Māori Culture in Tauranga
Cultural experiences, places of significance, marae, events, the iwi of Tauranga Moana and what the names mean.
Tauranga Moana is home to Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga, and Waitaha also has interests here. Here’s where to experience Māori culture in Tauranga: guided tours, pā sites and places of significance, events through the year, how a marae visit works, where to learn te reo Māori, and what the names around the harbour mean.
Tauranga in Māori: what the name means
Tauranga is a Māori name. Tauranga City Council gives its meaning as a safe anchorage or resting place, which suits a harbour that has sheltered waka for centuries. Older sources record other readings too, including “landing place” and “place of the talisman”.
Tauranga Moana
“The seas of Tauranga”. It also names the tribal district, from Bowentown to Pāpāmoa and inland to the Kaimai Range, and the iwi who belong to it.
Te Awanui
The original name of Tauranga Harbour.
Mauao
The original name of Mount Maunganui, usually translated as “caught in the light of the day”. In the story, a nameless mountain was dragged towards the sea at night and fixed in place by the rising sun.
Mount Maunganui
“Maunganui” means great mountain. Te Ara records it as a later name given to the mountain that was first called Mauao.
How to say it: roughly TOH-rah-ngah. “Tau” sounds like “toe”, the r is a light tap, and “nga” starts with the “ng” in “singer”. It’s spelled T-a-u-r-a-n-g-a.
Ways to experience Māori culture in Tauranga
Book a guided experience, explore at your own pace, or join in. Check with each operator for dates and prices.
Guided experiences
Mana Māori Experiences (Travel Ed)
Guided tours with local Māori storytellers, sharing the history and cultural stories of Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty coast.
Book or find out moreTe Rere o Ōmanawa guided walk (Kaitiaki Adventures)
A guided walk at Ōmanawa Falls that shares the cultural history of Ngāti Hangarau and the story of the falls’ early hydro power station.
Book or find out moreMuir's Tours
A home-hosted hāngī dinner, with fishing, diving and a kaimoana cook-up as options, hosted by Deon Muir at Maketū.
Book or find out moreAt your own pace
Te Ara Whānui app
A Māori cultural guide to Tauranga Moana on your phone: a map of hapū areas, a pepeha builder, waiata, karakia, and te reo words read aloud.
About the appPā sites and reserves
Walk among old pā terraces, battle sites and carved gateways. Most are free to visit and open every day.
See the placesMāori History in Tauranga
The first people, the harbour, Mauao and the pā, the iwi of Tauranga Moana, and the battles of 1864.
Read the historyJoin in
Paddle a waka ama
Tauranga Moana Outrigger Canoe Club at 85 Cross Road, Sulphur Point, runs a six-session beginner programme over summer. Hoe Aroha Whānau o Mauao paddles from Pilot Bay at the Mount.
Tauranga Moana Outrigger Canoe ClubMatariki Te Tauranga o ngā Waka
A month of Matariki events across Tauranga Moana and the Western Bay, from Athenree to Maketū: performances, exhibitions, workshops and family days.
This year’s programmeLearn te reo Māori
Beginner classes in Tauranga with no fees at Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and no tuition fees at Toi Ohomai.
See the classesPlaces of significance you can visit
Pā sites, reserves and landmarks that are open to the public. Many are wāhi tapu as well as reserves, so tread lightly: stay on the tracks, leave the earthworks as they are, and take nothing away.
Pāpāmoa Hills (Te Rae o Pāpāmoa)
Cultural heritage regional park with ancient pā terraces and wide views of the coast. Stay on the tracks and off the earthworks.
Read our guideGate Pā / Pukehinahina Historic Reserve
Site of the Battle of Gate Pā on 29 April 1864, with a carved gateway and a history trail. A place of remembrance.
Read our guideOtamataha Pā and The Elms
The 1847 mission house and gardens stand on the site of Otamataha Pā. The Mission Cemetery is a burial ground.
Read our guideŌtūmoetai Pā Historic Reserve
Earthworks of a great pā of Ngāi Te Rangi and Ngāti Ranginui above the harbour. Please don’t climb or dig the earthworks.
Monmouth Redoubt Reserve
Pōhutukawa-shaded reserve above The Strand, near the former Te Papa pā sites.
