The region around the bay is rugged and remote, and for many years the only access to the town was by boat.

[5] The Ūawa River reaches the Pacific Ocean in the middle of Tolaga Bay.

There is a bar at the river mouth with around 2 metres of water at high tide.

In 2018 heavy rains washed huge amounts of discarded forestry timber (or slash) down the Ūawa River, which choked up the estuary, covered the beach, and caused extensive damage to farms and houses.

It may have been a misunderstanding of "teraki" or "tarakaka", referring to the local south-westerly wind rather than the place.

[13][14] The original Māori name is Uawa Nui A Ruamatua (shortened to Uawa), and some local residents now refer to the area as Hauiti, and themselves as Hauitians[15] from the local hapū Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti.

At the time of Cook's visit, according to Anne Salmond, here "a famous school of learning (Known as Te Rawheoro) that specialized in tribal lore and carving was sited..." Tupaia, the Raiatean navigator accompanying Cook since Tahiti, met with the tohunga, priest, of this whare wananga.

The Māori viewed Tupaia as a tohunga, and many children born during his visit bore his name.

Additionally, Tupaia made a sketch within the rock shelter of Opoutama ('Cook's Cove' or 'Tupaia's Cave'), according to Joel Polack.

[16] In the 1830s there was a thriving flax trade involving early European traders like Barnet Burns.

In response, the Tolaga Bay Save the Wharf Trust raised funds and gained technical help to restore it.