Dorset · Directions ↗
Today at Lyme Regis — Monmouth Beach
FairWhy: A recent south-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-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one.
Safe window: 2:06pm – 5:06pm
Leave the beach by 5:06pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: A recent south-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-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one.
19° · drizzle · Low tide: 4:06pm (0.8 m) · Wind up to 31 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Safe window: 2:51pm – 5:51pm
Leave the beach by 5:51pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
22° · mostly clear · Low tide: 4:27am (0.9 m), 4:51pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Safe window: 5:57am – 6:12am
Leave the beach by 6:12am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, 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.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 5:12am (1.2 m), 5:43pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Safe window: 5:58am – 7:06am
Leave the beach by 7:06am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
20° · mostly clear · Low tide: 6:06am (1.5 m), 6:51pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 10 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 6:00am – 8:19am
Leave the beach by 8:19am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
22° · clear · Low tide: 7:19am (1.7 m), 8:26pm (1.8 m) · Wind up to 24 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 8:19pm – 8:20pm
Leave the beach by 8:20pm — 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.
21° · mostly clear · Low tide: 8:59am (1.8 m), 10:19pm (1.7 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 8:38am – 11:38am
Leave the beach by 11:38am — 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.
18° · overcast · 5mm rain · Low tide: 10:38am (1.7 m), 11:37pm (1.4 m) · Wind up to 37 km/h · Waves 2.4 m
Search the boulders and loose shingle west of the Cobb on a falling tide. Big ammonites sit in the grey boulders — photograph those — while smaller loose ones hide in the gravel between. The famous ammonite pavement is for admiring, not hammering.
Ammonites show as coiled ridges in grey limestone, or as golden pyrite spirals the size of a coin. Belemnites are smooth amber-brown rods shaped like rifle bullets. Ichthyosaur vertebrae look like dark, shiny cotton reels. Free identification: the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre identifies finds in person and from emailed photos (charmouth.org).
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach and foreshore are yours to keep — collecting them here is positively encouraged, because the sea destroys what nobody saves.
Never allowed: Never dig or hammer into the cliffs, ledges or landslide material; fossils still in place must stay in place.
Important finds: Register scientifically important finds with the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre under the West Dorset Fossil Collecting Code.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Holmbush car park above the Cobb, or Monmouth Beach car park by the boatyard.
Toilets and cafés around the Cobb; fossil shops in town.
Walk west past the Cobb; the famous ammonite pavement is exposed at low tide.
The ammonite pavement is only safe on a falling tide — you can be cut off returning. Ledges are very slippery. Do not hammer the pavement: it is protected.
Fossil Forecast