Waikawau is a rural community in the Waitomo District and Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island, beside Waikawau River.[1]
There are also small settlements of the same name on both the west[2] and east[3] coasts of Coromandel.
Waikawau is astride meshblocks 1016301 and 1016400, which had 51 people, living in 21 houses, in 2013 over the wider area.[4]
It features the only publicly accessible beach between Marokopa and Awakino. The only way to access the beach is through a walking track and farming tunnel,[5] which was dug through sandstone cliffs by three men in 1911.[6]
The New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage gives a translation of "water of the shag" for Maori: Waikawau.[7]
The area has been a popular spot for freedom camping during whitebait season and summer.[8] Signs were put in place in 2015, advising visitors it is illegal to camp on private land.[9]
Dracophyllum strictum grows extensively in the area.[10]
Whareorino School is a co-educational state primary school, with a roll of as of [11]