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Today at Penarth
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 0.4 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 12:42pm – 3:42pm
Leave the beach by 3:42pm — 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 mid-afternoon.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 2:29am (0.5 m), 2:42pm (0.4 m) · Wind up to 28 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 1:17pm – 4:17pm
Leave the beach by 4:17pm — 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 mid-afternoon.
19° · drizzle · 2mm rain · Low tide: 3:05am (0.5 m), 3:17pm (0.6 m) · Wind up to 26 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 1:48pm – 4:48pm
Leave the beach by 4:48pm — 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-afternoon.
21° · mostly clear · Low tide: 3:36am (0.8 m), 3:48pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 2:16pm – 5:16pm
Leave the beach by 5:16pm — 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 1.3 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
20° · mostly clear · Low tide: 4:03am (1.2 m), 4:16pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 19 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Safe window: 2:41pm – 5:41pm
Leave the beach by 5:41pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
18° · mostly clear · Low tide: 4:27am (1.7 m), 4:41pm (1.9 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 1.0 m
Safe window: 3:07pm – 6:07pm
Leave the beach by 6:07pm — 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.
17° · clear · 2mm rain · Low tide: 4:50am (2.3 m), 5:07pm (2.5 m) · Wind up to 27 km/h · Waves 1.7 m
Safe window: 3:37pm – 6:37pm
Leave the beach by 6:37pm — 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.
17° · mostly clear · 1mm rain · Low tide: 5:15am (2.9 m), 5:37pm (3.2 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 1.8 m
Search the fallen grey-blue slabs and shingle below the alternating striped cliffs towards Lavernock — ammonite impressions show on slab faces after the tide rinses them. Fresh falls feed the beach all winter; work the loose material, not the cliff.
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 →
On-street and pay car parks near the Esplanade and pier.
Full seafront facilities: toilets, cafés, pier.
Steps and ramps from the Esplanade; hunt south towards Lavernock below the alternating grey cliffs.
One of the world's biggest tidal ranges — the sea comes in very fast and cuts off the stretch towards Lavernock. Constant small rockfalls from the Triassic and Lias cliffs.
Fossil Forecast