Whirinaki is a small coastal settlement in Hawke's Bay, in the eastern North Island of New Zealand.

Pan Pac timber and wood pulp mill, one of Hawke's Bay's largest industrial plants, is at Whirinaki.

The diesel-powered Whirinaki Power Station opened next to the mill in 1978, later closed and then reopened in 2004.

Designed to be a standby power station, it has a total capacity of 155MW and is owned and operated by Contact Energy.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 57.0% had no religion, 33.6% were Christian, 0.8% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.8% were Muslim, 0.8% were Buddhist and 1.6% had other religions.