Waiheke Island is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland.
It is the most populated island in the gulf, with permanent residents, and the third most populous island in New Zealand (behind the two main islands). An additional estimated 3,400 people have second homes or holiday homes on the island. It is more densely populated than the North and South Islands. It is the most accessible island in the gulf, with regular passenger and car-ferry services, a helicopter operator based on the island, and other air links.
In November 2015, Lonely Planet rated Waiheke Island the fifth-best region in the world to visit in 2016.
Geography
Overview
thumb|The western part of the island
The island is off the coast of the North Island. It is in length from west to east, varies in width from , and has a surface area of . The coastline is , including of beaches. The port of Matiatia at the western end is from Auckland and the eastern end is from Coromandel.
Approximately 17,000 years ago during the Last Glacial Maximum when sea levels were over 100 metres lower than present day levels, Waiheke Island was landlocked to the North Island, surrounded by a vast coastal plain where the Hauraki Gulf / Tīkapa Moana exists today. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which Waiheke became an island separated from the rest of New Zealand.
Geology
Much of eastern Waiheke island is the remains of a Miocene volcano of the Kiwitahi Group, which erupted approximately 15 million years ago. There are locations of interest to geologists: an argillite outcrop in Ōmiha, and a chert stack at the end of Pohutukawa Point, considered "one of the best exposures of folded chert in Auckland City".
Beaches
There are many scenic beaches, including:
- Oneroa Beach – The main beach, on the northern side of the town of Oneroa. It has free BBQ facilities, public toilets and a swing for children.
- Little Oneroa Beach – A small secluded beach at the east end of Oneroa Beach, separated by a protruding cliff wall. It has free BBQ facilities, public toilets and a children's playground.
- Palm Beach – Similar in shape to Oneroa Beach (complete with protruding cliff wall at the east end that separates a small private beach in Boatshed Bay), it gets its name from the mature phoenix palms at the east end, where a public toilet and free BBQ facilities are also located. There is a children's playground in the middle section of the beach which also has a free BBQ area, public toilets and an outdoor public shower.
- Little Palm Beach – A small clothes-optional beach (by custom) at the west end of Palm Beach. New Zealand has no official nude beaches, as public nudity is legal on any beach where it is "known to occur".
- Blackpool Beach – The south-facing counterpart of Oneroa Beach, lining Blackpool and popular for kayaking and windsurfing.
- Surfdale Beach – A zoned-in beach on the southern side of Surfdale, separated from Blackpool Beach by a small protruding peninsula, which has a scenic unsealed route called The Esplanade linking the beaches. Popular for kitesurfing. Also has a free BBQ area and children's playground.
- Onetangi Beach – A long, north-facing beach lining Onetangi, a Māori name meaning "weeping sands". It was the site of a battle between Ngapuhi from Te Tai Tokerau and Ngati Paoa (Waiheke mana whenua) during which many Ngati Paoa villagers were slaughtered on the beach.
- For many years it has been the site of the Onetangi Beach Horse Races. Its western end, often inaccessible at high tide, is clothes-optional. It has sandcastle-building contests annually; participants have a few hours to build their creations in soft sand that is free of shells and suitable for digging. Free BBQ and public facilities.
- Cactus Bay – Considered by many Waihekeans as the most perfect beach and, with nearby Garden Cove, a romantic place for picnicking. The beach is accessible only by boat or kayak, as its land access was blocked off by a private landowner.
- Shelly Beach – A small and well sheltered shell and stone beach located between Oneroa and Ostend. It has free BBQ facilities, a public toilet and a diving platform located just off shore. It is a popular choice with families as at high tide, it is often calm and flat – ideal for children (but not sandy).
Climate
thumb|Native bush in Onetangi Reserve
Waiheke, like Auckland, experiences a subtropical climate according to the Trewartha climate classification, and an oceanic climate according to the Köppen climate classification. The region lies 13° of latitude south of the Tropic of Capricorn, so tropical plants which are protected for the winter months will flower and fruit in the summer, and cold climate vegetables planted in autumn will mature in early spring. Summers tend to be warm and humid, while winters are relatively mild with frost being a rare event on Waiheke.
Rainfall is typically plentiful, though dry spells may occur during the summer months which can be problematic for many of the island residents, the vast majority of whom rely on rainwater harvesting from residential roofs for drinking and household use. During such dry periods (typically 3–4 months between December and March), the island's water-delivery trucks can be seen replenishing residential water tanks that have run dry.
