Yorkshire · Directions ↗
Landslides regularly reshape this coast — your route back may not look like the map. Check your return route on the way out.
Today at Port Mulgrave
Quiet dayWhy: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
Safe window: 9:04am – 12:04pm
Leave the beach by 12:04pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
9° · overcast · Low tide: 11:04am (1.3 m), 11:21pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 8 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 9:35am – 12:35pm
Leave the beach by 12:35pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one. No recent storms, so expect a picked-over beach.
10° · overcast · 2mm rain · Low tide: 11:35am (1.4 m), 11:53pm (1.3 m) · Wind up to 16 km/h · Waves 1.2 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
8° · overcast · Low tide: 12:05pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 36 km/h · Waves 3.4 m
No safe daylight window
Why: Rough seas with big waves forecast — stay off the beach today.
6° · clear · Low tide: 12:25am (1.5 m), 12:35pm (1.8 m) · Wind up to 30 km/h · Waves 3.0 m
Safe window: 11:08am – 2:08pm
Leave the beach by 2:08pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one.
7° · mostly clear · Low tide: 1:00am (1.6 m), 1:08pm (2.0 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 1.5 m
Safe window: 11:45am – 2:45pm
Leave the beach by 2:45pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. Low tide falls at lunchtime, though it is not an especially big one.
8° · overcast · Low tide: 1:39am (1.8 m), 1:45pm (2.3 m) · Wind up to 20 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 12:32pm – 3:32pm
Leave the beach by 3:32pm — the tide will cut off your route back.
Why: Recent heavy seas should have washed fresh material onto the beach. Low tide falls mid-afternoon, though it is not an especially big one.
9° · mostly clear · Low tide: 2:26am (2.0 m), 2:32pm (2.5 m) · Wind up to 28 km/h · Waves 1.7 m
The boulder and nodule beds north of the old harbour are the classic hunting ground — work the freshly turned rocks near the falling waterline. Ammonite nodules, belemnites and occasional reptile bone all come to those who turn stones patiently.
Ammonites hide inside rounded grey nodules — a coiled edge showing at the rim is the giveaway (take nodules home to split carefully; never hammer at the cliff). Jet is matt black, feather-light and warm to the touch; sea coal looks similar but heavier and dirtier. Belemnites are amber bullet-shaped rods. Free identification: Whitby Museum welcomes photo enquiries.
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Collecting loose fossils from the beach is long-established and accepted here.
Never allowed: No digging into the cliffs or hammering in-place rock on this SSSI coast; leave the jet seams alone — commercial jet digging has damaged this coast.
Important finds: Report significant finds to Whitby Museum.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Roadside parking in Hinderwell/Port Mulgrave hamlet.
None at all — no toilets, no phone signal in places, no shelter.
Long, steep and eroding cliff path down to the old harbour; hard going back up with a heavy bag.
People are trapped here by the tide every year: the beach has no exits once the sea reaches the cliff. Only visit on a falling tide, leave well before low water turns, and tell someone your plan.
Fossil Forecast