With a thriving wharf and commercial area, Māpua has grown in popularity for visitors, with numbers swelling the region over the summer months.

Middens, tools and human bones found at Grossis Point and around the northern edges of the Waimea inlet suggest small seasonal Māori settlements were located here, with a major pā (fortified settlement) located on the Kina Cliffs to the north.

The pā remained in use in the period of early European settlement of the Māpua district; the public can visit the site.

The lack of evidence of cannibalism and the rarity of weapons suggest that the Māori living in this district were peaceful and seldom were involved in wars.

Owing to the invaders' considerable advantage in weaponry and skill, they soon overcame the local Māori populations.

The first land-sale to a European in Māpua involved 166 acres, bought in 1854 by Captain James S. Cross for 60 pounds.

The first European resident of Māpua, James Heatly, worked as a fisherman and hunted rabbits, which he brought to Nelson to sell.

By 1915, a substantial wharf could cope with larger ships coming into the harbour for the apple trade, which was booming at this time.

In 1932 the Fruitgrowers Chemical Company built a plant to manufacture pesticides for use in the numerous orchards in the surrounding area.

The Tasman District Council took over the site in 1989, and measures were taken to prevent leaching of the chemicals into the adjoining Waimea Inlet.

Thiess, the main contractor, held the resource consents to carry out the work; EDL supplied the remediation technology: Mechano-Chemical Dehalogenation (MCD).

[7] In May 2012, a Department of Labour report[8] found that some of the 30 people who worked on the cleanup suffered health issues including respiratory problems, nausea, collapsing and fatigue.