St Clair Beach is a white sand beach on the Esplanade in St Clair, a few minutes from central Dunedin, and it is best known for its poles. The site says the poles are not a jetty. They were once a sand trap groyne that built up sand for about 100 years. The sandtrap groyne was rebuilt in 1955, and the sand that gathered protected the dunes and the Esplanade seawall. The site says the foreshore was much wider through the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
The beach is a popular surf spot, and the site says surfers know it for easy parking, good vantage points and a fine selection of cafés and restaurants nearby. Sunrises and moonrises over the beach are photographed by visitors from around the world, so the beach draws photographers as well as surfers. The poles are the feature that explains how the beach looks today, because the groyne shaped the sand that the beach is known for.