As an urban area delineated by Statistics New Zealand, the Hibiscus Coast consists of Hatfields Beach, Orewa, Silverdale and Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

After fleeing the area in the 1820s due to the Musket Wars, Ngāti Kahu returned to the Hibiscus Coast, living here until the 1870s.

The township of Silverdale, then known as The Wade, was established as a logging town along the Weiti River, and the Waiwera Hot Pools became a popular tourist attraction in the latter 19th century.

The area rapidly developed in the 1950s and 1960s, in part due to the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge, and town centres were constructed in Orewa and Whangaparāoa.

[5] Major communities on the Hibiscus Coast include Orewa, the Whangaparāoa Peninsula, Silverdale, and the villages of Stillwater, Hatfields Beach and Waiwera.

Tiritiri Matangi is located a short distance off the end of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula adjacent to the Shakespear Regional Park.

[16] Prior to European settlement, the inland Hibiscus Coast area was densely forested,[17] dominated by kauri,[18] and the upper Ōrewa River catchment was a wetland.

The group chose hibiscus, a non-native flower, due to its associations with beach and holiday atmospheres.

[27] The Hibiscus Coast area has been settled since at least the 13th century, with many of the first Māori occupants identifying as Ngā Oho.

[28] Archaeological sites in the area are most densely found at Karepiro Bay, the Ōrewa River estuary and Shakespear Regional Park, at the end of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula.

[17] The Ōrewa River estuary was an important sheltered harbour, which offered marine resources such as shellfish and flounder, and connections to inland walking routes.

[29] Portages, where waka could be hauled overland between waterways, connected the Hibiscus Coast area to the Kaipara Harbour in the west.

[20][36] Ngāti Kahu focused settlement at Te Haruhi Bay at modern Shakespear Regional Park, due to its desirble location,[29] and held a defensive pā, Rarowhara, at the eastern headland of the Weiti River.

[46] The Hibiscus Coast area was visited by explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville in 1827 aboard the Astrolabe.

[48] The first known European to step ashore onto the Hibiscus Coast was a missionary in 1833,[49] and early timber merchants were attracted to the Weiti River catchment by the late 1830s.

[48] Following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840,[50] the Crown made the first purchases of the Mahurangi and Omaha blocks on 13 April 1841, which included the Hibiscus Coast.

[55][41] Maurice and Ellen Kelly, who operated a timber milling business, opened the Wade Hotel, which became the social centre for the town.

[61] Outside of the Wade, Ranulph Dacre acquired Weiti Station, a timber mill at modern Okura Bush Scenic Reserve in 1846,[20] and the Polkinghorme family settled at Whangaparāoa in the 1850s, establishing a short-lived cheese factory.

[46] By the mid-1850s, the majority of accessible native forest had been logged across the region, and the Hibiscus Coast was subdivided into farming lots.

[63] As kauri gum deposits became rarer, land at Orewa was developed into orchards, where apples, pears, grapes and citrus fruit were grown for the Auckland market.

[65] A long jetty was constructed at Waiwera in 1905, quickly becoming dilapidated due to the wharf's length making it difficult to maintain.

[68] Following the start of World War II, the threat of Japanese invasion saw the headland of the Whangaparāoa Peninsula chosen as one of two Auckland defence sites.

[69] The base, remains active into the 21st century as part of the Royal New Zealand Navy as the RNZN Tamaki Training Centre.

[46] The Hibiscus Coast experienced a building and population boom in the 1960s, due to the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge.

The rink developed into an entertainment precinct for the Hibiscus Coast in the 1960s, including a minigolf range and concert space.

[73] In the mid-1960s, the Hibiscus Coast Association was established by local businessmen, looking to create a unified identity for the Orewa and Whangaparāoa areas.

Gulf Harbour is near the end of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula, which is quite close to the wildlife reserve Tiritiri Matangi Island.

[105] The Hibiscus Coast was amalgamated into Auckland Council in November 2010, under a single unitary authority system.

[77] Motorway extensions allowed the Hibiscus Coast Highway to be repurposed to serve growth in the local areas.

[134] Founded in 1974, the Hibiscus Coast AFC is an amateur football club based in Stanmore Bay which competes in the Lotto Sport Italia NRFL Division 2.