Tolaga Bay () is both a bay and small town on the East Coast of New Zealand's North Island located 45 kilometres northeast of Gisborne and 30 kilometres south of Tokomaru Bay. The region around the bay is rugged and remote, and for many years the only access to the town was by boat. Because the bay is shallow, a long wharf – the second longest in New Zealand (600m) after the Tiwai Point wharf at Bluff (1,500m) – was built in the 1920s to accommodate visiting vessels. The last cargo ship to use the wharf loaded a cargo of maize in 1967. The town is a popular holiday spot. Its population is predominantly Māori, a centre of the Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti hapū and home of Ariki – Te Kani a Takirau and Tohunga – Rangiuia. Geography The Ūawa River reaches the Pacific Ocean in the middle of Tolaga Bay. There is a bar at the river mouth with around 2 metres of water at high tide. The Ūawa River is called the Hikuwai further up. Tributaries include the Waiau and the Mangaheia. In 2018 heavy rains washed huge amounts of discarded forestry timber (or slash) down the Ūawa River, which choked up the estuary, covered the beach, and caused extensive damage to farms and houses. An island in the bay was originally named Spöring Island by Cook, after his expedition's assistant naturalist and instrument maker, Herman Spöring, a Finnish botanist. It is however today again known by its Māori name, Pourewa. Parks Uawa Reserve is the settlement's local sports ground. Demographics Statistics New Zealand describes Tolaga Bay as a rural settlement, which covers . It is part of the wider Wharekaka statistical area. Tolaga Bay had a population of 831 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 81 people (10.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 21 people (2.6%) since the 2006 census. There were 294 households, comprising 423 males and 414 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.02 males per female, with 222 people (26.7%) aged under 15 years, 132 (15.9%) aged 15 to 29, 357 (43.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 120 (14.4%) aged 65 or older. Ethnicities were 26.7% European/Pākehā, 86.6% Māori, 4.3% Pacific peoples, 1.1% Asian, and 0.4% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity. Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 46.6%