Whirinaki is a small coastal settlement in Hawke's Bay, in the eastern North Island of New Zealand. It sits just north of the mouth of the Esk River, a few kilometres north of Bay View and a similar distance east of Eskdale. It lies on State Highway 2, just north of its junction with State Highway 5.

Whirinaki
Whirinaki
Coordinates: 39°22′34″S 176°53′36″E
Country	New Zealand
Region	Hawke's Bay
Territorial authority	Hastings District

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.[1] A mountain bike park is immediately north of the mill.

Pētane Marae[lower-alpha 1] is in a rural area nearby. It is a meeting place for Ngāti Matepū and Ngāti Whakaari, two hapū (sub-tribes) of the Ngāti Kahungunu iwi (tribe). Te Amiki is the name of the meeting house.[2][3] In October 2020, the Government committed $6,020,910 from the Provincial Growth Fund to upgrade 19 Hawke's Bay marae, including Pētane Marae. The funding was expected to create 39 jobs.[4]

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