Norfolk · Directions ↗
Today at Happisburgh
Good day to huntBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. A big 0.2 m low tide falls towards evening.
Safe window: 4:39pm – 7:39pm
Leave the beach by 7:39pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. An early-autumn blow like this restocks beaches after the quiet summer. A big 0.2 m low tide falls towards evening.
22° · overcast · Low tide: 6:13am (0.8 m), 6:39pm (0.2 m) · Wind up to 28 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 5:16pm – 7:52pm
Leave the beach by 7:52pm — 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 0.3 m low tide falls towards evening.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 6:51am (0.8 m), 7:16pm (0.3 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 5:53pm – 7:49pm
Leave the beach by 7:49pm — 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 0.4 m low tide falls towards evening.
22° · mostly clear · Low tide: 7:27am (0.7 m), 7:53pm (0.4 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 6:31pm – 7:47pm
Leave the beach by 7:47pm — 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 0.6 m low tide falls towards evening.
21° · mostly clear · 3mm rain · Low tide: 8:05am (0.7 m), 8:31pm (0.6 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 6:46am – 9:46am
Leave the beach by 9:46am — 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 0.8 m low tide falls first thing.
18° · mostly clear · Low tide: 8:46am (0.8 m), 9:13pm (0.8 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 7:31am – 10:31am
Leave the beach by 10:31am — 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 0.8 m low tide falls mid-morning.
19° · mostly clear · Low tide: 9:31am (0.8 m), 10:00pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 28 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 8:25am – 11:25am
Leave the beach by 11:25am — 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 0.9 m low tide falls mid-morning.
17° · mostly clear · Low tide: 10:25am (0.9 m), 10:55pm (1.1 m) · Wind up to 31 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Search the sand and gravel at low water for dark, heavy bone and rolled teeth washing from the ancient river beds. Beach levels change dramatically here — a scouring tide can expose (or bury) everything overnight, so no two visits are alike.
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 from the beach may be kept for personal collections.
Never allowed: No digging into the cliffs or the exposed beds — Happisburgh has produced Britain's oldest human footprints and tools, and unrecorded digging destroys world-class archaeology.
Important finds: Report any possible bone, tool or footprint surface to Norfolk Museums Service immediately.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Pay-and-display car park by the lighthouse road end.
Seasonal kiosk; toilets by the car park.
Ramp access (changes as the coast erodes — follow signed route).
This is one of the fastest-eroding coasts in Britain: the soft cliffs slump constantly and collapse without warning — never stand on, under, or dig into them. Beach levels change dramatically between visits; the sea reaches the cliffs at high water.
Fossil Forecast