| Motuoapa | |
| Settlement Type: | Rural settlement |
| Coordinates: | -38.934°N 175.873°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | New Zealand |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Waikato region |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Taupō District |
| Subdivision Type3: | Ward |
| Subdivision Name3: | Turangi-Tongariro Ward |
| Subdivision Type4: | Community |
| Subdivision Name4: | Turangi-Tongariro Community |
| Leader Title: | Territorial Authority |
| Leader Name: | Taupō District Council |
| Leader Title1: | Regional council |
| Leader Name1: | Waikato Regional Council |
| Seat Type: | Electorates |
| Area Total Km2: | 3.34 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
Motuoapa is a rural settlement northeast of Tūrangi, on the southeast side of New Zealand's Lake Taupō. runs through it. Motuoapa Peninsula, a volcano, rises to the northwest, with a trig point at 497 metres, and Motuoapa Bay is directly to the north.[1]
A youth hostel opened at Motuoapa in 1955[2] and a marina was built in 1961.[3]
Statistics New Zealand describes Motuoapa as a rural settlement, which covers 3.34km2[4] and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km2. The settlement is part of the larger Lake Taupo Bays statistical area.
Motuoapa had a population of 360 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 123 people (51.9%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 132 people (57.9%) since the 2006 census. There were 159 households, comprising 171 males and 189 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.9 males per female, with 39 people (10.8%) aged under 15 years, 21 (5.8%) aged 15 to 29, 174 (48.3%) aged 30 to 64, and 129 (35.8%) aged 65 or older.
Ethnicities were 85.0% European/Pākehā, 20.8% Māori, 0.8% Pacific peoples, 3.3% Asian, and 3.3% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.
Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 51.7% had no religion, 39.2% were Christian, 0.8% had Māori religious beliefs and 0.8% had other religions.
Of those at least 15 years old, 66 (20.6%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 63 (19.6%) people had no formal qualifications. 48 people (15.0%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 120 (37.4%) people were employed full-time, 54 (16.8%) were part-time, and 6 (1.9%) were unemployed.
The highest point of Motuoapa Peninsula, at its north-eastern tip is a dacite volcano that has been dated as last erupting at 34,500 ± 3,100 years ago.[5] The other volcanic formations, some of which the dacite cone is built upon, are older rhyolite with two different eruption ages of 81,300 and 77,200 years ago.[5] At the time of the rhyolite eruptions, they were initially on the lake floor of the former Lake Huka which was replaced by Lake Taupō after the Oruanui eruption of the Taupō Volcano 25,400 years ago.[5] Although the magma reservoir that fed these Motuoapa eruptions appears to be separate from the one(s) that produced the more recent much larger Taupō eruptions, the type of eruption commencing under water but not staying underwater is felt possible in the future from the Taupō Volcano.[5] A perhaps unexpected characteristic is the thickness of the pyroclastic deposits produced at Motuoapa, as these indicate that such rhyolite dome building which was assumed to be mostly effusive, can have explosive pyroclastic stages that would be very disruptive and dangerous.[5]