Waikawau is a rural community in the

Waitomo District Waitomo District is a territorial authority, located in the Waikato region, at the north of the King Country area in the North Island of New Zealand. A small part of the district, the locality of Tiroa, however, lies in the Manawatū-Whanganui ...

and

Waikato Waikato () is a Regions of New Zealand, local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton, New Zealand, Hamilton City ...

region of New Zealand's

North Island The North Island, also officially named Te Ika-a-Māui, is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the larger but much less populous South Island by the Cook Strait. The island's area is , making it the world's 14th-largest ...

, beside Waikawau River. There are also small settlements of the same name on both the west and east coasts of

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India **Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements **Dutch Coromandel *Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Corom ...

. Waikawau is astride

meshblock Mesh blocks or meshblocks are a small geographic unit used in the census of several countries. New Zealand New Zealand's countrywide meshblock framework was first set up in 1976, although the term dates back to at least the 1916 census. The me ...

s 1016301 and 1016400, which had 51 people, living in 21 houses, in 2013 over the wider area. It features the only publicly accessible beach between

Marokopa Marokopa is a rural community in Waitomo District and Waikato region of New Zealand. It is located close to the coast between Awakino and Kawhia Harbour. The meshblock includes the coastal township of Marokopa, at the mouth of the Marokopa Riv ...

and

Awakino Awakino is a settlement in the south of Waitomo District, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on State Highway 3 at the mouth of the Awakino River, five kilometres north of Mokau. It is 79 km southwest of Te Kuiti, and 98&n ...

. The only way to access the beach is through a walking track and farming tunnel, which was dug through sandstone cliffs by three men in 1911. The New Zealand

Ministry for Culture and Heritage The Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH; ) is the department of the New Zealand Government responsible for supporting the arts, culture, built heritage, sport and recreation, and broadcasting sectors in New Zealand and advising government on ...

gives a translation of "water of the

shag Shag, or Shagged, or Shagger, or Shagging, or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family People Pseudonym ...

" for . The area has been a popular spot for

freedom camping Camping is a popular activity for both New Zealand residents and for some of the two million foreign tourists arriving every year. Campsites of different standards, generally in conjunction with other forms of accommodation, are offered by holida ...

during whitebait season and summer. Signs were put in place in 2015, advising visitors it is illegal to camp on private land.

Dracophyllum strictum ''Dracophyllum strictum'', commonly known as totorowhiti, is a species of shrub endemic to New Zealand. It was first described by Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1844 and gets the specific epithet ''strictum'' for its rigid and packed together leaves. In ...

grows extensively in the area.

Education

Whareorino School is a co-educational state primary school, with a roll of as of

References

Waitomo District Populated places in Waikato {{Waikato-geo-stub