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What do you call beach protective structures like the one in the picture?

I found a number of possible words but not sure which is most appropriate:
pier, jetty, wharf, quay, staith, groyne/groin, breakwater, seawall
(all credit to Wikipedia).

The main function is to protect the beach sand from being removed by the waves. Also it is a nice wave and currents protection for swimmers. Often people jump from it in the water. Or just go to it as an observation point. Not on this one but on others, small boats sometimes dock. On one of them wake-surfing construction is installed. For the record this is in the city of Varna on the Black sea coast. July and August is the best time.

It is not used for the purpose but it is equipped to dock small vessels. There is wooden protection on the inside part (which is mostly rotten and broken already) and some metal pillars where one can tie up a boat.

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    What is its function? Is it suitable for mooring boats? If what appear to be people are actually people, then it seems the spine could be 15m wide, so it's huge.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 7:26
  • If it serves multiple functions, e.g. as a docking point that also protects against erosion, it may not have a simple name. (Although engineers may have something obscure in their plans.)
    – Stuart F
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 8:30
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    Breakwater seems appropriate for the size in the picture, especially if erosion prevention is the main purpose.
    – DjinTonic
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 11:42
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    It is not a pier, jetty, wharf, quay or staithe as the primary function of all of those is the docking of craft for the purposes of cargo and passenger transfer. Also quays and staithes are built against banks and cliffs rather than jutting out into the water. Seawalls are built to protect against erosion but are also typically built against banks or cliffs. I feel, but am not a hundred percent sure, that groynes are usually straight and built at roughly right angles to the beach and usually built in groups down the shore. I would call this structure a breakwater.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 13:00
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    As an aside the term 'pier' for a structure jutting out into the sea at holiday resorts for the purpose of providing entertainment and sea angling opportunities derives from the fact that the earliest of them were piers for embarkation and disembarkation of passengers. Also there are some structures on British canals which would normally be called "wharves" or "stahes" but are actually called "piers". Wigan pier in South Lancashire as in Orwell's book "The Road to Wigan Pier" is the most famous example and was a standard joke as Wigan is definitely not a seaside holiday resort.
    – BoldBen
    Commented Sep 9, 2021 at 13:11

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As far as I recall there is no one unified name for concrete structures that are protecting the beach, each of the terms you have given has their own usages, in different contexts.

For example:
Sea wall: is basically used to refer to walls of concrete that are created to counter high waves and reduce the impact of a Tsunami by being the first line of defence.
E.g. Japanese Sea Wall

Meanwhile, a wharf, quay, or staith is a structure on the shore of a harbour where ships may dock to load and unload cargo or passengers. It has facilities for handling the ship, and it is generally not made with the intent of protecting beaches.

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