It is the easternmost of the Taipa-Mangonui string of settlements, separated from Coopers Beach to the northwest by Mill Bay Road.

[6] The settlement began to serve the whalers at the beginning of the 19th century, and expanded into a trading port with kauri sawmills and farming.

It became the main centre for the Far North in the 1860s, with shipping services to Auckland, and a hospital.

The port lost importance as roads improved and industries declined in the 1950s.

It remains a fishing and farming support centre, and a tourist destination.

Mangōnui is part of the larger Doubtless Bay statistical area.

The results were 76.3% European (Pākehā); 39.7% Māori; 2.7% Pasifika; 2.7% Asian; 0.9% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.8% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".