Opua has a coastal bush walkway that wanders around the water's edge towards Paihia with views over the Bay of Islands. Kerikeri Kerikeri is a thriving centre with a curious base of history, horticulture, tourism and commerce. The shelter lined orchards punctuated with fruit stalls and craft outlets, are unique to the area. Kororipo Pa, and strategic base for Hongi Hika, is also in the basin and accessible to the public. It looks out over the basin from where the Kerikeri Inlet winds out into the Bay of Islands and the open sea.
Horticulture is also the basis of the town's more modern history.
The place was promoted in the 1930s as a land settlement utopia and drew English settlers from China and England plus other areas of New Zealand, tempting them with dreams of fruit growing potential. Subtropical fruit growing is still dominant around Kerikeri. Artists and artisans in both the visual and performing arts are drawn to Kerikeri, evidenced by numerous local outlets, and by exhibitions, concerts, and courses during the year. The town has now grown to a point where it is big enough to support its own light industry and is a commercial and service base for a widening area of the north.