Start at The Heke on Onetangi Road, the pick of the island's pubs and bars for a long day out, and order the smash burger with bacon, then work through the wood-fired pizzas.
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Pubs and bars · Onetangi · $$
★ 4.8 from 947 Google reviews
You can lose a whole afternoon on these four acres without moving far from your table, starting with lunch under the trees and finishing with a beer flight, a whisky tasting and a turn in one of the golf simulator bays.
Cafes · Oneroa · $
★ 4.8 from 944 Google reviews
The coffee hits you before you've picked a seat, and there's a seat for every mood: a small terrace out front on Ocean View Road, a bar top facing the street, and a few tables inside where the road noise drops away.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi · $$
★ 4.2 from 2,107 Google reviews
With your feet still sandy from Onetangi Beach, you cross The Strand and settle in at a table that looks straight back out over the water, because that view is the whole reason this place has been part of the island since 1987.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.3 from 1,594 Google reviews
The driveway climbs off Onetangi Road between vines and olive trees, and it finishes on a hillside veranda looking across a valley where horses graze on the far slope.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.6 from 703 Google reviews
The driveway off Onetangi Road climbs through vines into a courtyard where a Michelin-starred restaurant sits above Alibi Brewing Co., so you can move from a cellar door tasting to a long lunch without leaving the estate.
Pubs and bars · Oneroa · $
★ 4.4 from 812 Google reviews
The deck looks straight over Oneroa Beach and the bay, close enough that you can watch the water change colour while you decide between a glass of Waiheke chardonnay and an Argentine malbec.
Cafes · Palm Beach · $$
★ 4.5 from 593 Google reviews
Arcadia is at the western end of Palm Beach, on Palm Road, a thirty-second walk from the sand.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.4 from 611 Google reviews
The bus from the ferry drops you right at the gate, and before you've ordered a thing you're looking at vines, a playground and an archery range laid out across the lawn.
Pubs and bars · Oneroa · $
★ 4.8 from 268 Google reviews
You'll spot the sandwich board on Ocean View Road in Oneroa before you find the bar itself, because Aperitivo sits down a flight of steps, around a corner at the back of the alley, with a balcony that looks straight out over the water.
Pubs and bars · Eastern Waiheke
★ 4.6 from 196 Google reviews
You drive out past Onetangi, along Orapiu Road towards Stony Batter, and leave the hop-on hop-off crowds behind at a working vineyard with vines running down towards a view of Te Matuku Bay and the Hauraki Gulf beyond.
Pubs and bars · Eastern Waiheke · $
★ 4.7 from 170 Google reviews
You'll find it at the quiet eastern end of Waiheke, up a long drive along Cowes Bay Road, where a family distillery sits on the ridge above the bay with a spray-free garden that grows a good share of the botanicals in your glass.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.9 from 109 Google reviews
Rock'n'roll street art, waterfalls running through the gardens and a deck looking out over the vines: this Onetangi Road cellar door has never done the traditional tasting room thing.
Indian · Oneroa
★ 4.4 from 169 Google reviews
When you're in Oneroa and the movie at the local cinema is about to start, or you've just stepped off the ferry and want dinner sorted, you'll find this one in the Artworks Complex on Korora Road, a short walk from the theatre and the library.
Pubs and bars · Ostend · $
★ 4.4 from 155 Google reviews
Walking into the RSA on Belgium Street in Ostend feels less like a restaurant and more like a club that's been part of Waiheke since 1950, and the routine takes a minute to learn: if you're not a member, you sign in as a visitor at the bar, where they'll give you a free trial membership on the spot.
Pubs and bars · Onetangi
★ 4.6 from 43 Google reviews
The brewery has been making small batch beer in a shed out the back since 1998, when craft beer wasn't yet a thing on Waiheke, and you drink it a few steps from where it's brewed, on an estate that also grows grapes and runs a restaurant.
Pubs and bars · Surfdale
★ 3.3 from 180 Google reviews
Temporarily closed
You know the type: a worn-in Irish pub with a proper Guinness tap, a pool table in the corner, and locals who'll talk to you whether you're from the island or just off the ferry.
Pubs and bars · Oneroa
★ 3.0 from 2 Google reviews
On Ocean View Road in Oneroa, the main village on Waiheke Island, Spice Cafe & Wine Bar opens at seven every morning and closes at three, so breakfast and lunch are the windows you're working with.
There are 18 pubs and bars on the island, and Charlie Farley's on The Strand is a few steps off the sand at Onetangi, where chowder and fish and chips come with the view. Vino Vino has a deck on Ocean View Road looking over Oneroa Beach, and the chipa and the eye fillet with chimichurri are what you order alongside a glass.
For gin, Waiheke Distilling Co pours drinks from its garden bar above Cowes Bay, with Neapolitan pizza and a fried bread base with salmon to share. In Ostend, Waiheke RSA does steak, egg and chips in a clubroom where a member signs you in, and Malones Irish Pub in Surfdale is the stop for a Guinness and a game of pool when it reopens.
Start with Charlie Farley's at Onetangi, where the deck sits a few steps off the sand, and Vino Vino in Oneroa, where the balcony looks over the beach. Aperitivo is a balcony bar above Oneroa Bay, and Waiheke Distilling Co looks over Cowes Bay from its garden bar.
Yes, several do. The Heke has a kids' menu and space for big bookings, Charlie Farley's handles families off the beach, and Arcadia at Palm Beach puts up decorations for birthdays. Wild Estate adds lawn games and archery, so groups can settle in for an afternoon.
