page_title: Waiheke Island
section_title: Population
hierarchical_section_title: Waiheke Island / Demographics / Population
caption_attribution_description: English: View of Palm Beach, New Zealand - from an elevation of 31M above sea level - Looking North at low tide.
context_page_description: Waiheke Island is the most populated and the second-largest island in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is 21.5 km from the central-city terminal in Auckland.
  Waiheke is the second-largest island in the gulf, after Great Barrier Island. It is the most populated island in the gulf, with 9,330 permanent residents. Another estimated 3,400 have second or holiday homes on the island. It is New Zealand's most densely populated island, and the third most populated after the North and South Islands. It is the most accessible island in the gulf, with regular passenger and car-ferry services, a helicopter operator based on the island, and other air links.
  In November 2015, Lonely Planet rated Waiheke Island the fifth-best region in the world to visit in 2016.
context_section_description: Waiheke has a resident population of 8,340 people (2013) with most living close to the western end, or near the isthmus between Huruhi Bay and Oneroa Bay, which at its narrowest is only 600 metres (2,000 feet) wide. The settlements of Oneroa and Blackpool are the furthest west, followed by Palm Beach, Surfdale, and Ostend. Further east lies Onetangi, on the northern coast of the wide Onetangi Bay. To the south of this on the opposing coast is Whakanewha Regional Park, Whakanewha, and Rocky Bay  (sometimes erroneously called Omiha, for which there is no historical Crown provenance, while 'Rocky Bay' first appears as the name of its bay on a Māori Land Court map in 1865, and again on a Crown map dating from 1877). Much of the eastern half of the island is privately owned farmland and vineyards.
  Waiheke is a popular holiday spot, and during the main summer season, especially around Christmas and Easter, its population increases substantially due to the number of holiday homes being rented out, corporate functions and dance parties at vineyards and restaurants, the Wine Festival and the Jazz Festival and weekend trippers from around the country and the world. The population increases significantly, rents go up, almost all homes and baches are full and a festive atmosphere exists.
caption: Palm Beach
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