Aotea Lagoon is an artificial lagoon surrounded by a public park in the Papakōwhai suburb of Porirua, New Zealand.

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Aotea Lagoon
Aotea Lagoon from the north-east in 2007: miniature railway station is in the centre with the model windmill to the right then State Highway 1 (now 59), the North Island Main Trunk railway and Porirua Harbour (now Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour) further right.
Aotea Lagoon
Location	Porirua
Coordinates	41°7′12″S 174°51′25″E
Type	Lagoon
Primary inflows	Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour and stormwater drains
Primary outflows	Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour
Basin countries	New Zealand
Surface area	5 ha (12 acres)
Shore length1	0.732 km (0.455 mi)
Surface elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Islands	1
Settlements	Papakōwhai
Website	Official website
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

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The North Island Main Trunk railway and State Highway 1 used to run around three bays from Porirua city centre through Papakōwhai. The bays were between the mouth of Porirua Stream and promontories at Gear Homestead, Thurso Grove and Brora Crescent. In 1958–1961, the construction of a causeway, to realign the railway, cut the bays off from the sea turning them into lagoons.^[1]

To realign the state highway, the lagoons were partly filled in from the Ministry of Works and Development's nearby earthworks. The ministry also had to develop reserves for recreation, so it shaped a public park around the central lagoon,^[1] on a site totalling 7.1 ha (18 acres).^[2] Then the Project Employment Programme landscaped the park and local service clubs built amenities,^[1] while Poriua City Council co-ordinated the work.^[2]

Aotea Lagoon opened to the public in March 1980.^[3] Originally leased from the Crown, the park was given to the city council in 1994.^[1] In 2021, the state highway alongside the lagoons was renumbered 59.^[4]

The lagoon covers 5 ha (12 acres). It is connected to Porirua Harbour,^[2] renamed Te Awarua-o-Porirua Harbour in 2014,^[5] by a culvert.^[2] The tidal flow is regulated by gates at the lagoon end of the culvert beneath the model windmill.^[6] Built by Paremata Jaycee, the windmill houses controls for the gates.^[2]

Stormwater enters the lagoon in three places.^[2] It also entered and was retained in a shallow duck pond,^[7] to the north-east of the lagoon, which had persistently poor water quality.^[2][7] In 2022–2023, the duck pond was filled in.^[8]

Poor water quality in the lagoon means contact recreation, including swimming, is prohibited.^[9]

The park has three zones: lagoon, play and garden.^[9] As of 2024,^[update] the first zone has a 732 m (2,402 ft) path around the lagoon,^[1] a Pétanque court and a bridge to an island. To the north-east, the play zone has adventure and toddlers's playgrounds,^[10] a pump track,^[11] a splash pad,^[12] and the Butterfly Walkway.^[10] The garden zone, to the south-west, includes a rose garden developed by Porirua Rotary.^[1] All the zones also have lawns.^[10]

A rideable miniature train runs around the park on an 832 m (2,730 ft) track.^[13] Built by Waitangirua Lions,^[1] the railway operates Sunday afternoon, weather permitting, from a station south of the lagoon.^[13]

The amenities at Aotea Lagoon have changed over the years. In 1980, the park opened with the rose garden, the model railway, the lawns and a proposal for a fernery, according to a newspaper report.^[3] The duck pond and island also appear to have been original amenities, they can be seen in an aerial photograph of the park under construction.^[1] The adventure playground was added in the mid 1980s and rowing boats operated on the lagoon for the second half of that decade.^[1] By the mid 1990s, the fernery had been added next to the rose garden, according to maps in the park's management plan which also showed a jetty into the lagoon near the garden zone entrance.^[2] The 2000s saw no change to the amenities.^[14] In the 2010s, the adventure playground was rebuilt then the splash pad was added.^[1][12] The fernery and jetty were removed. As of 2024,^[update] the 2020s have seen the duck pond replaced by the pump track.^[11]

In 2009, the city council surveyed visitors to Aotea Lagoon. Most people visited the park to relax, play or walk, and they lived nearby in Porirua or neighbouring Tawa. However, the playgrounds drew visitors from a wider area including Wellington and the Hutt Valley.^[14]