducing seedling density and diversity, and causing the disappearance of preferred food species. The local red deer prevent seedlings from maturing into saplings and the combined effect has been a profound depletion of the forest under storey.
Its trophic level index was 2.7 in 2014, being the lowest of the Ōkataina Caldera lakes.