Norfolk
Today at Cromer
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 12:50pm – 3:50pm
Leave the beach by 3:50pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.5 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 2:50pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 1:37pm – 4:37pm
Leave the beach by 4:37pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.3 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 3:01am (1.1 m), 3:37pm (0.3 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Safe window: 2:22pm – 5:22pm
Leave the beach by 5:22pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.3 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 3:43am (1.0 m), 4:22pm (0.3 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 3:04pm – 6:04pm
Leave the beach by 6:04pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.5 m low tide falls towards evening.
Low tide: 4:22am (1.1 m), 5:04pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.7 m
Safe window: 3:45pm – 6:45pm
Leave the beach by 6:45pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 0.7 m low tide falls towards evening.
Low tide: 4:59am (1.2 m), 5:45pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 1.7 m
Safe window: 4:26pm – 7:26pm
Leave the beach by 7:26pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls towards evening, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 5:36am (1.4 m), 6:26pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 1.4 m
Safe window: 5:11pm – 8:11pm
Leave the beach by 8:11pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Low tide falls towards evening, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Low tide: 6:15am (1.7 m), 7:11pm (1.4 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
Search the flint gravel banks towards East Runton at low tide — sea urchins in flint and the occasional rolled bone are the typical finds. After a north-westerly blow the fresh gravel is worth a slow walk.
Ice Age bone from the 'forest bed' is dark brown to black, heavy, with a honeycomb texture at broken ends. Sea-urchin fossils show as five-pointed stars on rounded flint pebbles. Free identification: Cromer Museum (photo enquiries via Norfolk Museums Service).
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils and bones from the beach may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: No digging into the cliffs — the fossil-bearing beds are protected (SSSI) and the cliffs are dangerously unstable anyway.
Important finds: Large bones may be part of a bigger skeleton — report them to Norfolk Museums Service before removing anything substantial.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Town car parks; short walk to the promenade.
Full town facilities; Cromer Museum has local Ice Age fossils.
Ramps from the promenade; hunt the foreshore towards East Runton at low tide.
Slumping glacial cliffs east and west of town — keep off them. Tide reaches the sea walls and cliff base at high water: plan your walk around low tide.