Seawater covered the 6m-wide walkway and nearly reached the road.
Dozens of people visited the Esplanade to see the big wave action, take photographs and play in the spray.
''I could see the spray from Andersons Bay. At first, I thought it was sea mist,'' St Kilda Surf Life Saving Club member Steve Wilson said.
However, the waves were even bigger on Saturday night, he said.
''I've never seen a tide like that. It was the biggest I've ever seen around the Dunedin coast.
''It was coming up the drains in Portsmouth Dr and either side of the Edgar Centre was under a foot (30cm) of water.''
A clutch of intrepid surfers braved the waves yesterday, but took care to keep close to the St Clair Salt Water Pool.
The Surf Forecast website recorded the swell at 2.11m at 6pm yesterday. A 1.7m high tide is expected at 6.30am today and a 2.8m high tide at 7pm.
Dunedin City Council parks and reserves manager Lisa Wheeler said staff would be checking the dunes for erosion caused by the high seas today as soon as the tides allowed.
A MetService severe weather watch for high winds in Otago was dropped last night. North Otago bore the brunt of high winds yesterday with gale force gusts of 46kmh to 64kmh experienced at Oamaru and Moeraki in the afternoon.
