The suburb is in the North Shore ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland Council.

A small bark and grass area with several large pōhutukawa trees offering shelter complements the beachfront and an extended coastline stretches out to the north towards Campbells Bay.

[11][12] 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.

[15] The warrior Maki migrated from the Kāwhia Harbour to his ancestral home in the Auckland Region, likely sometime in the 17th century.

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

[21] Archaeological studies have dated an earth oven at the site to between the mid-15th and mid-16th centuries,[22] and generations of Tāmaki Māori adapted the defenses of the pā over time.

[26] 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.

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

[12][27][30] In 1841, the Crown purchased the Mahurangi and Omaha blocks; an area that spanned from Takapuna to Te Ārai.

The purchase involved some iwi with customary interests in the area, such as Ngāti Paoa, other Marutūāhu iwi and Ngāi Tai ki Tāmaki, but not others, such as Te Kawerau ā Maki or Ngāti Rango.

[21] The site was originally purchased by the Army in 1934,[38] and the military buildings were disguised as a state housing project.

[34] The site was decommissioned in 1957, and given to the Takapuna City Council in 1966, becoming the JF Kennedy Memorial Park.

[38] After the construction of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959, the area developed further, and the first convenience stores opened in Castor Bay.

[34] The Rahopara pā archaeological site was almost destroyed in 1965, as the earthworks were planned to be excavated and used as fill for a marina.