Mokau is a small town on the west coast of New Zealand's North Island, located at the mouth of the Mokau River on the North Taranaki Bight. Mokau is in the Waitomo District and Waikato Region local government areas, just north of the boundary with the New Plymouth District and the Taranaki Region. Prior to 1989, the town was classed as being in Taranaki, and there is still a feeling that the community of interest is most associated with New Plymouth, 90 km to the southwest.