Charteris Bay
The boat shed at Charteris Bay recording its association with the Optimist Dinghy
Coordinates: 43°38′40″S 172°41′55″E / 43.64444°S 172.69861°E / -43.64444; 172.69861
Country	New Zealand
Region	Canterbury Region
District	Christchurch City
Ward	Banks Peninsula
Area [1]
• Total	1.52 km2 (0.59 sq mi)
Population  (2018 Census)[2]
• Total	147
• Density	97/km2 (250/sq mi)

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 sit 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.^[3]

The community is spread out along the main road from Teddington to Diamond Harbour. It has a golf course^[4] adjacent to Orton Bradley park and a popular sailing club,^[5] which advertises itself as "home of the Optimist" – a reference to the Optimist sailing dinghy first sailed in New Zealand from Charteris Bay.^[6]

At low tide some extensive mud flats support a wide range of wading birds including Royal spoonbills.

Demographics

The Charteris Bay settlement is part of the Diamond Harbour SA2 statistical area.^[7]

Charteris Bay, corresponding to the SA1 statistical area of 7026621, covers 1.52 km² (0.59 sq mi).^[1] It had a population of 147 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 9 people (6.5%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 9 people (6.5%) since the 2006 census. There were 72 households. There were 66 males and 78 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.85 males per female. The median age was 55.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 15 people (10.2%) aged under 15 years, 12 (8.2%) aged 15 to 29, 75 (51.0%) aged 30 to 64, and 42 (28.6%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 98.0% European/Pākehā, 8.2% Māori, and 2.0% Pacific peoples (totals add to more than 100% since people could identify with multiple ethnicities).

Although some people objected to giving their religion, 61.2% had no religion, 30.6% were Christian and 2.0% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 54 (40.9%) people had a bachelor or higher degree, and 9 (6.8%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $48,600, compared with $31,800 nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 66 (50.0%) people were employed full-time, 24 (18.2%) were part-time, and 0 (0.0%) were unemployed.^[2]