The hamlet of Aniwaniwa and the Waikaremoana Holiday Park are located on the lakeshore, along SH38 (from Wai-O-Tapu via Murupara to Wairoa), which connects the lake to the central North Island (Rotorua) and Gisborne.

The climate of the area is temperate In the summer and cool during the winters, snowfalls occur a few times a year in the region.

Waikaremoana, the North Island's deepest lake (256 m deep), has its surface at 600 metres (2,000 ft) above sea level.

A huge landslide dam about 250 metres (800 ft) high formed the lake around 2,200 years ago.

Numerous understory species grow within the forested area of the catchment basin, crown fern (Lomaria discolor), for example.

[5] The climate of Lake Waikaremoana is temperate during the summer months and cool in the winter where snow events are not unheard of.

[citation needed] The stability of the natural dam has been the subject of intense engineering review, both at the time of construction and subsequently.

As it was, the lake level had to be lowered by temporary syphons to enable the construction of the headworks and make sealing of the natural dam easier.