Mauao means ‘caught by the dawn’ and plenty of people enjoy climbing to the summit to greet each new day. There are several summit tracks to choose from and they’re popular throughout daylight hours. Mauao stands 232-metres above sea level and its summit tracks are not a casual stroll. You’ll need a reasonably good level of fitness and mobility to climb to the top but it’s certainly worth the effort.You can survey the entire Western Bay of Plenty from this vantage point – right down the white sand coastline to Pāpāmoa and beyond, over the harbour and Tauranga’s city suburbs, and north across Matakana Island towards Bowentown and Waihī Beach.