South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Ogmore-by-Sea
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: 4:52pm – 6:49pm
Leave the beach by 6:49pm — 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: 5:58am (3.9 m), 6:52pm (4.0 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Safe window: 6:39pm – 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. 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.
13° · overcast · 3mm rain · Low tide: 7:34am (4.2 m), 8:39pm (4.0 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
12° · drizzle · 24mm rain · Low tide: 9:17am (4.0 m), 10:00pm (3.6 m) · Wind up to 45 km/h · Waves 4.2 m
Safe window: 8:24am – 11:24am
Leave the beach by 11:24am — 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 · 22mm rain · Low tide: 10:24am (3.4 m), 10:52pm (2.9 m) · Wind up to 37 km/h · Waves 1.9 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
12° · overcast · 17mm rain · Low tide: 11:11am (2.7 m), 11:33pm (2.2 m) · Wind up to 45 km/h · Waves 3.2 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
15° · rain · 24mm rain · Low tide: 11:50am (2.0 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 3.4 m
No safe daylight window
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Winds gusting around 76 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
16° · drizzle · 14mm rain · Low tide: 12:10am (1.5 m), 11:27am (1.4 m), 11:45pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 41 km/h · Waves 1.7 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