South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Llantwit Major (Col-huw)
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: 4:38pm – 6:48pm
Leave the beach by 6:48pm — 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.
13° · drizzle · 3mm rain · Low tide: 5:33am (1.9 m), 6:38pm (1.9 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 6:02pm – 6:46pm
Leave the beach by 6:46pm — 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 · 4mm rain · Low tide: 7:04am (2.0 m), 8:02pm (1.9 m) · Wind up to 17 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
12° · drizzle · 19mm rain · Low tide: 8:27am (1.9 m), 9:14pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 46 km/h · Waves 3.8 m
Safe window: 7:36am – 10:36am
Leave the beach by 10:36am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh 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 · 23mm rain · Low tide: 9:36am (1.7 m), 10:13pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 36 km/h · Waves 1.6 m
No safe daylight window
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
12° · overcast · 17mm rain · Low tide: 10:32am (1.3 m), 11:01pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 43 km/h · Waves 2.9 m
No safe daylight window
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
15° · rain · 24mm rain · Low tide: 11:20am (1.0 m), 11:44pm (0.6 m) · Wind up to 29 km/h · Waves 3.1 m
No safe daylight window
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Winds gusting around 79 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
16° · drizzle · 13mm rain · Low tide: 11:03am (0.6 m), 11:25pm (0.4 m) · Wind up to 43 km/h · Waves 1.6 m
Work the boulder beach either side of Col-huw Point on a falling tide. Freshly fallen Lias blocks carry crisp ammonites and oysters — search the recent falls from a safe distance out, where the sea has already spread them.
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 →
Car park at Col-huw beach at the end of Beach Road.
Seasonal café and toilets at the beach.
Flat access from the car park onto boulders and ledges.
The Liassic cliffs here collapse in large slabs — never sit or shelter below them. Fast tides over wide ledges can cut you off in both directions.
Fossil Forecast