South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Lavernock Point
Quiet dayWhy: Low tide falls towards evening, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Safe window: 4:54pm – 6:47pm
Leave the beach by 6:47pm — 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.
14° · overcast · 2mm rain · Low tide: 6:06am (4.1 m), 6:54pm (4.3 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 6:40pm – 6:45pm
Leave the beach by 6:45pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls towards evening, though it is not an especially big one. Daylight cuts the collecting window to under 45 minutes, so don't plan a long session. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
12° · overcast · 5mm rain · Low tide: 7:27am (4.6 m), 8:40pm (4.4 m) · Wind up to 19 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
12° · overcast · 23mm rain · Low tide: 9:31am (4.3 m), 10:23pm (3.6 m) · Wind up to 41 km/h · Waves 3.2 m
Safe window: 8:53am – 11:53am
Leave the beach by 11:53am — the tide will cut off your route back.
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. Low tide falls mid-morning, though it is not an especially big one.
13° · overcast · 18mm rain · Low tide: 10:53am (3.4 m), 11:22pm (2.6 m) · Wind up to 30 km/h · Waves 1.2 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 78 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
13° · overcast · 11mm rain · Low tide: 11:45am (2.4 m) · Wind up to 42 km/h · Waves 2.2 m
Safe window: 10:29am – 1:29pm
Leave the beach by 1:29pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
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. Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one.
15° · drizzle · 13mm rain · Low tide: 12:09am (1.7 m), 12:29pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 2.5 m
No safe daylight window
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Winds gusting around 85 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
16° · drizzle · 4mm rain · Low tide: 12:52am (1.1 m), 12:12pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 46 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Boulder-hop at low water and check every flat slab — large ammonite impressions are the classic find. The bone bed at the point occasionally yields dark, polished fragments in the loose gravel; anything still in rock stays.
Ammonite impressions here can be dinner-plate size, showing as coiled ridges on fallen grey-blue slabs. 'Devil's toenails' (Gryphaea) are thick, curved oyster shells lying loose in the gravel. Free identification: photograph your find for the enquiry service at Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Cardiff.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach and foreshore may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: No hammering or digging into the cliffs or the wave-cut ledges anywhere on the Glamorgan Heritage Coast.
Important finds: Report significant finds (this coast produced the Welsh dinosaur Dracoraptor) to Amgueddfa Cymru — National Museum Cardiff.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Small lay-by parking near St Lawrence church, Lavernock.
None — nearest facilities in Penarth or Sully.
Footpath and steps down to a rocky shore; boulder-hopping required.
Very fast rising tide across flat ledges — plan around low water and leave early. Unstable low cliffs; slippery bedrock.
Fossil Forecast