Waipapa Point Lighthouse, Wooden lighthouse in Southland Region, New Zealand

Waipapa Point Lighthouse is a 13 meter tall wooden structure with a white tower, red trim details, and a grey lantern dome. The building features a hexagonal design with a surrounding balcony and has operated on solar power since 1988.

The lighthouse was built in response to the wreck of the passenger steamer SS Tararua, which struck the Otar Reef off Waipapa Point on 29 April 1881 and sank with the loss of 131 lives. The wooden tower was erected in 1884 and first lit on 1 January 1884. On 26 June 2009 the lighthouse and the SS Tararua wreck site were registered by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust as a Historic Place Category 1, number 7785.

The lighthouse and the SS Tararua wreck site were registered as a Historic Place Category 1 by the New Zealand Historic Places Trust on 26 June 2009, under registration number 7785. The name Waipapa comes from the point where the tower stands, at the eastern end of Toetoes Bay, southwest of the Catlins.

The lighthouse stands on a rise at the eastern end of Toetoes Bay, 47 km southeast of Invercargill, reached by a path from the small settlement of Otara off State Highway 92, part of the Southern Scenic Route. The tower and the SS Tararua wreck site were registered as a Historic Place Category 1 on 26 June 2009.

This is one of the last two wooden lighthouses ever built in New Zealand, making it a rare example of this construction method. Its hexagonal shape with the surrounding balcony sets it apart from later lighthouses that were primarily built from stone or steel.