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• Blue Pacific Apartments

  166 Marsden Road, Paihia
  Elevated on the hillside for stunning uninterrupted ocean views, just 1 km from the town centre.
  
  
  
   

• Edgewater Palms Apartments

  8 - 10 Marsden Road, Paihia.
  Located on the waterfront, just a few steps across the road to the beach and only 300 metres from the town centre.  
  
  
  
  
   

• Waterfront Suites

  Luxury accommodation on the waterfront in central Paihia just 100 metres from the wharf.
  
  
  

Sightseeing

• Swim with the Dolphins cruise – 4 hours

• Cape Brett Hole in the Rock Cruise – 3 hours

• Best of the Bay Super cruise, the original Cream Trip – 6 hours

• Urapukapuka Island, walk, swim, sunbathe on a white sand beach - 1.5 hours to all day

• Excitor – 1.5 hr high speed jetboat ride to Cape Brett

• Kerikeri, arts and crafts centre, historic Kemp House and Stone Store, Makana Boutique Chocolate Factory – 30 minutes drive

Drive Times

Auckland – Paihia, 3.5 hours via SH1; 4.5 hours via West Coast Waipoua Forest

Tip: Follow the Twin Coast Discovery Highway.  From Auckland, follow the East Coast route on the northbound trip, via Whangarei (State Highway 1) and return by the West Coast via Opononi and Dargaville (State Highways 12 and 16) to enjoy the Hokianga Harbour and the huge Kauri trees in the Waipoua Forest.

Paihia Population: 3,000
Region: Northland

The main tourism centre in the Bay of Islands, Paihia is the base for many of the water based activities on offer.  Paihia wharf sees a myriad of daily departures for the famous “Hole in the Rock” cruises, dolphin swimming cruises, and the regular ferry service aboard the “Bay Belle” across to Russell.  Excellent restaurants and shopping make this a great spot to combine natural and retail therapies.
Image below - "Paihia, Bay of Islands".

History and Culture

Europeans started to arrive in New Zealand in the late eighteenth century.  Firstly they came on voyages of discovery, then to harvest the plentiful whales and seals around the coasts.  They were later followed by Kauri gum diggers and loggers.  Later came missionaries who sought to convert the Maori population to Christianity.

In 1832, the Governor of New South Wales appointed James Busby as British Resident in New Zealand.  This was the first formal step to bringing New Zealand under the governance of Great Britain.  On 6 February 1840, Busby hosted the formal signing ceremony of the Treaty of Waitangi on his front lawn.  The Maori chiefs, with no written language at that time, signed the document with the symbols on their tattooed faces.  Throughout the nineteenth century there was a great influx of European settlers from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland.  Consequently Northland considers itself the “Birthplace of the Nation”.

For more information about Paihia and the region click through to our Discover New Zealand Northland Region section