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Today at Compton Bay, Isle of Wight
Quiet dayWhy: Low tide falls mid-morning, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Safe window: 8:49am – 11:49am
Leave the beach by 11:49am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls mid-morning, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
14° · overcast · 4mm rain · Low tide: 10:49am (1.5 m), 11:26pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 10:12am – 1:12pm
Leave the beach by 1:12pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
14° · drizzle · 16mm rain · Low tide: 12:12pm (1.4 m) · Wind up to 31 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 100 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
14° · drizzle · 12mm rain · Low tide: 12:37am (1.1 m), 1:17pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 65 km/h · Waves 2.2 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 75 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
15° · overcast · 20mm rain · Low tide: 1:34am (1.0 m), 2:06pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 48 km/h · Waves 1.7 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 113 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
14° · drizzle · 7mm rain · Low tide: 2:22am (0.8 m), 2:50pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 73 km/h · Waves 2.0 m
Safe window: 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Leave the beach by 4:30pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A recent westerly blow should have brought fresh cliff material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. A big 0.7 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
16° · drizzle · 15mm rain · Low tide: 3:06am (0.7 m), 3:30pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 42 km/h · Waves 1.7 m
No safe daylight window
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Winds gusting around 88 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
17° · mostly clear · 4mm rain · Low tide: 2:47am (0.6 m), 3:10pm (0.6 m) · Wind up to 57 km/h · Waves 1.2 m
From Hanover Point westward, search the dark shingle and clay-washed gravel at low tide — dinosaur bone rolls in the beach gravel looking like heavy black pebbles. The three-toed footprint casts on the foreshore at low water are the free show.
Dinosaur bone is black to dark brown with a spongy, bubbly texture — often mistaken for a worn pebble until you feel how heavy it is. Ammonites usually show as a curved ridge poking out of grey rock. Free identification: Dinosaur Isle at Sandown identifies finds in person and runs guided fossil walks.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: No digging into the cliffs (SSSI), and dinosaur footprint casts must be left in place for everyone to see.
Important finds: Report significant finds to Dinosaur Isle, Sandown.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
National Trust car park at Hanover Point.
Seasonal food van at the car park; toilets at Compton Farm end in season.
Steps down to the beach; dinosaur footprint casts show near Hanover Point at low tide.
Soft crumbling cliffs slump after rain — keep off them. The bay narrows at high water: check the tide before walking far in either direction.
Fossil Forecast