South Wales
Today at Llantwit Major (Col-huw)
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 1.3 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 12:08pm – 3:08pm
Leave the beach by 3:08pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 1.3 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 2:08pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 29 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 12:54pm – 3:54pm
Leave the beach by 3:54pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 1.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 2:37am (1.0 m), 2:54pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 19 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 1:36pm – 4:36pm
Leave the beach by 4:36pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 1.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Low tide: 3:22am (1.0 m), 3:36pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 14 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:35am – 5:03am
Leave the beach by 5:03am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 1.1 m low tide falls first thing. Daylight cuts the collecting window to under 45 minutes, so don't plan a long session.
Low tide: 4:03am (1.1 m), 4:16pm (1.4 m) · Wind up to 16 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:37am – 5:41am
Leave the beach by 5:41am — the tide will cut off your route back.
Big tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
A big 1.4 m low tide falls first thing.
Low tide: 4:41am (1.4 m), 4:54pm (1.7 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.5 m
Safe window: 4:38am – 6:19am
Leave the beach by 6:19am — 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: 5:19am (1.8 m), 5:33pm (2.1 m) · Wind up to 14 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Safe window: 4:40am – 6:59am
Leave the beach by 6:59am — 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: 5:59am (2.3 m), 6:16pm (2.5 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.3 m
Work the boulder beach either side of Col-huw Point on a falling tide. Freshly fallen Lias blocks carry crisp ammonites and oysters — search the recent falls from a safe distance out, where the sea has already spread them.
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 →
Car park at Col-huw beach at the end of Beach Road.
Seasonal café and toilets at the beach.
Flat access from the car park onto boulders and ledges.
The Liassic cliffs here collapse in large slabs — never sit or shelter below them. Fast tides over wide ledges can cut you off in both directions.