By 1832 (8 years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi) it was the site of the first coastal whaling station in northern Hawke's Bay, run by an American named Ward.

Due to the urgency of the situation, the lack of progress on the inland railway route, and the business community's inability to raise the necessary capital, the Government agreed to build the line to Waikokopu.

However the port company had failed in its attempts to create an inner harbour at Waikokopu, and the Government had to authorise expenditure of a further £78,000 for 'the immediate erection of safe berthing facilities'.

[6] During further development of the port in 1925 the ship Talune was stripped, filled with rocks and sunk to form a breakwater to protect the wharf from the Southerly swells.

[3] From 1929 and through the 1930s heavy equipment and iron work for the Waikaremoana power project was brought ashore at Waikokopu, railed to Wairoa, and then carted up to the lake by bullock wagon and traction engines.

Easy transport to Gisborne and Napier via rail gave Wairoa access to superior port facilities, and Waikokopu reverted to a small fishing establishment and a base for servicing the lighthouse on Portland Island, off the south end of the Māhia Peninsula, until the light was automated in 1984.

[8] In November 1900, the cutter Coralie encountered a strong south-westerly wind and ran for shelter at Waikokopu during a voyage from Gisborne to Napier.

After a perilous trip in the dinghy the crew landed safely, but after a short time the storm increased and their ship was driven ashore where the surf quickly broke it up.