It is located on the north bank of the Weiti River and lies to the west of the Whangaparaoa Peninsula.

This passes through Orewa and Waiwera before joining State Highway 1 at the termination of the motorway south of Puhoi.

It is located on the Hibiscus Coast Highway a few hundred metres south-west of Silverdale.

[3] The township was established under the name Wade (a corruption of Weiti) but renamed Silverdale in 1911 because of the many poplar trees in the area at the time and because it is situated in a dale.

[4] The historic areas of Silverdale feature a number of 19th century buildings from when the township was established, including the Holy Trinity Anglican Church from 1885, and the Methodist Parsonage, built in 1887.

Religious affiliations were 33.8% Christian, 1.9% Hindu, 1.8% Islam, 1.3% Buddhist, 0.3% New Age, and 1.2% other religions.