Toetoes Bay is the easternmost of three large bays lying on the Foveaux Strait

Foveaux Strait

Foveaux Strait separates Stewart Island/Rakiura, New Zealand's third largest island, from the South Island. Three large bays, Te Waewae Bay, Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay, sweep along the strait's northern coast, which also hosts Bluff township and harbour. Across the strait lie the Solander...

 coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Te Waewae Bay

Te Waewae Bay

Te Waewae Bay is the westernmost of three large bays lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Oreti Beach and Toetoes Bay...

 and Oreti Beach

Oreti Beach

Oreti Beach is the central bay of three lying on the Foveaux Strait coast of Southland, New Zealand, the others being Te Waewae Bay and Toetoes Bay...

. Thirty kilometres (20 miles) in length, the bay is the southern end of the Awarua Plain

Awarua Plain

thumb|Awarua Plain , [[Tiwai Point]] and [[Bluff, New Zealand|Bluff]] viewed from the [[International Space Station]] in 2008....

, an area of swampy land stretching inland for about fifteen kilometres (10 miles). The eastern end of the bay is close to Slope Point

Slope Point

Slope Point is the southernmost point of the South Island of New Zealand.Slope Point lies just south of the small settlements of Waikawa and Haldane, near the southwestern edge of the Catlins and Toetoes Bay and 70 km east of Invercargill....

, the South Island

South Island

The South Island is the larger of the two major islands of New Zealand, the other being the more populous North Island. It is bordered to the north by Cook Strait, to the west by the Tasman Sea, to the south and east by the Pacific Ocean...

's southernmost point, and the western end of the Catlins

The Catlins

The Catlins comprises an area in the southeastern corner of the South Island of New Zealand. The area lies between Balclutha and Invercargill, straddling the boundary between the Otago and Southland regions...

.

Tiwai Point

Tiwai Point

thumb|[[Awarua Plain]] , Tiwai Point and [[Bluff, New Zealand|Bluff]] viewed from the [[International Space Station]] in 2008.Tiwai Point lies at the entrance to Bluff Harbour on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand...

, with its aluminium

Aluminium

Aluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....

 smelter, is located on a peninsula at the western end of the bay, on the edge of Bluff

Bluff, New Zealand

Bluff is a town and seaport in the Southland region, on the southern coast of the South Island of New Zealand. It is the southern-most town in New Zealand and, despite Slope Point being further to the south, is colloquially used to refer to the southern extremity of the country...

 harbour. Waituna Lagoon is located halfway along the bay, and towards the eastern end the Mataura River

Mataura River

The Mataura River is in the Southland Region of the South Island of New Zealand. It is 190 kilometres in length.The river's headwaters are located in mountains to the south of Lake Wakatipu. From there it flows southeast towards Gore, where it turns southward...

has its outflow into the Foveaux Strait.

The bay gets its name from a 19th Century Māori chief, Toitoi. Whalers named the Waituna Lagoon "Toetoe's Place" and the name was later given to the bay.