Great Barrier Island (Māori: Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, 100 kilometres (62 mi) north-east of central Auckland.

With an area of 285 square kilometres (110 sq mi) it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand[4] and fourth-largest in the main chain.

The island protects the Hauraki Gulf from the ocean surface waves and the currents of the South Pacific Gyre.

With a maximum length (north-south) of some 43 kilometres (27 mi), it and the Coromandel Peninsula (directly to its south) protect the Gulf from the storms of the Pacific Ocean to the east.

The eastern coast comprises long, sandy beaches, windswept sand-dunes, and at times heavy surf.

The western coast, sheltered and calm, is home to hundreds of tiny, secluded bays which offer some of the best diving and boating in the country.

The inland holds several large and biologically diverse wetlands, along with rugged hill country (bush or heath in the more exposed heights), as well as old-growth and regenerating kauri forests.

[15] In the mid-19th century during the early Colonial era of New Zealand, extensive private and crown land purchases meant only two areas of the Hauraki Gulf remained in Māori ownership: Te Huruhi (Surfdale) on Waiheke Island (2100 acres) on Waiheke and a 3,510 acre parcel of land at Katherine Bay on Great Barrier Island.

[16] Early European interest followed discovery of copper in the remote north, where New Zealand's earliest mines were established at Miners Head in 1842.

Concerns were that mining for the suspected $4.3 billion in mineral worth in the area would damage both the conservation land as well as the island's tourism economy.

Special postage stamps were issued from October 1898 until 1908, when a new communications cable was laid to the mainland, which made the pigeon post redundant.

[19] The Aotea Conservation Park has the only multi-day wilderness walk in the Auckland region, boasting two DOC huts and numerous campsites.

[citation needed] The island is free of some of the more troublesome introduced pests that plague the native ecosystems of other parts of New Zealand.

Rare animals found on the island include brown teal ducks, black petrel seabirds and kākā parrots.

[23][24] In October 2020, the Government committed $313,007 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade Kawa Marae, creating 6 jobs.

[25] In 2017, Aotea / Great Barrier Island was accredited as a Dark Sky Sanctuary by the International Dark-Sky Association.

This designation is given for sites in very remote locations to increase awareness of their dark sky characteristics and promote long term conservation.

Other communities are Okupu and Whangaparapara in the south-west, Port Fitzroy and Ōkiwi in the north, and Claris and Medlands in the south-east.

The island has become a favourite holiday destination in the darker months, due its superbly dark sky and the astrophotography and stargazing opportunities this offers.

[citation needed] Without reticulated electricity, most houses use solar panels and a battery bank to generate and store power.

[32][33] From the end of February 2007, the island was seen around the world as the setting for the BBC One reality show Castaway, which was filmed there for three months.

Barrier Air operates services from Auckland Airport, North Shore Aerodrome, and Tauranga to Claris.

Previously, the lack of secondary schooling was cited as one of the reasons for a slow exodus of long-term resident families.

[39] As part of Auckland the rules governing daily activities and applicable standards for civic works and services exists, shared with some of the other inhabited islands of the Hauraki Gulf.