Hawke Bay

Hawke Bay is a large bay on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It stretches from the Mahia Peninsula in the northeast to Cape Kidnappers in the southwest, a distance of some 100 kilometres.

Because the central mountain ranges come close to the coast at the north end of the bay, much of the bay’s northerly coastline has deeply eroded tablelands that end in steep seaside cliffs which descend to narrow beaches.

The town of Wairoa lies to the north end of the bay, at the mouth of the Wairoa River and its flood plain, while the port city of Napier lies on the coast near the southern end of the bay, on the edge of another flat river flood plain. The Hawke’s Bay region, which is distinct from the bay itself, lies on the coastal land around the bay and also in the hinterland to the south.