Dorset
Today at Burton Bradstock (Hive Beach)
Quiet dayLow tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Safe window: 11:16am – 2:16pm
Leave the beach by 2:16pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 1:16pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 28 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 12:00pm – 3:00pm
Leave the beach by 3:00pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 1:50am (0.8 m), 2:00pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 12:45pm – 3:45pm
Leave the beach by 3:45pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 2:34am (0.7 m), 2:45pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 17 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 1:30pm – 4:30pm
Leave the beach by 4:30pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one.
Low tide: 3:19am (0.8 m), 3:30pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 15 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:38am – 5:04am
Leave the beach by 5:04am — the tide will cut off your route back.
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.
Low tide: 4:04am (0.9 m), 4:16pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 14 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:39am – 5:49am
Leave the beach by 5:49am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 4:49am (1.1 m), 5:02pm (1.4 m) · Wind up to 16 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:41am – 6:34am
Leave the beach by 6:34am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls first thing, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 5:34am (1.3 m), 5:50pm (1.5 m) · Wind up to 14 km/h · Waves 0.2 m
Hunt the shingle and the wave-washed gravel at mid-beach — ammonites from the Bridport Sands and the beds above weather out and roll along the tideline. Stay well out from the cliff: everything reaches the open beach eventually.
Ammonites show as coiled ridges in grey limestone, or as golden pyrite spirals the size of a coin. Belemnites are smooth amber-brown rods shaped like rifle bullets. Ichthyosaur vertebrae look like dark, shiny cotton reels. Free identification: the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre identifies finds in person and from emailed photos (charmouth.org).
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach and foreshore are yours to keep — collecting them here is positively encouraged, because the sea destroys what nobody saves.
Never allowed: Never dig or hammer into the cliffs, ledges or landslide material; fossils still in place must stay in place.
Important finds: Register scientifically important finds with the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre under the West Dorset Fossil Collecting Code.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
National Trust car park at Hive Beach.
Hive Beach Café and toilets by the car park.
Flat access onto the beach from the car park.
The vertical Bridport Sands cliffs shed large falls without warning and have caused fatalities — stay at least the cliff's height away from the base at all times.