[4] The beach is approximately 37 km (23 mi) west of Auckland City, at the mouth of the Waitakere River where it flows into the Tasman Sea.

One of several popular resorts in the area (others include Muriwai, Piha and Karekare), it is rated the 4th most dangerous beach in New Zealand to swim at due to its strong rips and currents.

[citation needed] The Te Henga Valley shows evidence of human settlement dating back many centuries.

[6] A rock in the beach to the north-west of Ihumoana Island is the namesake of Wai-tākere ("cascading water"),[7][8] which was later applied to the Waitākere River, Ranges, and West Auckland in general.

In addition, a dam was constructed on the Waitakere River in the 1920s, drastically altering the level of the riverbed and reducing the outflow of water to the sea.

[4] Prior to the dam being constructed, the Waitākere River catchment at Te Henga was a site where New Zealand flax was harvested.

[10] In excerpts from a letter of 23 September 1853, Henry Waterhouse of Waiti described the wreck of the barque Helena, near the mouth of the Waitakere River at Te Henga.

Heavy seas and the incoming tide had caused the barque to break in two, resulting in the loss of seven lives including the captain.

Four survivors were rescued by two Kawerau Māori men returning from pig hunting, who cared for them for several days before escorting them to Auckland.

The results were 95.3% European (Pākehā); 14.1% Māori; 7.1% Pasifika; 1.2% Asian; and 2.4% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA).

[24][25] Historically there were several marae spread around the Te Henga (Bethells Beach) area, however these sites are now all in private ownership and housing.

Currently the iwi are in negotiations with Auckland Council to set up a new marae at Te Henga so they can return to their ancestral heartland.

7,000 years ago, when sea-levels rose after the Last Glacial Maximum, Te Henga / Bethells Beach and the surrounding area including Lake Wainamu formed a part of the Waitākere River tidal estuary.

These sands contain quantities of black titanomagnetite derived from the volcanic rocks of Taranaki and carried north by coastal currents.

Located on the west coast of the Auckland Region approximately 75% of the catchment consists of native vegetation in spite of extensive milling, farming and settlement.

The beach has been used as a filming location for several projects, one of the earliest being a four-month shoot for award-winning drama series Children of Fire Mountain (1979).

Other shoots include the music video for Shania Twain's single "Forever and for Always"(2003), "Out of the Woods" for Taylor Swift, TV series The New Adventures of Black Beauty and The Wilds[27], Brit/New Zealand TV movie The Man Who Lost His Head, and episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess, Young Hercules, and Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.

In addition, K-pop singer Taeyeon's first solo music video I, and the end scenes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: Sword of Destiny were also filmed here.