Masonic Park waharoa
Carved gateway linking the harbour to the new civic precinct, Te Manawataki o Te Papa.
Te Rere o Ōmanawa (Ōmanawa Falls)
A 35 m waterfall with lookouts and panels on its meaning to Ngāti Hangarau. No swimming or climbing: the falls are sacred.
Read our guideŌtanewainuku Forest
About 1,200 ha of unlogged forest on a chiefly mountain, with bush walks to the summit.
Read our guideBowentown pā sites (Te Kura a Maia and Te Ho)
Two well-kept pā on the Bowentown headland with clear terraces and ditches. Keep to the tracks.
Read our guideUniversity of Waikato cultural tour
Free self-guided tour of works by local artists at the Tauranga campus, including a 6 m pouwhenua.
Toi Tauranga Art Gallery
Public gallery with a regular programme of work by Māori artists. Check what’s showing.
Read our guideMāori events through the year
Waitangi Day dawn service and He Iwi Kotahi festival
6 February at Hopukiore (Mount Drury): a dawn service for Te Tiriti, then a free family festival.
Te Rā o Waitangi Whānau Festival
6 February at Haiku Reserve, Katikati, closing with kapa haka from local schools.
Battle of Gate Pā commemoration
Each year on 29 April at Pukehinahina, led by iwi. Details are confirmed by the organisers each year.
Matariki Te Tauranga o ngā Waka
A month of 30+ events across Tauranga Moana and the Western Bay, from mid-June to mid-July.
matARiki Sculpture Trail
An augmented-reality trail of digital works by Māori artists in the city centre during Matariki.
Kapa haka at Mercury Baypark
Regional and national kapa haka festivals come to Baypark in some years. Dates go up here as they’re announced.
Visiting a marae in Tauranga
Marae are the gathering places of hapū and iwi, and there are many across Tauranga Moana, from Judea and Hairini to Matakana Island and Te Puke. They are not visitor attractions: you visit a marae when you’re invited, or by arrangement with the marae, often with a group, a school or an event. Each marae has its own kawa (protocol), and the best advice is to ask your hosts what they expect. This is how a welcome usually goes:
- Arrive and waitArrive early and wait at the gate. Don’t walk on until you’re called.
- KarangaA woman from the hosts calls you on, and a woman from your group answers. Walk on together as the calling continues.
- Whaikōrero and waiataSpeeches from hosts and visitors, each followed by a song. Your group’s speaker answers for you.
- KohaA gift, usually money in an envelope, laid down by your last speaker.
- Hongi and harirūShake hands and press noses with the hosts. After this you are one of the people of the marae for the visit.
- KaiThe shared meal lifts the tapu of the welcome. Wait for the karakia (blessing) before eating.
Iwi of Tauranga Moana
Three iwi hold mana whenua in Tauranga Moana, each made up of many hapū with their own marae. Waitaha, one of the original tribes of the area, also has interests here. The three iwi signed a collective settlement with the Crown in 2015.
Ngāi Te Rangi
Hapū and marae from Mount Maunganui and Matapihi to Welcome Bay, Katikati, Bowentown, and Matakana and Rangiwaea islands. The iwi office is at Mount Maunganui.
Ngāi Te Rangi websiteNgāti Ranginui
In Tauranga Moana for over 750 years, with 10 marae. Their rūnanga runs health, social and education services, mostly between Ohauiti and north of Katikati.
Ngāti Ranginui websiteNgāti Pūkenga
Four kāinga: Ngāpeke in Tauranga, Maketū, Manaia in the Coromandel, and Pakikaikutu near Whangārei.
Ngāti Pūkenga websiteWaitaha
Descended from Te Arawa waka, with Ōtawa as their maunga. The iwi office, Te Kapu o Waitaha, is in Te Puke.
Waitaha websiteWho owns Mauao?
Since 2008 the Mauao Historic Reserve has been held in trust for Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga. It is still a public reserve, cared for by the trust and Tauranga City Council together. The law that returned it also recognises Waitaha’s ancestral connection.
Māori history and stories
Māori History in Tauranga
The first people, the harbour, Mauao and the pā, the iwi of Tauranga Moana, Pukehinahina and Te Ranga, and where to learn more.
