Mount Maunganui Mauao

Mauao is a rhyolite lava dome standing 232 metres at the tip of the sandspit that separates Tauranga Harbour from the open Bay of Plenty, so it has ocean on one side, harbour on the other and a beach town at its foot. It is a hill of real significance to Ngai Te Rangi and other iwi, returned to iwi ownership in 2008 and held in trust. Two walks share the base: the flat base track, about 3.4 kilometres round the foot with the sea on one side the whole way, and the summit track, a steady forty-minute climb by either the gentler zigzag or the direct stairway. The top gives the harbour, the port, Matakana Island and the long sweep of Papamoa. It is used constantly - dawn is genuinely busy with locals - and at the base are the hot saltwater pools and the main surf beach. Nothing about it is remote, and that is rather the point.

What you actually see

• The summit - forty minutes up, harbour and ocean on both sides.
• The base track - 3.4 flat kilometres round the foot.
• The two beaches - ocean surf one side, harbour the other.
• The hot saltwater pools - at the base, ticketed.

When to go

Any season; sunrise is the local ritual and the busiest hour. December to March for the beaches. Avoid the summit in high wind - the top is fully exposed.

Honest expectations

It is a town hill, not wilderness - expect company at any hour. The direct stairway is steep. Parking near the base is metered and fills in summer. Mauao is culturally significant; stay on the tracks.

Nearby

Papamoa Beach runs east; Tauranga city and Matakana Island are across the harbour.