A couple of visitors to Purakaunui got a closer view of the inlet than they planned.
A rental car had to be abandoned after it was driven into the Purakaunui inlet, north of Dunedin city, during low tide and became stuck in the sand.
Sea water eventually flooded the car when the tide came in overnight.
A police spokesman said police were called to the car which was sitting next to the community jetty just after 8am today.
Initially there were concerns people could have been trapped but as the tide lowered it was clear no-one was inside, the spokesman said.
Purakaunui resident Jude Newton said she had never seen a car trapped on the sand in that area in the 30 years she had lived in the coastal village.
"It's very weird where it is, they must have gone in the middle of the night sometime and gone down on the sand at low tide.''
"It's really weird,'' she said.
The car was still stuck in the sand just before 2pm today, but was no longer submerged as the tide had receded.
A tow-truck will remove the car once the tide is fully out later today.
