[3][better source needed] In November 2015, Lonely Planet rated Waiheke Island the fifth-best region in the world to visit in 2016.

[6] Much of eastern Waiheke island is the remains of a Miocene volcano of the Kiwitahi Group, which erupted approximately 15 million years ago.

Rainfall is typically plentiful, though dry spells may occur during the summer months which can be problematic for many of the island residents, the vast majority of whom rely on rainwater harvesting from residential roofs for drinking and household use.

The islands of the Hauraki Gulf have been settled since the archaic period of Māori history, and were visited by many of the migratory canoes such as Aotea, Tākitimu, and Mātaatua.

[17] The original Māori name for Waiheke was apparently Te Motu-arai-roa, 'the long sheltering island',[18] but at the time the first European visitors arrived it was known as Motu-Wai-Heke, 'island of trickling waters'[18] — rendered as Motu Wy Hake by James Downie, master of the store ship HMS Coromandel, in his 1820 chart of the Tamaki Strait and the Coromandel coast.

[21] The island was briefly depopulated during the Musket Wars, when Ngāti Pāoa and other Tāmaki Māori sought refuge in areas such as the Waikato.

[17] In 1836, Thomas Maxwell established a shipyard at Man o'War Bay in eastern Waiheke, using local timber to build and repair ships.

[17] Ngāti Pāoa quickly engaged with the emerging industries, helping to supply timber and food for European ships.

[17] By the 1850s, the only Ngāti Pāoa land that remained on the island was a 2,100 acre section at Te Huruhi (near the modern suburb of Blackpool).

Day trips to Waiheke and Motutapu by steamers became a common recreational excursion, and boarding houses began to flourish at the south-eastern bays of the island.

A section of land could be bought for a small deposit on top of a cost of 8 pence a day and was promoted as a sound investment, however, a level of self sufficiency was required for life on the island as electricity only arrived in 1954.

[29] Waiheke is a popular holiday spot, and during the main summer season, especially around Christmas and Easter, its population increases substantially due to the number of holiday homes being rented out, corporate functions and dance parties at vineyards and restaurants, the Wine Festival and the Jazz Festival and weekend trippers from around the country and the world.

A downside of tourism is that short-term "Airbnb" type-accommodation is said to be causing a shortage of homes available for locals to rent on a long-term basis, leading to a housing crises.

One member on the City Council represented all the inhabited Hauraki Gulf islands (i.e. Waiheke, Great Barrier and Rakino) plus the downtown area in the central business district.

In 1991, the city responded to a campaign run by a pro-union group, the Waiheke Island Residents & Ratepayers Association (Inc) by holding a democratic referendum.

Denise Roche, Faye Storer, Jo Holmes, Don McKenzie and Jim Hannan were elected to the new Local Board.

Paul Walden was re-elected to the Local Board, joined by Beatle Treadwell, Becs Ballard, John Meeuwsen and Shirin Brown.

In 2015–16, the subject of amalgamation remained a hot topic on the island with an application filed with the Local Government Commission from a group called Our Waiheke for a unitary authority.

[29] Waiheke has a community-run cinema,[49] a theatre[50] that hosts a number of regular musicians, performances and local productions, and a library[51] that was rebuilt in 2014 at the cost of $6 million.

There are currently two non-governmental, commercially owned operators providing daily passenger only services from Downtown Auckland to Waiheke's Matiatia wharf: the first is the long-standing Fullers, with trips taking approximately 40 minutes, or around 50 minutes when the service calls at Devonport; and the second is the relative newcomer Island Direct,[71] who offer a slightly less frequent, smaller, family-run business alternative[72] Meanwhile, SeaLink - also a non-governmental, commercially owned but publicly listed company - provides passenger, car and freight services between Half Moon Bay in East Auckland and Waiheke's Kennedy Point, with trips taking around 50 minutes to an hour.

SeaLink also offer a passenger and car "City Service" connecting Kennedy Point with Auckland's Wynyard Quarter.

In 2023 a detailed Waka Kotahi report was published that examined the business case for the removal of the special exemption,[81] however, while the report found there was a “strong case for changing the status” it ultimately fell short of pushing for change[82] Waiheke has a reliable and fully timetabled public bus service (pdf) which is operated by Waiheke Bus Company[83] (owned by Fullers), and overseen by Auckland Transport.

At the car ferry terminal at Kennedy Point, the highway department has posted a sign saying "Slow Down, You're here", which delivers the message to visitors about island life.

The Waiheke Bus Company (owned by Fullers) services most inhabited parts of the island, linking to the ferry sailings from Matiatia and Kennedy Point.

Internet services were provided using VDSL and ADSL until central government introduced a national fibre optic rollout that included urban parts of Waiheke.

The gateway to Waiheke, where the main pedestrian ferry lands over one million passengers per year, is a valley and harbour called Matiatia.

[a] This set the stage for confidential negotiations between Auckland's mayor Dick Hubbard and the investors, who on 31 August 2005 (now known as 'Matiatia Day' on the island) sold the stock in WIL to the city for $12.5 million.

[101] It attracted much criticism for the lack of car parking close to the ferry terminal, the transport hub function used by all islanders regularly and almost daily by around 850 commuters to Auckland.

Some of the veterans of the protests a decade prior (led by local resident, retired newsreader John Hawkesby), re-emerged to oppose.

In 2023 a new controversial marina opened at Kennedy Point,[104] despite years of resource and environmental court wranglings[105] Waiheke has become known as New Zealand's "island of wine," home to a dedicated group of winegrowers who have successfully matched the maritime climate and ancient soil structures to the selection of classical grape varieties to produce red and white wines with distinctive varietal character.