It is often anecdotally said by locals that Waiheke has a different micro-climate from the Auckland isthmus. Though little data supports this, the following data from a NIWA report suggests Waiheke receives over 100 hours more sunshine a year than other parts of Auckland.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Annual mean temperature !! Annual precipitation !! Annual sunshine hours
|-
| 15.2 °C || 1461mm|| 2100
|}
Natural history
Native birds found on Waiheke include kererū, kokoeā (cuckoos), kōtare, mātātā, pīhoihoi, pīpīwharauroa, pīwakawaka (fantails), pūkeko, tauhou (silvereyes), tūī, and weka. New Zealand's three native birds of prey all occur: the kārearea (NZ falcon), the kahu (swamp harrier), and the ruru. There have been occasional sightings of korimako, but they do not seem to have established a viable population.
Birds living around shorelines, beaches and wetlands include southern black-backed gulls, red-billed gulls, Australasian gannets, white-fronted terns, grey-faced petrels, bar-tailed godwits, spotted shags, pied stilts, variable oystercatchers, New Zealand dotterels, brown teal, banded rails, Paradise ducks, and little penguins In October 2025, the first kiwi chick from these ten hatched on Waiheke and was captured on video. A transmitter linked to a male adult kiwi had shown he had been incubating.
History
thumb|Putiki in the Island of Waiheke, a 19th-century watercolour by Thomas Hutton
thumb|A golden eve, Waiheke Island (1890), painting by [[Alfred Sharpe (New Zealand)|Alfred Sharpe, in the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa]]
The islands of the Hauraki Gulf have been settled since the archaic period of Māori history, and were visited by many of the migratory canoes such as Aotea, Tākitimu, and Mātaatua. Only the largest islands such as Aotea / Great Barrier Island and Waiheke sustained permanent settlements. but at the time the first European visitors arrived it was known as , 'island of trickling waters' Waiheke Island was the site of many battles between Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāpuhi from the Bay of Islands, up until the late 18th century. In the 1790s, sealing and whaling ships underwent repairs primarily on Waiheke Island.
The island was briefly depopulated during the Musket Wars, when Ngāti Pāoa and other Tāmaki Māori sought refuge in areas such as the Waikato. When Ngāti Pāoa returned to Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland), they primarily settled on Waiheke.
When shipping companies began offering occasional trips to the island in the 1880s, Waiheke emerged as a seaside resort. Day trips to Waiheke and Motutapu by steamers became a common recreational excursion, and boarding houses began to flourish at the south-eastern bays of the island.
It took another year for the lights to go on in Onetangi. The community celebrated with a parade of floats and a party on 3 July 1954. Ostend came next, and then Palm Beach, Surfdale, Blackpool and Oneroa. Work was not complete on the more settled end of the island until October 1957. The rugged, less populated eastern end of the island took longer.
In 1999 Waiheke's community board voted Waiheke as a "genetic engineering free zone", but this is a matter of principle rather than fact, as only national government controls exist over genetically engineered foods and grains.
Demographics
Population
thumb|right|Oneroa Beach showing some of the settlements
Waiheke Island SA3 statistical area, which also includes the smaller islands of the Hauraki Gulf, such as Ponui Island, Pakihi Island and Rotoroa Island, none of which have a substantial population, covers . It had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km<sup>2</sup>.
Most people live close to the western end, or near the isthmus between Huruhi Bay and Oneroa Bay, which at its narrowest is only wide. The settlements of Oneroa and Blackpool are the furthest west, followed by Palm Beach, Surfdale, and Ostend. Further east lies Onetangi, on the northern coast of the wide Onetangi Bay.
Waiheke is a popular holiday spot, and during the main summer season, especially around Christmas and Easter, its population increases substantially due to the number of holiday homes being rented out, corporate functions and dance parties at vineyards and restaurants, the Wine Festival and the Jazz Festival and weekend trippers from around the country and the world. The population increases significantly, almost all homes and baches are full and a festive atmosphere exists.
A downside of tourism is that short-term "Airbnb" type-accommodation is said to be causing a shortage of homes available for locals to rent on a long-term basis, leading to a housing crisis. Some have suggested this has been caused by overseas residents returning to their homes as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and other international pressures. The island has the fourth highest homeless population of any local board in the Auckland region, despite having one of the lowest overall populations. While the number of homeless people per capita is high, over a third of the island's houses are unoccupied, because they are consented as short-term visitor accommodation and not long-term housing. There are more than 250 Visitor Accommodation Units (VAUs). This situation has led to growing calls for changes to the local rental regulations to be introduced.