We had such a great time with Angar! He’s funny, friendly, and shared a lot of valuable tips from his experience. We’re really enjoying the lessons. Thank you so much!

The most amazing women’s wellness retreat! I went for the surfing and yoga and came away with so much more. The instructor was kind and caring supporting us all the way through. The accommodation was stunning! The belly laughs and water slide were an added bonus. Can’t wait to do it all again!

My son & I had an EPIC time in Te Arai with Aotearoa surf school for a 2 hour surf lesson - super friendly and experienced instructor, stunning weather, beautiful beach, lots of laughs - and we both managed to ride some waves - can’t wait to get back. Highly recommend!

Brilliant experience! My son learnt a lot & had a blast during the school holidays with a 3 lesson package. The instructors were kind, helpful and well informed. Highly recommend! We have now booked for the after school Term 1 programme too.

Such a beautiful experience! Everyone was so awesome but Paul was an amazing instructor!!! My friends and I were all beginners and had no experience but he helped us get comfortable, learn quick and be safe! We will definitely be back ☺️

Amazing rental experience! The gear was in great condition and the staff was super friendly and helpful! They even supplied soft racks so we could transport the boards! This was the third time we have rented from Aotearoa Surf School and we will definitely be back!

I had a group lesson with Toby and Finn and they were amazing!!! I booked another lesson immediately after. Don’t be hesitant, I highly recommend!! It’s a great way to experience New Zealand!!!

Tony and Bea run an extremely professional charter operation, in my experience one of the best in New Zealand. Tony's wealth of knowledge is matched by his passion to ensure his clients have a great day out. Over the last 3 years I've taken over 60 people fishing on Offshore Adventures and everyone has raved about the experience. Tony works hard all day to find the fish, is fun and engaging with people and also an excellent teacher, always happy to share his knowledge and experience. I couldn't recommend them more highly.

Tony Orton and his wife Bea are both abosolute legends and showed my partner and I and awesome time out on thier boat at the Moks on the east coast of NZ just out from the Mangawhai Heads north of Auckland City. The weather was amazing and the fishing was Epic!! and for my partner it was her first time ever and she caught the biggest Kingfish of the day which was over 1mtr long. It'll go down in the books as one of the best days ever with a living legend who certainly promises an amazing day out at the Moks and BIG!! fish everywhere. Cheers Mate from Rob and Ashley. We had an absolute blast.

Had an amazing day out with Tony and our clients, I could not recommend him more. Incredibly knowledgeable, friendly and we of course caught some amazing fish!

A once in a Lifetime fishing experience. Thanks

Amazing day out with Tony! Fun fun fun ...

Top outfit, run by a top bloke!

Great trip.

Small but interesting museum that gave history on the local area. Lots to read and a cool documentary to watch about the harbour dig, nice different models and props displayed. And kids enjoyed their scavenger hunt sheet. Reasonably priced and definitely worth a visit. Also need to check out the Daring Boat next door. We had an amazing guide tell us the story of this shipwreck.

Great hospitality. Small museum that managed to fit lots of information. Great layout for each section. Would recommend coming by if you’re stopping by the area.

Very enjoyable museum, cafe,The Daring and surrounds visit. Recommend.

The Mangawhai Museum is a new and modern museum that celebrates life around the harbour from building ships to building sandcastles. The stories are told with a wonderful collection of graphics, displays and videos that will keep you interested and engaged. So allow plenty of time! Stories tell of an epic battle of the Maori wars, lost gold bullion still waiting to be found from the second world war, secret gatherings of heavy machinery to defy government regulators and a look at our local natural history around Mangawhai and its harbour including the fight to save the critically endangered Fairy Tern.

My partner & I visited Mangawhai Museum the last time we were in the area, for the first time, and were really impressed! Being a small-ish town, we weren't expecting too much from a museum, but we loved it! Obviously rich in history, the Mangawhai Museum was well designed, stimulating, had a small but great collection of exhibits - well worth a visit.

Small compact museum but very good for the Mangawhai Heads. It had a lot of information on the early years of New Zealand.