Read the historyOtamataha Pā and the Mission Cemetery
The pā on the Te Papa peninsula and the mission that followed.
Read itLearning te reo Māori in Tauranga
Free and low-cost te reo Māori classes for adults. Check each provider for the latest dates.
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa
Te Kahupapa o te Reo, a 20-week beginners course with no fees. Next intake February 2027.
Find out moreToi Ohomai
Te Pōkaitahi Reo (Reo Rua) Level 2 for beginners: Tuesday or Wednesday evenings, or full-time. No tuition fees for domestic students. Starts 22 February 2027 (evening classes also 19 July).
Find out moreUniversity of Waikato
MAORI111, Te Reo Māori Introductory 1, for people with little or no reo. Taught in Tauranga from 8 March to 11 April 2027. Fees apply.
Find out moreKōhanga reo
Kōhanga reo are Māori-language early learning centres. There are 10 in Tauranga city and 11 more in the Western Bay, from Te Puna and Katikati to Te Puke and Matakana Island. Find one on the Kōhanga Reo National Trust map.
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Hairini
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Arataki (Mount Maunganui)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Huria (Brookfield)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Ngāti Hangarau (Bethlehem)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Akau (Pāpāmoa)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Matapihi
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Te Wairoa (Bethlehem)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Tutarawānanga
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Whareroa (Mount Maunganui)
- Te Kōhanga Reo o Ōpopoti (Maungatapu)
Kura: schools that teach in te reo Māori
Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Matai
Kura kaupapa Māori, Years 1 to 8.
Māori health and community services
Te Manu Toroa
Kaupapa Māori health: two GP practices, community nursing, mental health and addiction services, Family Start, dental and rongoā Māori.
Find out morePirirākau Hauora
Kaupapa Māori health care from Pirirākau hapū of Ngāti Ranginui, with a clinic you can enrol with and mirimiri rongoā.
Find out moreNgā Kākano Foundation
GP practice and health and social services for whānau in Te Puke, including Whānau Ora, mental health and diabetes care.
Find out moreTe Rūnanga o Ngāti Ranginui Iwi
Health, social and education services, including home and community support.
Find out moreMāori Land Court
Search Māori land records free online through Pātaka Whenua, with no login needed. Court offices are open weekdays 10am to 4pm, no appointment needed.
How to search Pātaka WhenuaAbout this page
Explore Tauranga is an independent local guide. This page draws on Tauranga City Council, Te Ara, the iwi’s own websites, Te Kāhui Māngai, the Ministry of Education and the Māori Land Court. Spotted something to add or correct? Let us know.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Tauranga mean in Māori?
Tauranga City Council gives the meaning as a safe anchorage or resting place. Older sources also record “landing place” and “place of the talisman”. Tauranga Moana means “the seas of Tauranga”.
How do you say Tauranga?
Roughly TOH-rah-ngah: “tau” like “toe”, a light tapped r, and “nga” with the “ng” from “singer”. It’s spelled T-a-u-r-a-n-g-a.
Which iwi owns Mount Maunganui?
Since 2008 the Mauao Historic Reserve has been held in trust for Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga under the Mauao Historic Reserve Vesting Act. It is still a public reserve, cared for by the trust and Tauranga City Council, and the Act recognises Waitaha’s ancestral connection.
What is the Māori name for Mount Maunganui?
Mauao, usually translated as “caught in the light of the day”.
Which iwi are in Tauranga?
Ngāi Te Rangi, Ngāti Ranginui and Ngāti Pūkenga hold mana whenua in Tauranga Moana, and Waitaha also has interests in the area.
Can I visit a marae in Tauranga?
Yes, when you’re invited or by arrangement with the marae, usually with a group or for an event. Marae are not drop-in attractions. See how a welcome works above.
Where can I have a Māori cultural experience near Tauranga?
Guided tours with Mana Māori Experiences (Travel Ed), a guided walk at Ōmanawa Falls with Kaitiaki Adventures and a home-hosted hāngī at Maketū with Muir’s Tours. You can also explore pā sites with the Te Ara Whānui app, try waka ama, or join Matariki events in June and July.
Where can I learn te reo Māori in Tauranga?
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa runs free beginners classes, Toi Ohomai has no tuition fees for domestic students, and the University of Waikato teaches te reo papers at its Tauranga campus.