Dorset · Directions ↗
Today at Ringstead Bay
FairBig tide today (spring tide) — more beach exposed, but it comes back in fast.
Why: A big 0.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
Safe window: 2:02pm – 5:02pm
Leave the beach by 5:02pm — 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 0.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
18° · overcast · Low tide: 3:49am (-0.0 m), 1:09pm (0.3 m), 4:02pm (0.2 m) · Wind up to 29 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
Safe window: 2:40pm – 5:40pm
Leave the beach by 5:40pm — 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 0.2 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
20° · overcast · Low tide: 4:27am (0.0 m), 1:46pm (0.3 m), 4:40pm (0.2 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 0.9 m
Safe window: 12:20pm – 3:20pm
Leave the beach by 3:20pm — 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 0.3 m low tide falls mid-afternoon.
22° · overcast · Low tide: 2:10am (0.2 m), 5:03am (0.2 m), 2:20pm (0.3 m), 5:18pm (0.4 m) · Wind up to 18 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 12:53pm – 3:53pm
Leave the beach by 3:53pm — 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.
21° · mostly clear · Low tide: 2:40am (0.3 m), 5:38am (0.4 m), 2:53pm (0.4 m), 5:55pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 22 km/h · Waves 0.6 m
Safe window: 1:24pm – 4:24pm
Leave the beach by 4:24pm — 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.
19° · mostly clear · Low tide: 3:09am (0.3 m), 3:24pm (0.4 m) · Wind up to 21 km/h · Waves 0.7 m
Safe window: 1:55pm – 4:55pm
Leave the beach by 4:55pm — 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.
19° · overcast · Low tide: 3:37am (0.4 m), 3:55pm (0.5 m) · Wind up to 24 km/h · Waves 1.4 m
Safe window: 2:25pm – 5:25pm
Leave the beach by 5:25pm — 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.
17° · overcast · Low tide: 4:03am (0.5 m), 4:25pm (0.7 m) · Wind up to 23 km/h · Waves 1.3 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