The Kawakawa River is in the Northland Region of New Zealand's North Island.

It flows predominantly eastward to Opua, where it joins the Waikare Inlet to flow into the Veronica Channel at the southern end of the Bay of Islands.

About half the river's length is an estuary, over 500 m (550 yd) wide in places.

[1] Long Bridge, the longest wooden railway bridge in the Southern Hemisphere, crosses the river at Taumarere as part of the Bay of Islands Vintage Railway.

This article about a river in the Northland Region is a stub.