Wharekawa Marae sits in the small coastal village of Kaiaua, below Te Ngahere nui o Kohukohunui in the Hunua Ranges, facing the moana Tīkapa. The marae is at 1237 East Coast Road, Whakatiwai, in the Franklin district. It belongs to the iwi of Ngāti Pāoa and Ngāti Whanaunga, and its name, Wharekawa, means the house of rituals. The website names its main buildings as Whare Tupuna, Wharemoe Tawhito and Wharekai.
The marae's history is set out on its website, from the 1924 grant of land for a marae, through the building of its ablution block in the late 1960s and a dining hall in 1972, to the paepae, waharoa, pathway and marae atea added in 2002. The website describes a family revival in the mid-1960s, when whānau who had settled elsewhere returned to reconnect with their kaumatua and kuia. The marae is an important place for its iwi, and the website says it continues to be shaped by the people who return to it.