Browns Bay is one of the most northernmost suburbs in the contiguous Auckland metropolitan area, located in the North Shore.

The area gradually developed into a suburb of Auckland in the 1950s, and was the administrative centre for the East Coast Bays City from 1975 until it was disestablished in 1989.

[4] The soil in Browns Bay is primarily formed from clay and Waitemata sandstone, which can be seen in the cliffs along the coast.

[5][6] Prior to human settlement, the inland Browns Bay area was primarily a northern broadleaf podocarp forest, dominated by tōtara, mataī, miro, kauri and kahikatea trees.

[9][10] The North Shore was settled by Tāmaki Māori, including people descended from the Tainui migratory canoe and ancestors of figures such as Taikehu and Peretū.

[12] While the poor soils of Browns Bay hindered dense settlement,[5] traditional resources in the area included fish, shellfish and marine birds.

His younger son Maraeariki settled the North Shore and Hibiscus Coast, who based himself at the head of the Ōrewa River.

[17][18] By the 18th century, the Marutūāhu iwi Ngāti Paoa had expanded their influence to include the islands of the Hauraki Gulf and the North Shore.

[21] The earliest contact with Europeans began in the late 18th century, which caused many Tāmaki Māori to die of rewharewha, respiratory diseases.

[10][19][23] In 1841, the Crown purchased the Mahurangi and Omaha blocks; an area that spanned from Takapuna to Te Ārai.

[27] During this period, Māori from Whangaparāoa would camp at Browns Bay when travelling south, and developed fenced cultivations around the Glencoe Road hill, growing melons, potatoes and kūmara.

[27] The Brown family developed a dairy farm, orchards, a vineyard, an apiary and grew crops including carrots.

[31][8][29][5] The roads to Browns Bay were poorly maintained clay tracks, so most visitors to the area came by stream ferry.

[5] The area grew in the early 20th century, after the construction of a new wharf, better roads, and the tram from Bayswater to Milford.

[29] In the early 1950s, manufacturing businesses began operating in Browns Bay, with as a concrete roof tiling business that used local sand, and the clothing manufacturer Ambler & Co.[29] Also in the 1950s, the area also became a centre for boatbuilding and repair, when John Spencer and Keith Atkinson set up workshops on Bute Road.

[29] In the early 1990s, Browns Bay Mall was opened, and the soap opera Shortland Street began filming in the suburb from 1992.

[5] Browns Bay became a hub for the South African New Zealander community in the 1990s,[40] with Afrikaans becoming the second-most spoken language in the suburb by 2003.

[55] Harbour College is a Montessori school (years 7–10) in Browns Bay with a roll of 19 students as of November 2024.