South Wales · Directions ↗
Today at Penarth
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: 4:54pm – 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. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
14° · overcast · 3mm rain · Low tide: 6:06am (4.1 m), 6:54pm (4.3 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 6:40pm – 6:45pm
Leave the beach by 6:45pm — 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 · 5mm rain · Low tide: 7:27am (4.6 m), 8:40pm (4.4 m) · Wind up to 15 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
12° · overcast · 22mm rain · Low tide: 9:31am (4.3 m), 10:23pm (3.6 m) · Wind up to 36 km/h · Waves 3.2 m
Safe window: 8:53am – 11:53am
Leave the beach by 11:53am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: A recent 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-morning, though it is not an especially big one.
13° · overcast · 20mm rain · Low tide: 10:53am (3.4 m), 11:22pm (2.6 m) · Wind up to 30 km/h · Waves 1.2 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 77 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
13° · overcast · 13mm rain · Low tide: 11:45am (2.4 m) · Wind up to 41 km/h · Waves 2.0 m
Safe window: 10:29am – 1:29pm
Leave the beach by 1:29pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: A recent 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 at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one.
15° · drizzle · 17mm rain · Low tide: 12:09am (1.7 m), 12:29pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 26 km/h · Waves 2.4 m
No safe daylight window
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Winds gusting around 84 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
17° · drizzle · 7mm rain · Low tide: 12:52am (1.1 m), 12:12pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 44 km/h · Waves 1.2 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