Hobson Bay
Hobson Bay is a tidal bay in Auckland, New Zealand, located east of the city centre. It is cut by the Eastern Line railway and Tamaki Drive and opens into Waitematā Harbour. The bay is bordered by the suburbs of Parnell, Remuera and Ōrākei. Pourewa Creek and Orakei Creek flow into the bay, and the Ōrākei Basin sits to the southeast. Mangroves line the shore.
The Māori name for the bay is Te Waitaramoa. It was an important fishing area for Tāmaki Māori. The headlands held several pā (fortified villages), including Taurarua Pā on the western side. Ngāti Whātua came to control the area in the 1700s, and the land was part of the Ōhinerau Block sold to the Crown in 1851.
In colonial times the bay was named Hobson Bay after Governor William Hobson. Fort Resolution was built at Point Resolution in 1885, which led to the destruction of Taurarua Pā.
A sewage plant opened at Ōkahu Bay in 1908 just north-east of Hobson Bay, which polluted the area and affected the local Ngāti Whātua village. The bay became shallower and more silted as a result. The Eastern Line was built through the bay in 1925, and Tamaki Drive connected Parnell to Ōrākei in 1926.
In the early 2000s there were plans for a motorway along the Eastern Transport Corridor through Hobson Bay. The old sewage tunnels under the bay were rebuilt in 2010.
Today you can walk along the Hobson Bay Walkway, opened in 2006. Te Ara ki Uta ki Tai is a shared path that runs from Hobson Bay to Glen Innes.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 12:31 (CET).