Learnt so much in this very informative museum. Such a great place to learn local history

Done the loop walk in low tide along the beach. Man the rocks are not for everyone. Lots of walk on rocks, little ones, big ones, pointy ones. It’s not easily and certainly not expected however we did it. Completed the whole loop in 3hours. Would do again but might just choose the return track. The views are memorable and breath taking.

This is a lovely walkway. Stunning view on the cliff. The whole walk is not too hard. I did the waterfront route after reach the stone gate. Certainly area reminds me the 17 Miles beach in California along the US 101 highway.

The hike has a cliff walkway that starts about half a kilometer from the main beach. On the way back, if it’s low tide, you can return via the beach route, which has lots of big rocks. If you want to try the beach route, one option is to go that way first and return via the main entrance near the car park. Make sure your shoes have good grip for the beach route. The views along the way are outstanding! Don’t forget to bring food and a water bottle. The total hike takes around 3 hours and is about 8 to 8.5 km long.

The beach is very accessible and is a nice walk particularly in low tide. The Mangawhai Cliff Walk you will need a decent level of fitness to ascend the initial 500 metres of the walk. The path is sandy and requires a decent level of fitness. The loop walk is quite long. There is plenty of parking.

A must do activity when visiting Mangawhai. Stunning views of the clear Pacific Ocean. Follow well maintained paths, and steps, up the ridge across the cliffs, accompanied with Tauhou, Piwakwaka, Kingfisher. Clamber over rocky coast, pass beneath stone arch, and epic black sandy beaches, while observed by sunbathing seals. 4 seasons over a 10km walk, take suitable clothes, footwear, and water. Time your walk to hit the beach section at low tide

Massive effort, but rewarding. Wasn’t sure where it started so first went up the big hill next to the white rock. This was not the track! But great to have climbed for the views. So first thing to note is you need to walk 15mins north along the beach to even reach the track. 3km along the cliff and 3km rock hopping back around took us about 2.5hrs. Lots of steps at the start and end, but the rest is relatively flat or meandering. Amazing views, although my 10yo was a bit nervous of the heights. Definitely need to check the tides if you want to rock hop back. Feet were tired going, but there was no way I was doing those steps again! Would recommend, but for those with kids make sure to give yourself plenty of time and don’t forget water and rewards if needed.

Great walk. Terrific views - mix of beach walking and cliff tops 😊

John and Nicola were absolutely wonderful in the lead up to our wedding this weekend gone and during the wedding day. John is very warm, friendly, helpful and communicates quickly. All 50-60 guests loved the experience and facilities. Thanks Te whai for making our day special. Aimee and Allan

1 STAR for location. As a beautiful location, I would say yes it is lovely But I would with 100+% say that I would NOT recommend to anyone that they book this out as a wedding venue. The owner John, should not be in hospitality. He is very unfriendly, not at all welcoming and in fact makes you feel like you are inconveniencing him by being there. We had the recent experience of attending a wedding here where neither the bride, groom, family or guests were made to feel welcome. He never once asked if he could be of assistance, never once made anyone feel welcome but far more the opposite. I really felt for the bride as this was supposed to be a happy occasion and you would think that if you were hiring yourself out as a wedding location you would be trying to make the wedding party feel happy. He never once congratulated the couple or family (his wife did at one point) unfortunately she was not there very often. I am really not sure why this man is involved within the hospitality and Especially the wedding industry when he is so incredibly UNFRIENDLY. Find somewhere else to host your wedding where you will feel welcome, respected and appreciated !!!!

We had our wedding here last week. The wedding was straight forward and easy to organise, John and Vikki were very accomodating and offered a lot of flexibility and different options. On the day a few things didn't quite go to plan (completely unrelated to the venue) John and Nikki were very accomodating and just went with the flow. The food was amazing, as were the wines, and the setting in the vineyard was stunning. Highly recommneded!

Lovely view, great wines, and a great host. Was definitely worth a spur of the moment stop over, particularly when other wineries in the region were closed for the weekend. Would recommend the chardonnay (surprisingly considering I don't normally go for it!)

