Eastern Beach is a suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. Located on the eastern city of the city centre, the suburb is in the Howick ward, one of the thirteen administrative divisions of Auckland City. Its most common attraction is a popular white-sand palm fringed beach, also called Eastern Beach, with summer temperatures attracting thousands of people from neighbouring suburbs to the beach to enjoy the shallow waters, and shops and parks within close vicinity. At the southern end of the beach is a boat ramp giving high-medium tide access to the dedicated water skiing zone adjacent to the beach. This was a popular area for gathering Pipi and Cockles, but overuse has seen a rÃÂhui or ban placed on the beach. It is part of the Bucklands Beach peninsula.
Eastern Beach is located on the eastern side of a peninsula between the TÃÂmaki River and the TÃÂmaki Strait of the Hauraki Gulf, on the opposite side to Bucklands Beach. The beach looks out towards the TÃÂmaki Strait and Waiheke Island. The area is primarily formed from Waitemata sandstone. Anticline folding of the layers of sandstone can be seen along the cliffs of the beach, and Macleans Reserve is the location of a chenier plain, a large bed of fossilised shells.
Eastern Beach is part of the rohe of NgÃÂi Tai ki TÃÂmaki, who descend from the crew of the Tainui migratory waka, who visited the area around the year 1300. Early ancestor TÃÂiki settled with his followers along the eastern shores of the TÃÂmaki River, alongside the descendants of HuiÃÂrangi of the early iwi Te Tini à  Maruiwi. The traditional name for Eastern Beach is Okokino, and the headland south of the beach was known by the name Ngataieura. Eastern Beach, along with the surrounding area, was the location of NgÃÂi Tai agricultural cultivations.
In approximately the first half of the 18th century, NgÃÂriki, a rangatira of NgÃÂi Tai, built a fortified pàat Te Naupata (Musick Point), the headland at the end of the peninsula, called Te WaiÃÂrohia (a shortening of Te WaiÃÂrohia à  NgÃÂriki). The name refers to the panoramic views the pàcommanded of the area. NgÃÂriki and the people of Te WaiÃÂrohia often came into conflict with Ngaromania, a rangatira who settled at Te Pupà « à  Kawau on the western shores of the TÃÂmaki River who demanded heavy tolls to those who passed by. From the 1790s, Te RangitÃÂwhia was the paramount chief of NgÃÂi Tai, whose principal residences were at WaiÃÂrohia and to the south at à Âhuiarangi / Pigeon Mountain.
During the Musket Wars in the 1820s, Te WaiÃÂrohia and the Eastern Beach area were evacuated, and the lands became tapu to NgÃÂi Tai due to the events of the conflict. Most members of NgÃÂi Tai fled to the Waikato for temporary refuge during this time, and when English missionary William Thomas Fairburn visited the area in 1833, it was mostly unoccupied.
In 1836, William Thomas Fairburn brokered a land sale between TÃÂmaki MÃÂori chiefs covering the majority of modern-day South Auckland, East Auckland and the PÃ Âhutukawa Coast. The sale was envisioned as a way to end hostilities in the area, but it is unclear what the chiefs understood or consented to. MÃÂori continued to live in the area, unchanged by this sale. In 1854 when Fairburn's purchase was investigated by the New Zealand Land Commission, a NgÃÂi Tai reserve was created around the Wairoa River and Umupuia areas, and as a part of the agreement, members of NgÃÂi Tai agreed to leave their traditional settlements to the west.
In 1847, Howick was established as a defensive outpost for Auckland, by fencibles (retired British Army soldiers) and their families. In 1851, William Mason bought a 320 acre plot from Fairburn at the modern-day site of Bucklands Beach, where he established a farm, growing oats, wheat and tending goats. Mason built a two-stored homestead above the beach, which was demolished in the 1950s. The area became known as Mason's Beach, a name used up until the late 1940s. In 1861, Mason sold his farm to Alfred Buckland, one of the largest agriculturalists in Auckland. The Bucklands family used to spend holidays at the beach, and in 1865 constructed a wharf for cattle and sheep. From 1880 until 1922, John Granger operated a lime factory at Eastern Beach, where local shells were crushed and burned.
Eastern Beach and Bucklands Beach became a popular holiday destination from the 1910s. The Buckland farm was first subdivided in 1916 when Bucklands Beach was established, and the Devonport Steamship Company constructed a second wharf at Bucklands Beach for passenger services. During this time, phoenix palms were planted at Eastern Beach, to give the area a tropical appearance. In 1923, Eastern Beach was subdivided and established as a housing estate, and in 1934 became a regularly used site for the Auckland Caravaning Club.
During World War II, concrete pillboxes were built at each end of Eastern Beach on the clifftops by local residents. After the establishment of Howick as a borough in 1952, the area rapidly developed suburban housing.
Eastern Beach covers and had an estimated population of as of with a population density of people per km<sup>2</sup>.
Eastern Beach had a population of 2,163 in the 2023 New Zealand census, a decrease of 27 people (âÂÂ1.2%) since the 2018 census, and an increase of 27 people (1.3%) since the 2013 census. There were 1,074 males, 1,086 females and 6 people of other genders in 774 dwellings. 3.6% of people identified as LGBTIQ+. The median age was 43.8 years (compared with 38.1 years nationally). There were 369 people (17.1%) aged under 15 years, 378 (17.5%) aged 15 to 29, 1,014 (46.9%) aged 30 to 64, and 405 (18.7%) aged 65 or older.
People could identify as more than one ethnicity. The results were 49.5% European (PÃÂkehÃÂ); 4.4% MÃÂori; 3.2% Pasifika; 47.3% Asian; 1.5% Middle Eastern, Latin American and African New Zealanders (MELAA); and 1.7% other, which includes people giving their ethnicity as "New Zealander". English was spoken by 91.4%, MÃÂori language by 0.7%, Samoan by 0.3%, and other languages by 43.6%. No language could be spoken by 1.2% (e.g. too young to talk). New Zealand Sign Language was known by 0.4%. The percentage of people born overseas was 54.5, compared with 28.8% nationally.
Religious affiliations were 30.2% Christian, 2.9% Hindu, 1.5% Islam, 0.1% MÃÂori religious beliefs, 2.8% Buddhist, 0.3% New Age, 0.4% Jewish, and 3.1% other religions. People who answered that they had no religion were 53.4%, and 5.5% of people did not answer the census question.
Of those at least 15 years old, 678 (37.8%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, 732 (40.8%) had a post-high school certificate or diploma, and 384 (21.4%) people exclusively held high school qualifications. The median income was $41,300, compared with $41,500 nationally. 312 people (17.4%) earned over $100,000 compared to 12.1% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 807 (45.0%) people were employed full-time, 240 (13.4%) were part-time, and 42 (2.3%) were unemployed.