Waiheke Island is home to a permanent population of around 8,000 residents. About 2,000 of these residents commute to Auckland via ferry every day for work. As a popular holiday destination, the population is said to swell to about 50,000 people over the summer months.
Much of the population lives close to the western end of the island, at or close to an east-west isthmus between Huruhi Bay and Oneroa Bay which, at its narrowest, is only 600 metres wide. Here are the settlements of Oneroa and Blackpool; immediately to the east of these are Palm Beach, Surfdale, and Ostend. Further east lies Onetangi, which is located on the central north coast on the wide Onetangi Bay. Much of the eastern half of Waiheke Island is privately owned farmland.