Stunning setting and always a warm welcome from John and Nicki. We love the antipasto platers and a glass of rose or chardonnay. Can't wait for the summer afternoon concerts to start, such a perfect Mangawhai family attraction.

My wife, my 68 year old mother and I were having a nice afternoon today at the winery. We arrived and had the proprietor offer us a tasting and she then sold me a bottle. When I went up to buy a second bottle her assistant (who didn’t actually look old enough to sell alcohol?), asked me for ID. I’m a 30 year old married man with graying hair, using a credit to pay for his second bottle of sparkling rosè, but fair enough I presented my in date Australian drivers license; the very one that I legally rented a car with yesterday and when pulled over by police is accepted as valid ID. The assistant declined me service as it “was from a different country”. I appealed to the owner who had already served me, but she decided to make an example an uphold “the rules”(she said she could suffer a $2000 fine, how about the fine for already serving me?). Thankyou, you ruined our afternoon, we won’t be back.

Enjoyed the music on offer as we tasted a variety of wine on sale along with a delightful cheese platter presented by a knowledgeable fromager. Not the biggest of vineyards, but well worth finding.

We recently did an overnight trip with Wayne and Stef from RNR Fishing Charters to the stunning Mokohinau Islands — and what an incredible adventure it was! Wayne, our skipper, was absolutely exceptional. His knowledge, skill, and passion for fishing really shone through — he put us right on the fish every time! We hauled in some absolute beauties, including snapper over 20lb, hapuku, trevally, and kingfish. To top it all off, Wayne cooked us an unbelievable fresh fish feast that night — it doesn’t get any better than that! An amazing trip to one of the most beautiful parts of New Zealand, with top-notch people who truly love what they do. Thanks, Wayne and Stef — you guys absolutely rock! We’ll be talking about this one for years to come.

We had the most amazing afternoon with RnR Charters. As a team building exercise, it was a fantastic experience and the team came away from the trip with not only huge smiles but plenty of fish to take home to our families. Thanks again...we will be back!!

Awesome day out on the ocean today. We were in Waipu for a wedding and got to sneak away for an afternoon of fishing. Took us less than 2 minutes to catch our first fish and we didn't stop bringing them in until the end of the day. Would highly recommend RnR to anyone looking to catch fish all day long. Thanks again!

Fantastic days fishing. The boat can fish five comfortably and is great design, with some shelter from the sun. Wayne was a knowledgeable and helpful skipper; very professional. Would highly recommend this charter.

I have used RnR for a Mokes trip every year for the last seven years and had a great trip every time. Wayne is a top bloke and really knows the Mokes. We always get onto the kingfish and snapper.

Excellent all weather GC, it’s a bit of a drive to get to from Auckland but well worth the trip. Has a good restaurant and large bar area. The course can dry out a bit in the middle of summer but otherwise in very good condition to play. Has many interesting holes with dips and turns, one of the most interesting courses I’ve played.

Coffee was nice. We were disappointed with the thai food. Lacking variety of vegetables. Chicken cashew was bland. Curry puffs ok, spring rolls average. The sandwiches and scones looked tasty/appetizing.

A few sharp dog leg holes, and many lost ball areas. Greens undulating with hidden breaks, fairways well maintained but muddy after rain. Pretty costly $60 for 9 holes on a public course.

Great service & great dining at the Greenview Thai café within the Mangawhai Golf Club facility.

Great goof course and should be on everyone's must play if traveling. Drains well in the winter and has heaps of club atmosphere and activities. From starting to play to experienced players this is a great club to be at

Lovely place to go for dinner on a friday night. $20 buffet, and boy was there plenty of food. And very well made. From fish,pork, beef hot veges salads, homemade buns and Yorkshire pudding. Yum is all I can say. Ooh and back for seconds. Opens at 6. Nice view to the golf course. We were only visiting so not members but still welcome. Totally recommend. Lovely people too. Bar staff were so nice.

Great golf course, just wish I could play better golf on it.

The market is okay, rather small, but the worst part is the parking. There is only a small parking area, outisde that the Moir St is deemed no parking. Kaipara District Council parking wardens actively check and issue steep parking fines ($70) to unsupecting out-of-town visitors, instead of taking a better approach of educating and directing visitors to park elsewhere (where ?)

