Auckland waterfront, Harbour coastline in Auckland, New Zealand

The Auckland waterfront is the city-side stretch of the southern Waitematā Harbour coast, running roughly from Saint Marys Bay and the Auckland Harbour Bridge in the west to the Ports of Auckland land in the east. Much of it remains industrial port land; the parts most people mean by the name are the publicly accessible areas around the Viaduct Basin and the CBD, where former wharves have been converted to office and entertainment use.

Ports of Auckland long dominated the southern Waitematā coastline, and large areas remain industrial port land today. From the 2000s the waterfront began opening to public use, with former wharves converted to offices and entertainment. In 2006 public consultation on the Western Reclamation and plans for Stadium New Zealand, later scrapped, showed Aucklanders wanted more access; Queens Wharf conversion plans followed in 2008.

Queens Wharf, the wharf closest to the ferry terminal, stored ripening bananas and held import cars before fumigation by Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry staff. Commentators recalled that in its early working life the wharf was open to the public, with loading beside strolling visitors and recreational fishing, a life like that of a European square.

The waterfront is not a continuous public path: much of the eastern Ports of Auckland area and the Western Reclamation remain working port land with no public access. The freely accessible sections are around the Viaduct Basin and the CBD, including Queens Wharf near the ferry terminal. Allow time to move between these separated areas.

Queens Wharf, the pier closest to the ferry terminal, was once open to the public while cargo was loaded beside strollers and recreational fishers, a life commentators compared to a European square. In 2008 it stored ripening bananas and held imported cars before fumigation; plans then floated a cruise terminal for the wharf.