Somerset · Directions ↗
Today at Watchet
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 1.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 2:31pm – 5:31pm
Leave the beach by 5:31pm — 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 mid-afternoon.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 4:31pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 24 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Safe window: 3:13pm – 6:13pm
Leave the beach by 6:13pm — 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.
24° · overcast · Low tide: 4:53am (1.7 m), 5:13pm (1.8 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
Safe window: 5:57am – 6:39am
Leave the beach by 6:39am — 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: 5:39am (2.4 m), 6:06pm (2.5 m) · Wind up to 41 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Safe window: 5:59am – 7:38am
Leave the beach by 7:38am — 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 first thing, though it is not an especially big one.
19° · clear · Low tide: 6:38am (3.1 m), 7:17pm (3.2 m) · Wind up to 30 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Safe window: 6:56pm – 8:25pm
Leave the beach by 8:25pm — 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 towards evening, though it is not an especially big one.
22° · clear · Low tide: 8:02am (3.7 m), 8:56pm (3.5 m) · Wind up to 32 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Winds gusting around 62 km/h forecast — not a day to be under cliffs.
19° · mostly clear · Low tide: 9:45am (3.7 m), 10:34pm (3.2 m) · Wind up to 47 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
20° · drizzle · 2mm rain · Low tide: 11:08am (3.0 m), 11:44pm (2.4 m) · Wind up to 50 km/h · Waves 2.6 m
Walk east to Helwell Bay at low tide and search the loose stone between the ammonite-bearing ledges. The tide rinses new material out of the boulder clay constantly — the best finds sit loose on the surface waiting to be noticed.
Giant ammonites — some nearly a metre across — sit in the flat ledges: photograph them, they must stay. Loose finds are smaller ammonites, ridged oysters and occasional dark, dense reptile bone. Identification help: Watchet Market House Museum (seasonal), or photograph finds for a museum enquiry.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: This SSSI coast has a strict no-hammering code — do not hammer or dig the ledges, cliffs or in-place ammonites.
Important finds: Ask at Watchet Market House Museum about significant finds.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Pay car parks in Watchet town, near the harbour and station.
Full town facilities: toilets, cafés, museum.
East to Helwell Bay for the classic ammonite ledges; west towards Blue Anchor for alabaster cliffs.
Fast-flooding tide across wide ledges — check tide times at the harbour before setting out. Unstable, faulted cliffs: keep off the base and the fallen mud.
Fossil Forecast