Manukau Harbour

Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.

The harbour mouth is located at the southern end of the Waitakere Ranges and South Head at the end of the long Awhitu Peninsula reaching up from close to the mouth of the Waikato River. The mouth is only 1800 metres wide, but after a nine kilometre channel it opens up into a roughly square basin 20 kilometres in width. The harbour has a water surface area of 394 square kilometres. There is a tidal variation in depth of up to 4 metres, a very substantial change,

The harbour has three main arms - the Mangere inlet at the northeast lies close to Auckland's central city area, and the inner suburbs of Onehunga and Te Papapa are situated close to its northern shore. To the south of this arm lies the Otahuhu and Mangere urban areas. This arm is crossed by the Mangere Bridge. In the southeast is the Papakura Channel, which extends into the urban area of Papakura. In the southwest a further inlet known as the Waiuku River reaches south to the town of Waiuku. Auckland Airport is located close to the harbour's eastern shore.