Kaitaia, town, northern North Island, New Zealand. It lies 4.5 miles (7 km) above the mouth of the Awanui River, on the North Auckland Peninsula.
In 1833 W.G. Puckey of the Church Missionary Society established a station there. The settlement that grew up was made a town in 1922. Kaitaia derives its name from a Maori word meaning “food destroyed by floods.”
It is a business and administrative centre for the dairy, sheep, and mushroom farms of the northernmost part of the island. It has road connections to Auckland (145 miles [233 km] southeast). The town’s manufactures include agricultural machinery and engineering and concrete products; there are also dairy plants, limeworks, and sawmills. Ninety Mile Beach is nearby. Pop. (2006) 5,205; (2012 est.) 5,460.