Whitianga

From Whitianga you can enjoy beaches, water sports, scenic flights and boat excursions of Mercury Bay.

Located on the east coast of the Coromandel Peninsula, Mercury Bay’s main town of Whitianga has attracted visitors for more than a thousand years, since the Maori explorer Kupe first settled here around 950 A.D. It was Captain James Cook who gave the area its name when anchored in the bay in 1769 to observe the transit of Mercury. When native forests were being harvested on the peninsula in the 1800s and early 1900s, Whitianga was a timber port. Ships from Europe sailed in to Whitianga's deepwater harbour to load up with valuable kauri.

There’s plenty to do and see in Whitianga. Swimming, diving, bush walking, soaking in a hot pool at low tide, horse riding, fishing, kayaking, golfing.

There are some great museums, shops, cafes, bars and restaurants too and the popular wharves are well worth a visit. Dolphins live in the bay and sometimes frolic around the wharf. A passenger ferry provides a link with the Cooks Beach side of the harbour. You can fill in a day just looking around.