Community Features

Kaiti is a community with many diverse cultures and natural attractions.

Kaiti is laid out in a valley that stretches from Turanga River and the edge of the central business district of Gisborne city to the beautiful beaches of Okitu, Makorori and Wainui.

Titirangi, or Kaiti Hill, dominates the skyline and is by far the most popular tourist attraction for visitors to Gisborne and the East Coast. Views from Titirangi take in the whole of Gisborne city, stretch south to the Mahia penninusla, east across the Pacific Ocean, views to the north of the East Cape and west to Te Urewera National Park over the vineyards and farms of the Turanga flats.

Kaiti Beach is nestled below Titirangi and is a popular diving and windsurfing beach. Between Titirangi and the Gisborne harbour is the Port of Gisborne, a major shipping gateway for forestry and other export products from Tairawhiti to foreign shores.

Kaiti was the destination for the first landfall of Europeans in Aotearoa, Captain James Cook anchored off Kaiti Beach in 1769. The occasion was a tragedy and his men murdered a group of local Mäori before departing without getting any supplies.

Since then, many more Europeans and other peoples have arrived in Kaiti, many pass through it on their way around the East Cape.