Dorset · Directions ↗
Today at Ringstead Bay
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 0.4 m low tide falls at lunchtime.
Safe window: 9:51am – 12:51pm
Leave the beach by 12:51pm — 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 at lunchtime.
9° · rain · 8mm rain · Low tide: 2:29am (0.5 m), 11:51am (0.4 m), 2:55pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.5 m
Safe window: 10:29am – 1:29pm
Leave the beach by 1:29pm — 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 at lunchtime.
10° · overcast · 6mm rain · Low tide: 12:03am (0.3 m), 3:10am (0.6 m), 12:29pm (0.4 m), 3:38pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 1.2 m
Safe window: 11:04am – 2:04pm
Leave the beach by 2:04pm — 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 at lunchtime.
9° · clear · Low tide: 12:38am (0.4 m), 3:53am (0.7 m), 1:04pm (0.4 m), 4:21pm (0.6 m) · Wind up to 25 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Safe window: 11:38am – 2:38pm
Leave the beach by 2:38pm — 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.
8° · clear · Low tide: 1:11am (0.5 m), 4:37am (0.8 m), 1:38pm (0.5 m), 5:04pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 19 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 12:10pm – 3:10pm
Leave the beach by 3:10pm — 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 mid-afternoon.
8° · overcast · Low tide: 1:41am (0.5 m), 5:21am (1.0 m), 2:10pm (0.5 m), 5:48pm (0.8 m) · Wind up to 12 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
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 0.6 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
12° · overcast · 9mm rain · Low tide: 2:11am (0.6 m), 6:06am (1.1 m), 2:42pm (0.6 m), 6:31pm (0.9 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 1:16pm – 4:16pm
Leave the beach by 4:16pm — 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 0.7 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
13° · mostly clear · 2mm rain · Low tide: 2:39am (0.7 m), 6:51am (1.2 m), 3:16pm (0.7 m), 7:12pm (1.0 m) · Wind up to 26 km/h · Waves 1.1 m
Walk east towards White Nothe and search the foreshore ledges and gravel at low water — oysters and ammonites wash from the Kimmeridge Clay. The rock pools hold polished fragments the sea has already prepared for you.
Ammonites show as coiled ridges in grey limestone, or as golden pyrite spirals the size of a coin. Belemnites are smooth amber-brown rods shaped like rifle bullets. Ichthyosaur vertebrae look like dark, shiny cotton reels. Free identification: the Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre identifies finds in person and from emailed photos (charmouth.org).
This coast is a protected site (SSSI). What does that mean?
Allowed: Loose fossils from the beach are fine to keep for a personal collection.
Never allowed: No digging or hammering into cliffs or bedrock on this protected (SSSI) coast.
Important finds: Report scientifically significant finds to Dorset Museum in Dorchester.
Rules can change — check locally before you collect.
Detailed location guide at UK Fossils →
Private toll road down to a beachside car park, or NT car park on the ridge above.
Small seasonal kiosk; otherwise none.
Easy from the lower car park; walk east towards White Nothe for the Kimmeridge Clay.
Landslipped undercliff east of the bay is unstable — keep to the beach. Remote towards White Nothe; watch the tide.
Fossil Forecast