Māori lived along the shores of Golden Bay from at least 1450, which is the earliest dated archaeological evidence yet found. In 2010 an extensive scientific study was made of Golden Bay by a team from Otago University led by Associate Professor Ian Barber. They accurately plotted and investigated a large number of early Māori sites ranging from pā to kāinga to probable kumara gardens that stretch along the coastal arc from the base of Farewell Spit at Triangle Flat, 60 km eastwards to a pā site 10 km east of Separation Point. The iwi who occupied this area in 1642 were the Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri from the North Island. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman anchored in this bay in 1642. Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri rammed the Dutch ship's cockboat with a waka and four Dutch seamen were killed by Māori, prompting Tasman to name it Moordenaar's Bay. Archeological research has shown the Dutch had tried to land at a major agricultural area, which the Māori may have been trying to protect. Barber postulated that the iwi may have been insecure in their control of the bay and its resources because of their own relatively recent arrival. Little is known of the history of Ngāti Tūmatakōkiri people as they were extinguished by a Māori invasion during the Musket Wars about 1823. In 1642 Tasman saw at least 22 waka. He recorded that of the 11 waka that chased his ship, most had 17 men on board. This gives a total of about 200 men, with a likely population of about 500 people. Tasman had already been in the bay five days when attacked giving the Māori time to assemble an attack force. Archaeological evidence has not shown any large settlements so it is likely that the iwi normally lived in whanau based groups scattered along the coast but mainly in the eastern bay at Ligar Beach, Tata Beach and Wainui Bay where there are 20 known archaeological sites in a 10 km zone. In 1770, during his first voyage, English explorer James Cook included the bay as part of Blind Bay, but upon his second voyage to the bay in 1773 realised that it was in fact the location of Murderers Bay. The French explorerJules Dumont d'Urville appears to have changed the name to Massacre Bay. European settlement commenced in October 1842 with the Lovell family settling at Motupipi near the then existing Māori pa site. Prior to the Lovell's settling, in March of that year a Mr Tuckett had discovered coal on the beach near the Motupipi pa. There was a report from May 1841, which also stated there was coal in the area. In the 1840s, following the discoveries, the local population unsuccessfully sought to have it renamed Coal Bay. Then, in the late 1850s, with the discovery of gold at Aorere, its name was changed to Golden Bay. In the Great Depression, miners returned to search for any remaining gold in a government-subsidised prospecting scheme for the unemployed, and about 40 miners lived in a dozen huts around Waingaro Forks. In December 2011 the bay, as well as much of the Nelson/Tasman region, was hit by heavy rain and flooding. This affected many homes around the Pohara/Ligar Bay/Tata Beach/Wainui area. The road to Totaranui, a popular isolated tourist destination in Tasman Bay, was badly damaged and was reopened on 29 June 2012. In August 2014, the name of the bay was officially altered to Golden Bay / Mohua.
