Whangamata

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The town of Whangamata is sited on the southeast coast of the Coromandel Peninsula in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 30 kilometres north of Waihi, to the north of the western extremity of the Bay of Plenty. The second largest town on the peninsula (after Thames), it has a population of 5000. In holiday times the population swells considerably: New Year's celebrations fill the town to over 40,000 though this falls soon after New Year's Day.

The beach itself is graced with a number of off-shore islands. Hauturu or Clark Island is accessible by wading at low tide and is popular in summer months for rock-pool fossickers and kayakers. Whenuakura, sometimes known as Donut Island, sits about a kilometer east of the Southern part of Whangamata beach (Otahu Beach). Tuatara roamed on Whenuakura until fairly recently. Whenuakura Island has a large collapsed blow hole which has formed a small beach inside the island - hence the alternative name.

The town has two ocean beaches, both of which are extremely safe for swimming and surfing. There is a safe boating harbour at the North end of the town and another estuary at the South end. Both the harbour and estuary provide good swimming for families. 15 minutes drive south of Whangamata is the quietly popular beach Whiritoa. Other beaches just north of Whangamata are Onemana (about 15 minutes) and Opoutere (15 minutes).

There is a number of clubs, restaurants and hotels, which are able to provide meals, refreshments and entertainment for visitors.

Shibboleth: People aware of other place names of Māori origin might expect Whangamata to be pronounced in a similar way to such names as Waitemata and Matamata, where more stress is placed on the penultimate syllable than the final one, leaving the last 'a' as a schwa. These place names rhyme, roughly, with the English word matter. Whangamata goes against this rule, and the stress is placed firmly on the final 'a'. The ending thus rhymes (roughly) with the English word guitar.

The name of Whangamata comes from the mata stones (obsidian) which washed up on the beach. Whanga = bay, mata = a hard stone.

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Coordinates: 37°12′S 175°52′E