Omarama (Māori: Ōmarama) is a small town (population 291 as of the 2018 census) at the junction of State Highways 8 and 83, near the southern end of the Mackenzie Basin, in the South Island of New Zealand.

In more recent years these and similar services have expanded moderately, due to the increase in new residents and visitors, including anglers, artists, astronomers, sailplane enthusiasts, skiers and general tourists.

A significant proportion of permanent village residents are employees of, or contractors to, Meridian Energy Limited, a state-owned enterprise which is responsible for the nearby dams and powerstations that are part of New Zealand's hydroelectricity generation.

The Māori language name Ōmarama means "Place of Light",[3][4] a reference to its extraordinarily pure and clear sky.

[8] The Omarama area had numerous important food sources (kāinga mahinga kai) for the Ngāi Tahu Māori iwi (tribe) in what would later be named the Mackenzie Basin.

[9] In 1877, Hipa Te Maihāroa with over 100 supporters travelled up the Waitaki River to Omarama and camped there to reaffirm the Ngāi Tahu claim to the interior of the South Island.

[10] Although traditionally sheep country, Omarama area farms, along with those within the rest of the Mackenzie Basin, have rapidly converted to predominantly dairy farming, due to falling sheep meat and wool prices, and the recent boom in dairy product earnings.

The dairy conversion has made major changes to the local environment, with iconic tussock lands being ploughed and replaced by pasture, facilitated by new irrigation schemes.

Large centre pivot irrigators and private canal networks now dominate much of the landscape.

[11][12] Recently however, diminishing returns on dairy-based agriculture have led to farmers investigating alternative methods and practices, some now experimenting with biofuel crops.

Commonly encountered local fish species include salmon, and brown and rainbow trout.

Pilots come to Omarama to experience strong lee wave conditions, ridge soaring and thermal flying.

It is common for Omarama-based gliders to soar hundreds of kilometres along the Southern Alps each day.

[citation needed] Disney's movie Mulan released in 2020 was partially filmed at the Omarama Clay Cliffs.