Taupō Point

Taupō Point is a headland on the north-east side of Wainui Inlet, reached on foot from Wainui Beach. It suits a coastal walk with beach scenery and a Māori history connection; plan it around the tide rather than treating it as a quick roadside stop.

The rocky shore route is a low-tide option. Uneven rocks can be wet or covered by rising water, so check local tide tables before setting out. When the shore is cut off, use the marked inland high-tide track; it climbs steeply but opens to a wide view back across Taupō Point and Wainui. A local visitor estimate is about an hour each way on the coastal option; allow longer if you need the inland return or continue farther along the coast.

Start at the Wainui road-end car park, reached by an unsealed final 2 km of road. Wainui is the northern end of the Coast Track, but commercial water taxis do not serve it or the northern bays. Dogs are prohibited on the foreshore between Coquille Bay and Wainui. No visitor services are identified at the headland, so plan for the walk from Wainui.

Taupō Point is identified as a pā associated with Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri, and early accounts describe Māori settlement here. A 1997 park history noted that none of six recorded pā in the area had then been archaeologically investigated; the exact traces at this point have not been verified.

The inlet also has a connection to Abel Tasman’s 1642 voyage. His ships were offshore of Wainui when an encounter led him to name the bay Murderers’ Bay. Accounts differ on the death count and whether people from this pā were responsible; the historical account places the encounter somewhere off the inlet, not at this headland. Treat the specific link to the pā as unresolved.

The beach east of the point gives a close view of a tree-covered rock stack just offshore. The marked inland return is the place to pause for the wider look back over Taupō Point and Wainui Inlet; it makes the steep climb more rewarding.