The Breakwater Hotel, once an important part of the Moturoa community, closed in 2004 after being bought by Westgate Transport Ltd.
According to a book on the local community, Moturoa, written by Don and Noel Harris, the first "local" , the Harbour View Hotel (later renamed Moturoa Hotel), was built in 1882 on the corner of Pioneer and Moturoa Streets. This date could be earlier as the hotel appears in reports in the Taranaki Herald as early as 1880.
The hotel burnt down in August 1897 with the loss of two lives. A new hotel was erected on Breakwater Road, closer to the port.
This in turn was destroyed in a fierce blaze on the evening of 6 February, 1916. A permit to build a new hotel was issued to Thomas Knowles on 14 March, 1916. The estimated cost was £3,600 and the builders were Shaw & Payne.
In the mid 1960s New Zealand Breweries undertook major renovation (New Plymouth Photo News #127, 1 October 1966) work after another major fire in March 1966. It could be at this time that the name changed to the Breakwater Tavern - it was also known as the Paritutu Tavern at some stage.
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