Mauao is open to the public and is popular for scenic walks, jogging, parasailing and hang gliding.

[citation needed] The patupaiarehe decided to give the name Mauao to this mountain, which now marks the entrance into Tauranga Harbour.

In time this mountain assumed its own great prestige and mana even over his once rival Otanewainuku and now stands as the symbol of all tribes of Tauranga Moana.

[citation needed] Mount Maunganui is a large rhyolitic lava dome located at the northern end of the Tauranga Volcanic Centre.

The earliest people known to have resided in the Tauranga area are the Purukupenga, whose name alone survives, and the Ngamarama, who inhabited all the land from the Waimapu Stream to the Kaimai Ranges.

[citation needed] Another was the Te Arawa canoe which made landfall at Maketu, with some of her crew occupying the land between the Tauranga harbour and the Kaituna River.

Its captain, Tamatea Arikinui, climbed to the summit of Mauao (Mount Maunganui) to offer karakia (prayers) and to bury there the mauri (life force) of his people.

[citation needed] Tamatea built a pa (stockaded village) on the hill known as Maungatawa, where his people settled.

[4] In later years Ngaiterangi after many failed attempts of looking to settle themselves in a permanent area led a massive raid on the Ngati Ranginui pa site on top of Mauao (around 1700).

Armed with muskets Ngapuhi decided to intimidate and force their way through under the command of Te Morenga in 1820, the large pa site was not re-occupied after this battle.