Staying safe on fossil beaches
Fossil hunting is safe if you follow a few rules that experienced collectors never break:
- Stay away from the cliffs. Rockfalls happen without warning, in all weather. Fresh falls are a sign to keep back, not an invitation. As a rule of thumb, keep a distance greater than the height of the cliff.
- Never dig into cliffs or ledges. It is dangerous, damages protected sites, and the best fossils are found loose on the beach anyway.
- Work a falling tide. Arrive a couple of hours before low water and leave as it turns. Rising tides cut off beaches faster than most people can walk.
- Check tide times locally before you set out — our forecast is guidance, not a substitute for the official tide table.
- Tell someone where you are going and when you will be back. Take a charged phone; signal is poor under many cliffs.
- Mud is a trap. Coastal landslips and clay foreshores can swallow boots and worse. If it looks soft and wet, go around.
- In an emergency call 999 and ask for the Coastguard.
Storms bring fresh fossils — but never hunt during one. The best time is one to three days after a blow, in calm weather, on a falling tide. That is exactly what this site calculates for you.