The Mà Âtà « River is a major waterway in the eastern part of the North Island of New Zealand. It rises south-west of MÃÂtÃÂwai in the Gisborne District, on the south-western side of the Raukà «mara Range, and heads roughly northwards to the Pacific Ocean. It flows in a gorge the whole way through the range, where its important tributaries merge with it. It empties into the eastern Bay of Plenty at Houpoto, between HÃÂwai and à ÂmÃÂio, north-east of à Âpà Âtiki.
The river passes through mostly uninhabited hill country, very steep and still thickly covered in rainforest.
The first modern traverse of the river, from the Mà Âtà « Falls to its mouth, was in 1920 by the Fisher brothers and S. Thorburn, and this was re-enacted in 2013 by Kevin Biggar and Jamie Fitzgerald in series 2 of the "First Crossings" TV series. A mid-20th century proposal to dam the river for hydroelectricity was rejected.
It is much used for adventure tourism (jet-boating and white-water rafting).