Katiki Beach is one of several beautiful beaches to be found on the northern Otago coast, stretching approximately seven kilometres from Katiki Point in the north to Shag Point in the south. The southern and central parts of Katiki Beach are cliffed with rocky outcrops and remarkable spherical boulders, or concretions, can be found here in their hundreds. These are related to the famous Moeraki Boulders to the north.
The northern part of Katiki Beach, by contrast, is wide and sandy and is backed by a narrow belt of sand dunes topped with marram grass. The character of the beach here is always changing: steep, heavy waves during periods of unsettled weather strip away large amounts of sand and deposit it offshore, while intervening calm periods see the beach replenished as lower-energy swells gradually move this sand back onshore again. Localised beach erosion is also common where small streams meander sideways as they cross the beach, cutting into the sand to expose layers deposited by successive tides. This photograph shows one such eroding sandbank at the mouth of Te Rapuka Stream, at the northern end of Katiki Beach.
