It lies on the Kāpiti Coast, 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of the nation's capital city, Wellington.

Like other towns in the area, it has a partner settlement at the coast called Paraparaumu Beach, which is directly opposite Kapiti Island.

It began as a Tourist and Agricultural Centre, but later gained a reputation for cheese and the Lindale Barnyard petting farm.

[6][7][8] The old State Highway 1 and the Kapiti Line section of the North Island Main Trunk railway both pass through Lindale.

There were proposals to extend the commuter train service operated by Transdev Wellington to a new station at Lindale, subject to Wellington Regional Council funding, but these were dropped when electrification for the commuter service was extended from Paraparaumu to Waikanae.

[10][5] The name Paraparaumu comes from an 1819–1820 expedition of Ngāpuhi and Ngāti Toa, who on the west coast of the North Island from Kāwhia to Cook Strait.

[10] In August 1936 a train derailed in Paraparaumu as it approached a land slide in rainy weather.

[11] Paraparaumu has an oceanic climate typical of New Zealand, with moderately warm summers and mild winters.

It has a quite high rainfall frequency year round, although it is drier than many other coastal areas in the country.

Prior to the mid 2010s Air New Zealand used to have scheduled services to Kapiti Coast Airport with their ATR-42s and Q-400/ DHC-8s.

Korean built by Hyundai Rotem, FP/FT class electric multiple units operate the commuter trains.

Beyond Waikanae, KiwiRail's Great Journeys New Zealand division operates two diesel-hauled long distance passenger services: the Capital Connection between Palmerston North and Wellington, and the Northern Explorer between Auckland and Wellington.