Tāiki settled with his followers along the eastern shores of the Tāmaki River, alongside the descendants of Huiārangi of the early iwi Te Tini ō Maruiwi.

[8] The traditional name for Bucklands Beach is Te Kōmiti, and the area was strategically important as it was close to both the Tāmaki Strait and the route towards Te Tō Waka, the portage at Ōtāhuhu where waka could easily cross into the Manukau Harbour.

[9][7] Te Kōmiti was a site where Tāmaki Māori constructed stone adzes, using greywacke boulders from Motutapu Island.

The wider area was rich in food resources, and the eastern coast of the Tāmaki River was widely cultivated.

[8] From the 1790s, Te Rangitāwhia was the paramount chief of Ngāi Tai, whose principal residences were at Waiārohia and to the south at Ōhuiarangi / Pigeon Mountain.

[8] During the Musket Wars in the 1820s, Te Waiārohia and the Bucklands Beach area were evacuated, and the lands became tapu to Ngāi Tai due to the events of the conflict.

[10][11] Most members of Ngāi Tai fled to the Waikato for temporary refuge during this time, and when English missionary William Thomas Fairburn visited the area in 1833, it was mostly unoccupied.

[14] In 1854 when Fairburn's purchase was investigated by the New Zealand Land Commission, a Ngāi Tai reserve was created around the Wairoa River and Umupuia areas, and as a part of the agreement, members of Ngāi Tai agreed to leave their traditional settlements to the west.

[15][12] In 1847, Howick was established as a defensive outpost for Auckland, by fencibles (retired British Army soldiers) and their families.

[16] In 1851, William Mason bought a 320 acre plot from Fairburn at the modern-day site of Bucklands Beach, where he established a farm, growing oats, wheat and tending goats.

[23] During World War II, the Bucklands Beach Home Guard was established, who met weekly for military training exercises at Ōhuiarangi / Pigeon Mountain.

The centre facilitated most of the long range radio transmissions for Auckland, communicating with ships and aircraft, and was used by American naval forces.

[26] In 1954, the Cockle Bay golf course was moved to Musick Point,[27][28] and in 1956, the Buckland and Easter Beaches War Memorial Community Centre was opened.