At the end of the road there is a large sandy beach, a massive grassed area and the privately owned Okataina Lodge.

Due to changes in the surface level of the lake, the lodge jetty has at times been either completely submerged or left high and dry.

The lake is feed by multiple unnamed and often transient streams with a total catchment precipitation inflow average of 3,841 L/s (135.6 cu ft/s).

[7] Because of war raids before 1886,[6] and flooding after 1886, the previous sites of occupation on the lake shore were abandoned by the Māori Ngāti Tarāwhai inhabitants.

[4]: 56  A palisade post found under water near Motuwhetero Island confirms that the older low lake level had been present for at least about 100 years before the eruption.

The local red deer prevent seedlings from maturing into saplings and the combined effect has been a profound depletion of the forest under storey.