South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Ogmore-by-Sea
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 1.1 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
Safe window: 11:51am – 2:51pm
Leave the beach by 2:51pm — 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 1.1 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
27° · clear · Low tide: 1:51pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 30 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 12:39pm – 3:39pm
Leave the beach by 3:39pm — 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 0.9 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
27° · clear · Low tide: 2:20am (0.9 m), 2:39pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 1:24pm – 4:24pm
Leave the beach by 4:24pm — 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 0.9 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
26° · overcast · Low tide: 3:06am (0.8 m), 3:24pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 16 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 4:35am – 4:50am
Leave the beach by 4:50am — 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 0.9 m low tide falls first thing. Daylight cuts the collecting window to under 45 minutes, so don't plan a long session.
25° · clear · Low tide: 3:50am (0.9 m), 4:07pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 15 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 4:37am – 5:32am
Leave the beach by 5:32am — 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 1.2 m low tide falls first thing.
24° · mostly clear · Low tide: 4:32am (1.2 m), 4:48pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 19 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 4:38am – 6:13am
Leave the beach by 6:13am — 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.
25° · clear · Low tide: 5:13am (1.6 m), 5:29pm (2.1 m) · Wind up to 14 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 4:40am – 6:54am
Leave the beach by 6:54am — 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.
24° · mostly clear · Low tide: 5:54am (2.2 m), 6:12pm (2.6 m) · Wind up to 17 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Hunt the gravel pockets between the flat rocks at low water, south of the river mouth — Gryphaea and ammonite fragments concentrate in the runnels where the tide sorts the shingle.
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 →
Large roadside car parks above the beach.
Toilets and seasonal refreshments near the main car park.
Paths and steps down to rocky foreshore and sand.
Dangerous currents at the Ogmore river mouth — never wade. Fast rising tide over flat rocks; slippery seaweed-covered ledges.
Fossil Forecast