Conditions guidance only. Cliffs are dangerous — never dig in or stand near them.
Check tide times locally and tell someone where you're going.
Safety page
Leave the beach by 6:04pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 1.0 m low tide falls towards evening.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 5:04pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 24 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Thursday 3 September
Quiet day
Safe window: 3:44pm – 6:44pm
Leave the beach by 6:44pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls towards evening, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
23° · overcast · Low tide: 5:15am (1.3 m), 5:44pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Friday 4 September
Quiet day
Safe window: 5:35am – 7:02am
Leave the beach by 7:02am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
21° · overcast · 2mm rain · Low tide: 6:02am (1.6 m), 6:36pm (1.7 m) · Wind up to 35 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Saturday 5 September
Fair
Safe window: 5:36am – 8:05am
Leave the beach by 8:05am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
19° · clear · Low tide: 7:05am (1.8 m), 7:48pm (2.0 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Sunday 6 September
Fair
Safe window: 6:45am – 9:45am
Leave the beach by 9:45am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
24° · clear · Low tide: 8:45am (1.9 m), 9:38pm (2.1 m) · Wind up to 26 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Monday 7 September
Quiet day
Safe window: 8:41am – 11:41am
Leave the beach by 11:41am — 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.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 10:41am (1.7 m), 11:10pm (1.9 m) · Wind up to 26 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Tuesday 8 September
Quiet day
Safe window: 9:52am – 12:52pm
Leave the beach by 12:52pm — 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.
18° · overcast · 3mm rain · Low tide: 11:52am (1.3 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Where to look
Search the flint gravel banks towards East Runton at low tide — sea urchins in flint and the occasional rolled bone are the typical finds. After a north-westerly blow the fresh gravel is worth a slow walk.
What fossils look like here
Ice Age bone from the 'forest bed' is dark brown to black, heavy, with a honeycomb texture at broken ends. Sea-urchin fossils show as five-pointed stars on rounded flint pebbles. Free identification: Cromer Museum (photo enquiries via Norfolk Museums Service).
Full town facilities; Cromer Museum has local Ice Age fossils.
Access
Ramps from the promenade; hunt the foreshore towards East Runton at low tide.
Hazards
Slumping glacial cliffs east and west of town — keep off them. Tide reaches the sea walls and cliff base at high water: plan your walk around low tide.