Waikaretu

20th century The current Waikaretu settlement was established with the opening of a local school in 1924. The Waikaretu War Memorial Hall was built in 1952. It has no Roll of Honour, but includes a plaque commemorating those who served in both World War I and World War II. 21st century By the 2010s the area featured several dairy farms, including the third-generation Whitford farm. In 2016, the Overseas Investment Office granted a Chinese company, Weihai Station, approval to buy 595 hectares of coastal land. Part of the land will be used for a lodge and training facility, with the rest continuing to operate as a sheep and beef farm. The company gave Waikaretu School $25,000 in grants between 2016 and 2020. Also in 2016, a secretive group began tunneling into the side of road searching for the skeletons of a mythical race of pre-Polynesian giants. They called off the search in February 2020, after iwi, academics and the landowner raised concerns about the dig. == Nikau Cave ==

The area features the long Nikau Cave, named after nīkau forest, with limestone pillars, stalactites and stalagmites. The caves contain many thousands of glow-worms which visitors can observe up close. There is a visitor cafe, and there are several accommodation options nearby. A British analysis of TripAdvisor reviews in 2020 identified the cave as one of New Zealand's best secret tourist spots. The cave has been formed in Waimai Limestone, which is about 28m years old, hard, flaggy, glauconitic, pebbly and over 90% formed of calcium carbonate. There is also a path beside Waikaretu Stream, through QEII protected areas of bush, from near the cave to the foot of a waterfall. ==Demographics==

Waikaretu is in an SA1 statistical area which covers . The SA1 area is part of the larger Port Waikato-Waikaretu statistical area. 7011061 had a population of 120 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 21 people (−14.9%) since the 2018 census, and a decrease of 9 people (−7.0%) since the 2013 census. There were 63 males, 60 females and 3 people of other genders in 42 dwellings. 2.5% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 35.5 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 21 people (17.5%) aged under 15 years, 27 (22.5%) aged 15 to 29, 54 (45.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 15 (12.5%) aged 65 or older. ==Education==

Waikaretu School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of as of . The school opened in 1924. == See also ==