Charteris Bay is a small settlement on Banks Peninsula in New Zealand. The settlement is located on the south eastern side of Te Wharau / Charteris Bay, a large inlet of Lyttelton Harbour / Whakaraupō. The settlement sits between Diamond Harbour to the east and Teddington to the west.
The community is notable for Orton Bradley Park and as the location of a quarry which produced a decorative sandstone used in many early buildings of Christchurch.
The community is spread out along the main road from Teddington to Diamond Harbour. It has a golf course adjacent to Orton Bradley park and a popular sailing club, which advertises itself as "home of the Optimist" – a reference to the Optimist sailing dinghy first sailed in New Zealand from Charteris Bay.
At low tide some extensive mud flats support a wide range of wading birds including Royal spoonbills.
Demographics Charteris Bay settlement covers . It is part of the Diamond Harbour statistical area.
The settlement had a population of 129 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 18 people (−12.2%) since the 2018 census, and unchanged since the 2013 census. There were 66 males, 63 females, and 3 people of other genders in 66 dwellings. 4.7% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 59.4 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 12 people (9.3%) aged under 15 years, 9 (7.0%) aged 15 to 29, 66 (51.2%) aged 30 to 64, and 45 (34.9%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 97.7% European (Pākehā), 9.3% Māori, 2.3% Pasifika, and 4.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 97.7%, Māori by 2.3%, Samoan by 2.3%, and other languages by 11.6%. No language could be spoken by 2.3% (e.g. too young to talk). The percentage of people born overseas was 20.9, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 25.6% Christian, and 2.3% New Age. People who answered that they had no religion were 67.4%, and 2.3% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 60 (51.3%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 45 (38.5%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 9 (7.7%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $45,000, compared with $41,500 nationally. 24 people (20.5%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was 45 (38.5%) full-time and 21 (17.9%) part-time.
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