Ōkahu Bay is the first of the four main eastern bay beaches heading east on Tamaki Drive in Auckland. It is also important in Auckland’s history, particularly the relationship between the central city area and its tangata whenua, Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei.
The bay’s name means the dwelling place of Kahumatamomoe, abbreviated to o-Kahu. Kahumatamomoe was the captain of the Arawa waka when it sailed to Aotearoa, NZ. He is believed to have made several trips around the North Island, probably in the 1400s, naming many areas, including Kaipara Harbour and Waitamatā Harbour. Ōkahu was a stopping point, hence the short form reference to his name.
The bay became the home village of Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei as they came to dominate the eastern bays and Tamaki Makaurau in the mid-1700s. When the iwi gave most of its land up to support the formation of Auckland, they retained the bay, Ōrakei (the area and now suburb behind the bay), Takaparawha Point (a historic pā site that overlooks the bay) and Bastion Point, which is immediately east of Takaparawha. Over time, the government took their remaining land, mainly by foul means. The final blow was the destruction of the remaining village at the bay in the early 1950s, as it was considered "a dreadful eyesore and potential disease centre" by the Auckland City Council. This was just in time for Queen Elizabeth II's Royal Tour of 1952-53.
In the 1970s, the government decided it wanted to sell some of the land it had taken from Ngāti Whātua Ōrakei around Okahu and Ōrakei for upmarket housing. This led to a protest occupation of nearby Bastion Point for over 500 days, mass arrests, and the eventual settlement of the iwi’s 100 years of accumulated claims of Treaty of Waitangi breaches. By 1988, much of Ōrakei, Okahu, Takaparawha Point and Bastion Point was returned to iwi ownership and control.
Today, the beachfront and Ōrakei Domain on the south side of Tamaki Drive at Ōkahu Bay are popular hangouts for Aucklanders. At the southwest end is the Ōrakei Marina, and as a bonus, you can rent a kayak to cruise around the harbour and bays. Kelly Tarlton's is a leading Auckland tourist attraction on the bay's east side. There are large grassed areas, with some sheltering pōhutukwas trees and picnic facilities behind the beach and in the domain.
