Waipu (Māori: Waipū) is a small town in Bream Bay, in the Northland Region of New Zealand.

Near the town are the Waipu Caves, which contain a significant population of glow worms.

Waipu was the centre of a significant Presbyterian settlement led by Rev.

Norman McLeod, a Presbyterian minister who led his people from the Highlands of Scotland to New Zealand via Pictou and St. Ann's in Nova Scotia and Australia.

[3] Waipu was a location for the late 19th/early 20th century kauri gum digging trade.

However, by 1924, private motor vehicles were becoming more common and railway lines to sparsely-populated rural areas accordingly became less necessary.

Due to the lack of significant industrial activity in the Waipu area, the branch line was no longer seen as economic and construction was cancelled before any rail tracks were laid.

Statistics New Zealand describes Waipū as a small urban area.

The results were 89.2% European (Pākehā); 17.9% Māori; 2.6% Pasifika; 3.9% Asian; 0.4% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 4.1% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".

[8] Waipū Rural statistical area, which includes Waipu Cove and Langs Beach and surrounds but does not include Waipū settlement, covers 133.08 km2 (51.38 sq mi)[1] and had an estimated population of 2,020 as of June 2024,[10] with a population density of 15 people per km2.

The results were 92.6% European (Pākehā); 13.6% Māori; 3.2% Pasifika; 1.9% Asian; 1.0% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 2.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander".

The remaining schools, and one at Mata north of Ruakaka, were consolidated into Waipu District High School in 1940, which provided both primary and secondary education on a single site on St Mary's Road.

By the late 1960s, Waipu was the largest District High School in the country and had inadequate facilities.