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
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 0.4 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
Safe window: 10:23am – 1:23pm
Leave the beach by 1:23pm — 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 0.4 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
21° · overcast · 2mm rain · Low tide: 12:23pm (0.4 m) · Wind up to 35 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 10:58am – 1:58pm
Leave the beach by 1:58pm — 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 0.5 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
17° · clear · Low tide: 12:34am (1.0 m), 12:58pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 14 km/h · Waves 0.4 m
Safe window: 11:30am – 2:30pm
Leave the beach by 2:30pm — 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.
21° · mostly clear · Low tide: 1:08am (1.1 m), 1:30pm (0.8 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 0.8 m
Safe window: 12:01pm – 3:01pm
Leave the beach by 3:01pm — 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.
20° · mostly clear · 4mm rain · Low tide: 1:40am (1.2 m), 2:01pm (1.2 m) · Wind up to 27 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: 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: 2:12am (1.5 m), 2:32pm (1.6 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.3 m
Safe window: 1:06pm – 4:06pm
Leave the beach by 4:06pm — 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.
16° · mostly clear · Low tide: 2:46am (1.8 m), 3:06pm (2.0 m) · Wind up to 31 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Safe window: 1:49pm – 4:49pm
Leave the beach by 4:49pm — 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.
16° · mostly clear · Low tide: 3:27am (2.1 m), 3:49pm (2.4 m) · Wind up to 35 km/h · Waves 1.2 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