day levels, Slipper Island was connected to the Coromandel by a vast coastal plain. Sea levels began to rise 7,000 years ago, after which the island was separated from the rest of New Zealand. When sea levels were lower, the Tairua River flowed between modern Slipper Island and Shoe Island / Motuhoa, travelling eastwards towards the Pacific Ocean.

There is evidence that the island was the site of early activity of New Zealand's first Maori