Whitianga is a town on the Coromandel Peninsula, in the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.

Stats NZ describes Whitianga as a small urban area, which covers 17.20 km2 (6.64 sq mi).

It is situated on the coast of Mercury Bay along the 5 km (3 mi) long east-facing Buffalo Beach.

Whitianga has been continuously occupied for more than a thousand years since Māori explorer Kupe's iwi (tribe) settled here after his visit in about 950 AD.

[citation needed] Whitianga Pā, located on the ferry landing side of the river is a notable site.

On Cook's visit to the site in November 1769, the inhabitants who welcomed him believed the pā had been disused for a generation since it had been attacked by a Tauranga chief who married the slain chief's wife and settled peacefully into the area.

Cook noted burnt palisade stumps as evidence that an earlier attack had evicted the ancient pā's residents.

This large sheltered bay was later renamed by Captain James Cook when he came here in November 1769 to observe the transit of Mercury.

Cook was accompanied by Charles Green, the Royal Society expedition astronomer who died on the homeward journey in 1771.

From Cook's journal – "my reasons for putting in here were the hopes of discerning a good harbour and the desire I had of being in some convenient place to observe the Transit of Mercury, which happens on the 9th instant and will be wholly visible here if the day is clear between 5 and 6 o'clock."

The sighting of the Transit of Mercury is commemorated at Cooks Beach by a cairn of Coromandel granite which tells the story: "In this bay was anchored 5 Nov 1769, HMS Endeavour, Lieutenant James Cook RN, Commander.

[26] SS Fingal was launched in 1879 to serve Tauranga, Mercury Bay and Tairua[27] and became part of the Northern Steamship Company fleet in 1881.

Overseas vessels of 2000 tons with a draught of 18" and carrying with their decks loads over a million feet of timber worked the harbour entrance.

Over a period of sixty years, it is estimated over 500 million feet of kauri was exported from the Whitianga district.

Today Whitianga serves as a small regional centre for the eastern side of the Coromandel Peninsula and Mercury Bay area.

It is a focal point for local fishing, farming and tourism industry, such as the nearby Te Whanganui-A-Hei (Cathedral Cove) marine reserve and associated famous beach and cave.

The area surrounding Whitianga (222 square km) is currently under a mineral prospecting license granted by the Crown to mining company Waihi Gold (a subsidiary of Newmont Corporation Colorado, USA).

InterCity buses[36] and Go Kiwi Shuttle[37] serve the community with transportation to Whitianga from Thames, Auckland and other locations around the Coromandel Peninsula and North Island.