South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Penarth
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 1.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 2:49pm – 5:49pm
Leave the beach by 5:49pm — 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 1.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
20° · overcast · 2mm rain · Low tide: 4:49pm (1.5 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 5:54am – 6:09am
Leave the beach by 6:09am — 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.
22° · mostly clear · Low tide: 5:09am (1.7 m), 5:23pm (2.0 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Safe window: 5:56am – 6:48am
Leave the beach by 6:48am — 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.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 5:48am (2.3 m), 6:08pm (2.8 m) · Wind up to 30 km/h · Waves 1.6 m
Safe window: 5:58am – 7:42am
Leave the beach by 7:42am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
19° · mostly clear · Low tide: 6:42am (3.2 m), 7:16pm (3.6 m) · Wind up to 11 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
Safe window: 6:09am – 9:09am
Leave the beach by 9:09am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
24° · clear · 1mm rain · Low tide: 8:09am (3.9 m), 9:26pm (3.9 m) · Wind up to 20 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 8:24am – 11:24am
Leave the beach by 11:24am — 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.
20° · mostly clear · Low tide: 10:24am (3.7 m), 11:16pm (3.1 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.
19° · drizzle · 17mm rain · Low tide: 11:42am (2.7 m) · Wind up to 36 km/h · Waves 3.2 m
Search the fallen grey-blue slabs and shingle below the alternating striped cliffs towards Lavernock — ammonite impressions show on slab faces after the tide rinses them. Fresh falls feed the beach all winter; work the loose material, not the cliff.
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 →
On-street and pay car parks near the Esplanade and pier.
Full seafront facilities: toilets, cafés, pier.
Steps and ramps from the Esplanade; hunt south towards Lavernock below the alternating grey cliffs.
One of the world's biggest tidal ranges — the sea comes in very fast and cuts off the stretch towards Lavernock. Constant small rockfalls from the Triassic and Lias cliffs.
Fossil Forecast