Standing 420 metres, the summit offers outstanding views of the Marsden Point Oil Refinery, Bream Bay and the Hauraki Gulf to the south, Whangārei Harbour to the west and the Poor Knights Islands and Northland coast to the north.

Mt Manaia - along with Mt Lion, Bream Head and the Hen and Chicken Islands, are the scattered remnants of andesite, volcanic intusions that erupted with force 16 to 22 million years ago during the early Miocene.

[1] They are part of a 50 km2 (19 sq mi) stratovolcano that extended to the Hen and Chickens.

Today blanketed by native bush, Manaia's jagged peaks and steep bluffs are protected within a Department of Conservation reserve which features a well-maintained 1½ hour track to the summit.

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