Takapuna is a suburb located on the North Shore of Auckland, New Zealand. The suburb is an isthmus between Shoal Bay, arm of the Waitematā Harbour, and the Hauraki Gulf. Lake Pupuke, a volcanic maar and one of the oldest features of the Auckland volcanic field, is a freshwater lake located in the suburb.

Takapuna was settled by Tāmaki Māori in the 13th or 14th centuries, who utilised the resources of Lake Pupuke, and a pōhutukawa grove called Te Uru Tapu. The grove still exists to this day and was an important location for funeral ceremonies. In 1847, the first European farmers settled at Takapuna, and the Crown gifted land at Takapuna to Ngāpuhi chief Eruera Maihi Patuone in order to create a protective barrier for Auckland. Jean-Baptiste Pompallier established St Mary's College at Takapuna in 1849.

The area became a popular tourist destination for wealthy families of Auckland in the 1880s, when many large summer residences were being constructed on the shores of Lake Pupuke. By the early 20th century, Takapuna Beach had grown in importance for tourists. The suburb developed in the 1910s due to a private tramway, and by the 1930s gradually became a commercial centre for the North Shore. Takapuna grew in importance after the opening of the Auckland Harbour Bridge in 1959, becoming the administrative centre for the North Shore.

The name Takapuna refers to a spring at Maungauika / North Head, located north of Torpedo Bay Navy Museum in Devonport. The name was given by Hoturoa of the Tainui migratory waka. When the waka stopped at Torpedo Bay, Hoturoa and the crew of the Tainui met the residents of the area and drank from the spring. Hoturoa named the spring in remembrance of a spring in his homeland of Hawaiki (Mangaia). While the word puna in Māori refers to natural springs, the meaning of taka in this context is unknown, and the name has variously been interpreted to mean "Knoll Spring", "Rock Spring", "Cliff Spring" or "Falling Spring".

Over time, Tāmaki Māori began to refer to the wider area around Maungauika / North Head and the North Shore as Takapuna. Jules Dumont d'Urville, an early explorer, was the first European to adopt the name to describe the area north of North Head in 1833. During the early colonial era of Auckland, the name was used for the Parish of Takapuna, and modern Lake Pupuke was referred to as Lake Takapuna from the 1860s until the 1940s.

The area was known as the Lake District from 1866 until 1882, when the name Takapuna was formally adopted. The name Takapuna was gradually adopted to mean the settlement focused on the southern shores of Lake Pupuke over the 19th century. The areas to the south were known as Devonport, meaning Takapuna had become geographically separated from its namesake.

The North Shore is primarily uplifted Waitemata Group sandstone, that was deposited on the sea floor during the Early Miocene, between 22 and 16 million years ago. The Takapuna area is home to Lake Pupuke, a volcanic maar which is one of the oldest known features of the Auckland volcanic field, erupting an estimated 193,200 years ago. A small scoria cone existed to the west of Lake Pupuke, which was quarried during European settlement.

During the eruption of Lake Pupuke, two lava flows travelled eastwards through the area, burning vegetation and encasing the lower 1–2 metres of the tree trunks in lava. The lava solidified into basalt rock, creating the Takapuna Fossil Forest, which was exposed an estimated 7,000 years ago due to coastal erosion.