The best way to start a weekend in Mangawhai. Love the vibe of the market.

Markets seem to be getting less and less stalls attending per weekend. Good parking and the selection of food stalls is quite wide ranged with relatively good pricing. But over all very quiet and not a hell of a lot much to see or buy, especially dissapointed for a very busy weekend in the town in general.

Nice tiny market with local products and some artworks.

Fantastic weather for the Saturday market, and great to see the crowds back in force after a miserable summer. Very lively music had people up dancing too. Wide range of food for lunch, both from market and tavern. Little Red Fish had run out of my favourite but I really enjoyed the smoke fish fritter substitute.

Excellent! Great selection, fantastic atmosphere and well worth a visit.

The weather wasn't good, the ground mucky, the crowd was just good, not dampening the spirit. The shops the usual.

This was such a beautiful and lush track! The waterfalls were lovely and we loved the benches placed at each one to just sit and enjoy. You could tell the track has been worked on and upgraded recently. Although quite muddy when we were there, it wasn't unmanageable. We highly recommend giving this one a go.

Good walk, went on the waterfall walk, the nature read very nice and the path was well kept. We went to the first waterfall and back in about 90 minutes. The only negative was that the walk itself was not very scenic. Great walk for beginners, only a couple of steps here and there, anyone with moderate fitness should easily be able to complete the walk.

Amazing track. I went up Falls Track, detoured to Puriri track and then joined Falls Track back to the car park. Definitely recommend proper boots or hiking shoes. Track is wet and overgrown but very manageable and you can clearly see where the track is. Took about 3 hours - I didn't rush and stared at the 2 big Puriri's for a while 😅

Absolutely Beautiful Hiking Trail. A not so touristy trail but yet very magical. You can really take your time on the trail, there are a lot of resting places and benches on the trail which is not very common in NZ. On the trail you can marvel at 20+ waterfalls and some majestic old trees. The waterfall path and the tree path are already challenging enough and take at least 2 hours (with breaks).

Absolutely love love love this walk. A must do and if you enjoy walking you won't regret it. Well maintained track. There's no phone coverage so I would say stick to the track. Will definitely be walking this again. Streams are clean and beautiful. You can swim at the first waterfall.❤

Excellent smaller loop on the Botanical walk. Muddy in places but generally well maintained. NB small rocks to walk across stream on so if its been raining...you'll get wet feet. Beautiful forest well signposted and lots of seats in some places though gaps between them on Botanical section. Evidence of pests (rat caught) and beautiful Birdsong towards sunset. NB v dark once sun starts setting and this path is mostly dappled light from fern and tree cover.

A really beautiful walking track with well developed trails. Fairly easy to walk, and only about 40 minutes to Tanekaha Falls. There are beautiful wooded trails, scenery, streams, walkways, bridges, and smaller waterfalls along the way. When you get to the falls, there are plenty of places to sit down, relax, and have some lunch or a snack before heading back to the car park. We really enjoyed this hike and will most definitely do it again when we are in the area.

After many years of exhibiting at Mangawhai Artists Gallery, I'm now not welcome here due to my personal medical choice. I never thought I would live to experience apartheid and it saddens me that MAG supports discrimination under the guise of "statutory regulations".

Wonderful local artists.

MAG is now supporting discrimination based on personal health choices. This is very disappointing and goes against everything that I’ve always found to be good about Mangawhai. I live here and have supported MAG over the years but will not be going back while they insist on this policy of apartheid. This is not what we are about in Mangawhai or NZ!

Absolutely stunning! Beautiful work, clever artists 👍

Shame I wanted to see one of the artists and was told he has been excluded on medical ground ... how utterly ridiculous and uncreative. Also how very un Magical Mangawhai ... ridiculous and disappointing I have been vaccinated but won’t be returning ... I don’t support this segregation.

Local Artists group.. offering art courses and space to exhibit.

The collections vary with the artists, so plan a few trips back to get a full view. Parking is ok and there is usually an artist in residence open to questions